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Park Slope one-way traffic plan dead? Well, "not moving forward"

Maybe I'm obtuse about semantics, but I'm still not quite clear on whether the Department of Transportation's plan to make Sixth and Seventh avenues in Park Slope one-way, which generated huge opposition, is dead or merely put aside to be revisited at a later date.

The Brooklyn Paper this week reported:
“We’re listening to the community and not moving ahead with the proposal,” said Department of Transportation (DoT) spokeswoman Kay Sarlin, who had earlier promised that the agency would kill the controversial proposal if “the community” rejected it.

I followed up and asked Sarlin: "Is that any different from following the CB6 transportation committee resolution, which requested that DOT not move forward 'at this time'? In other words, is the plan dead? Or just on hold for revision and discussion? Or?"

Her response: "We're not moving ahead with the plan."

More on the press

I last week criticized the Courier-Life chain for not providing enough coverage of the controversy in its Park Slope zoned edition; I should acknowledge the front-page lead story this week, which quotes Forest City Ratner transportation consultant Sam Schwartz as saying the developer had nothing to do with the plan.

That's not surprising; the story should have noted, as I'd pointed out, that, were the new plan described as an Atlantic Yards traffic mitigation, it could have been fodder for a lawsuit, because it was not mentioned in the environmental review process.

Gersh Kuntzman of the Brooklyn Paper offers a defense of "technocrat" Michael Primeggia of the DoT. In response, Lumi Rolley of NoLandGrab critiques the one-way success the DoT cites in East New York, and Aaron Naparstek of StreetsBlog offers countervailing evidence about the record of one-way streets.

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