Atlantic Yards urban design proposals: should Dean St. be slowed, firehouse close (for housing & parking), B65 bus re-routed? Much left to discuss in BrooklynSpeaks session.

I previously noted that the BrooklynSpeaks coalition has posted video and the slideshow from the 1/12/22 Urban Design/Street Design Presentation, part of the four-week Crossroads discussion series, with the opportunity for comment on the presentation board. 

And I just wrote about proposed changes for Pacific Street adjacent to Site 5, where the developer is expected to propose a far larger building than previously permitted.

But let's look now at another element of the presentation, Dean Street east of Flatbush Avenue.

BrooklynSpeaks proposed that the city redesign Dean Street between Sixth and Vanderbilt avenues as a slow, narrow street intended for local use" and that, to ensure student and pedestrian safety" near the under-construction middle-school at 662 Pacific St.  (slated to open in 2025), a "reduction of municipal uses."

A lot of that makes sense, but not all the complexities and implications were teased out, because making part of the street a slow street could overburden neighboring ones.

New school, no more firehouse?

In the video below, the presenter, architect John Massengale described the view across Sixth Avenue east on Dean Street, just east of the arena block.

The firehouse is on the same block as a school, he said. "The good news is that, based on informal discussions, the Fire Department of New York seems to be open to the idea of moving the firehouse."

He noted that the nearby Dean Playground "is great for a school not great for a street with speeding emergency vehicles." Indeed, and that's why some people recommended that the school be moved elsewhere, but several people active in BrooklynSpeaks advocated for this location.

 

So they're kind of playing SimCity with the neighborhood. I asked Massengale and BrooklynSpeaks principal Gib Veconi "who has participated in those discussions, and the timing/funding involved."

"The discussion with FDNY was preliminary, so we don’t have further comment at this point," said Veconi. OK, but this is something that elected officials and community boards should be discussing publicly, rather than have it the subject of opaque private conversations.

In fact, the focused discussions regarding Prospect Heights streets deserve attention from those who live nearby; the role of most BrooklynSpeaks groups is far less relevant. (Why should, say, the Brooklyn Heights Association's opinion be on point?)

A "School Street," and a revised B65 bus route?

One solution, Massengale said, "might be to make this a School Street which is a type of street New York City does have, which is open only to pedestrians during school hours, including a little before opening and a little after closing."

But Dean Street is on a bus route, which would conflict with a School Street. "But several organizations are working on improving Atlantic Avenue, putting rapid bus lanes and safe bike lanes over on Atlantic," he said.

As of now, there's no bus service on Atlantic east of Washington Avenue. But moving B65 bus service two blocks north from Dean to Atlantic could be complicated, since the eastbound B65 parallels the westbound B65 on Bergen Street, one block below. So again that deserves discussion.

Update: another complication is that, assuming construction of six towers over the railyard goes ahead, Atlantic Avenue would be blocked for years.

New parking, new housing

"A related suggestion that's come up is to build a police parking lot where the firehouse is now," Massengale said.  (Hm--my misinterpretation of that movable model wasn't so crazy.) "That would get both fire parking and police parking off the street and the lot could have an entrance on Sixth Avenue right next to the precinct house."

A new entrance for police parking?

The 78th Precinct is on Sixth Avenue between Dean and Bergen streets, and most personnel park on nearby streets. There are 24 spaces dedicated to precinct use inside the 535 Carlton (B14) parking garage one long block away, but they have not been consistently used.

"And since the firehouse is a city-owned site, affordable housing above the parking might be possible," Massengale said. That would add to two previously identified sites, on Bergen and Dean streets, for senior housing.

Interesting ideas--related to Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park but extending well beyond it, to my mind requiring much more discussion, again focused on Prospect Heights rather than the BrooklynSpeaks groups.

Only partly a school street 

Massengale noted that the surface parking lot next to the Dean Playground belongs to the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, which has slated senior housing there.

"That's a good use for a quiet street," he said, "but this section of the block shouldn't be closed like the school street."

School street, and two-way street?

"So it might be divided into two parts, with the school street on the left and a two-way street usually entered from Carlton Avenue that would make it a slow quiet easily accessible street," he said.

That didn't get much discussion, nor have there been comments so far on the presentation board. But limiting Dean Street between Sixth and Carlton avenues--not Sixth and Vanderbilt, as indicated in the slide up top--could pose significant complications for those on Carlton Avenue as well as those on Dean east of Carlton. 

Parking at 535 Carlton

I asked Massengale to respond to a question I posed in the chat last Wednesday but didn't get any response: "John, there’s a parking garage on Dean Street just east of Carlton Avenue. Currently 303 spaces. It will be increased to 758 spaces. How does a school street/ slow street on Dean Street east of Sixth Avenue affect all those driving to the parking lot, especially on event nights?"

(I didn't mention plans for another potential traffic magnet, a field house and fitness center, within the B12/B13 towers, under construction in the middle of the block.)

The response came from Veconi: "Regarding the garage on block 1129, possibilities are that drivers would turn left from Carlton, and that Dean Street there might become two-way. Further, if the half block in front of the school and the playground is closed (a good idea) during school hours, it could still be open when most arena events are held. Finally, it's also possible the new City administration will wish to further discourage driving to the Barclays Center, which is well served by subway and train. DOT should study these and other options."

Yes, keeping Dean Street open during events might relieve some of that pressure, but the prospect of making part of the street two-way introduces complications, as does the idea of sending more traffic to that garage via narrow Carlton Avenue, which is one-way northbound.

Dean Street = Yawkey Way?

Updated/corrected: limiting traffic on Dean Street, however, wise, might mean that all vehicles exiting the Barclays Center loading dock still would have to turn on Sixth Avenue, past the school entrance.

In other words, the potential consequences deserve more discussion.

Shutting down Dean outside arena?

At the end of his presentation, Massengale showed a slide of Dean Street next to the Barclays Center. "local residents complain about the traffic and idling cars during events," he said, noting that some "stadiums and arenas around the country annex adjoining streets during events."

The next slide, the bottom in the two-slide image at right, show Yawkey Way--renamed Jersey Street--adjacent to Fenway Park in Boston.

"Most of the time, Yawkey Way is a public street, but during Red Sox games it becomes an open street for everyone who has a ticket to the game," Massengale said. "Vendors sell hot dogs and Sox hats and it works well."

Thing is, the south side of Dean Street has a new apartment building and other apartment buildings (and a house). The arena entrance is flanked by residential buildings, B2 (461 Dean St.) and B3 (38 Sixth Ave.) There are no souvenir stores or eateries.

Also, Dean Street was never supposed to be a major gateway to the arena. From the Final Environmental Impact Statement:

The New York City Zoning Resolution prohibits arenas within 200 feet of residential districts as some of the operations could be incompatible with districts limited primarily to residential use. (Arenas are permitted in most commercial districts allowing for residential use.) The arena block is adjacent to a residential district to the south, and accordingly, the arena has been designed to minimize its presence and effect on the residential uses on these blocks. Primary entrances and signage would be oriented toward the crossroads of two major commercial thoroughfares and away from these residences. Two primarily residential buildings (Buildings 2 and 3) on the arena block would occupy most of the Dean Street frontage, serving as a buffer between uses. However, the preferred seating entry and entry to the loading area would be located on Dean Street and, while security screening and loading functions would take place entirely within the building, the residences along this street would experience some localized adverse impacts.

(Emphases added)

That's not how it turned out. Beyond the main entrance at the arena plaza, there are entrances on Atlantic Avenue, but the second-largest entrance, in terms of gathering space and number of doors is on Dean Street. The preferred seating entry is, instead, on Atlantic Avenue.

In other words, making Dean Street into Brooklyn's Yawkey Way would double down on a decision that was never forecast or studied.