The Ocean Avenue News - oceanavenuenews.comThe Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) must do more to consolidate its procurements across its agencies to save money.
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Two New York political leaders abruptly vetoed the MTA’s $68 billion budget to fix mass transit.
Although the MTA Board approved the five-year spending plan on Sept. 25, state Senate Majority Leader Andrew Stewart-Cousins and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie sent the MTA a rejection letter on Christmas Eve, just a day before the plan would have been approved, according to Gothamist.
amNewYork Metro reached out multiple times to both Stewart-Cousins and Heastie to ask why they vetoed the plan but did not get a response.
Both politicians hold two of four seats on the MTA Capital Plan Review Board (CPRB), a group that must approve the agency’s construction plans.
The move marks another setback for the MTA after Gov. Kathy Hochul put a five-month pause on congestion pricing this year, only to lift it on Nov. 18. Congestion pricing goes into effect in NYC on Jan. 5, 2025.
The MTA overwhelmingly approved the multi-billion dollar capital plan by a vote of 10 to 0 on Sept. 25 and submitted it to the CPRB on Oct. 1, as required by New York law. Even though MTA officials held breifings, over 100 meetings and hosted open houses for the public about the budget plan since then, Stewart-Cousins and Heastie have remained quiet until now.
John McCarthy, MTA chief of policy and external relations, remained “optimistic” despite the last-minute veto.
“This capital program was grounded in our 20 Year Needs Assessment, and we haven’t heard any concerns or objections from the legislature since it was approved by the MTA Board in September,” he said. “It will unlock dozens of transformative projects, many of which are funded and ready to go on Jan. 1. We remain optimistic that the legislature will join the governor in supporting safer, more reliable, and expanded transit.”
Avi Small, a spokesperson for the governor, said the MTA laid out a “comprehensive plan” to improve subway service, support suburban commuter rail, improve safety, crack down on fare evasion, and fund new projects like the Interborough Express, a public transit option that would connect Brooklyn and Queens.
“Now that the legislature has raised these objections to the capital plan, we look forward to seeing their recommendations on which of these projects should be deprioritized and which revenue streams they are willing to propose,” Small wrote in a statement to amNew York Metro.
Throughout 2024, the MTA touted major upgrade and improvement projects for the city’s transit system. These projects include investments in subway accessibility, stations and modern fare gates.
Critical structure repairs are also on the list. New Yorkers do not need a reminder of the severe train delay in Brooklyn on Dec. 11 that left thousands of subway riders stranded underground after a power failure during the evening rush hour.
It is unclear right now what the future will hold for some of these projects or which will take priority within the budget, but according to MTA officials, this could make obtaining federal funding more difficult and unpredictable.
Brooklyn Public Library has unveiled designs for a dramatically reimagined modern library in New Lots that nods to the site’s history as an African burial ground, set to replace the currently standing 1950s concrete library building.
Architects MASS Design Group and Marble Fairbanks are behind the designs for the new building, whose curved, glassy exterior will be wrapped by a woven basket-like screen.
Overall, the development is a major departure architecturally from other BPL branches. Inside, pale wood beams and columns that look like trees and branches prop up the ceiling and curve and flow.
The building’s screen is a “veil” inspired by a sculpture by contemporary New York-based artist Sanford Biggers called “Lifting the Veil” that depicts Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, according to a press release sent out by BPL. The screen reflects the “transformation of place from a hidden burial ground to a cultural education center and space for community activism,” the release states.
The building is also a project of the NYC Mass Timber Studio, a city-led initiative to encourage sustainable building. Mass timber structures, rare in Brooklyn, are made from prefabricated wood panels and have a smaller carbon footprint than their concrete counterparts.
Both architects behind the plans have a wealth of experience in designing community spaces, and while MASS Design Group’s only Brooklyn project is residential it has many across the U.S. and Africa. Marble Fairbanks has done more work locally, with projects including the Center for Brooklyn History and the new Greenpoint Public Library.
The design for the new building came about through an extensive public consultation process that ran from 2019 to 2021, and it is heavily influenced by what locals wanted to see, according to BPL. Some of the community’s requests included integrating “Black culture, legacy, and resilience,” an outdoor space that “evokes feelings of calmness and liberation,” and an interactive community wall that features Black histories and local creatives through graffiti or murals.
The current building will be razed to make way for the new one, a BPL rep told Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner. The new library will be bigger with more public space, three stories, and 25,000 square feet. No permits have yet been filed.
Among the facilities will be dedicated areas for children, adults, an adult learning center, music room, meeting room, and exhibition areas, BPL said in the release. The library incorporates elements of the African palaver concept, which prioritizes discussion and the hearing of all voices, by creating spaces designed for communal gathering, learning, and cultural celebration, BPL said. A third-floor terrace will give library-goers the chance to step outside onto a landscaped area overlooking New Lots Avenue and Sankofa Playground.
Located at 665 New Lots Ave., the library is expected to close in fall next year for construction, and the new building is slated to open in 2028. Library programming and services will continue in the area in a temporary library during construction, BPL said.
BPL President and CEO Linda E. Johnson said in the release the project is not just a new chapter for the library, but for East New York as a whole. “The library will serve as a community space for remembrance and reconciliation and, of course, provide the neighborhood with books that inspire compassion and curiosity,” she said.
Council Member Chris Banks, a lifelong East New York local, said he had memories of visiting the library when he was young and understands the “vital role this institution plays in our community.”
“This unveiling of the New Lots Library is a long-awaited and much-needed moment, and I’m thrilled to see it finally come to fruition for our community,” he said. “I would also like to acknowledge that this new library is being built on hallowed grounds, and it is important that we honor and pay respect to the ancestors who came before us, paving the way for progress and community building happening here in our district.”
The branch sits on a block surrounded by New Lots, Schenck, and Livonia avenues and Barbey Street, and overlooks Sankofa Park. Dating back to possibly the late 17th century, Dutch settlers used the eastern section of the block as well as an area to the north of Livonia Avenue as a burial ground, according to historian Mary French. Part of the cemetery was used to bury Black residents and slaves.
In 1823, the Dutch Reformed Church went up on the southern side of New Lots Avenue, where it still stands across the road from the library. The congregation opened a new cemetery on that side of the road in the 1840s as the old one became overcrowded, and moved many of those buried to the new one. However, members of the local Black community continued to use the old plot to bury their dead until at least the 1890s, and did not move those who were already buried. In the 1920s, a school that used to sit where the library is now located took over part of the block to use as a playground, and by the ’50s the library replaced the school and the playground became a public park. Both the library and the park cover part of the old burial ground, according to maps and the BPL.
Acknowledging its past as an African burial ground, the square was named African Burial Ground Square in 2013. More recently, following a study by the Parks Department that uncovered human remains, the park in the square was renamed Sankofa Park to honor its past as a cemetery.
Prior to that, it was called Schenck Park after the prominent slave-owning family who once lived in the neighborhood.
The city allocated $4.9 million to transform Sankofa Park, with work kicking off in late 2023. The upgrades, which are slated to be complete in coming weeks, include a new commemorative area to honor those buried in the park, the installation of new play equipment, a basketball court, upgrades to the park’s public bathrooms, fencing, and seating.
When Brownstoner stopped by earlier this month, the park was surrounded by a tall mesh fence closing it off from the public, but work appeared to be close to completion, with new fencing, plantings, play equipment, and interpretive signage installed.
This story first appeared on Brooklyn Paper’s sister site Brownstoner
A Brooklyn man remains behind bars Thursday after being accused of murdering his wife during a domestic dispute on Sunday night.
Police announced Thursday morning that Lewis Gordon, 45, was hit with second-degree murder charges on Dec. 24 for the killing of Antoinette Stewart-Gordon, 47, who was found stabbed multiple times in the neck and abdomen on the 900 block of East 81st Street in Canarsie at about 9:28 p.m. on Dec. 22.
Officers from the 69th Precinct, in responding to a 911 call about a woman stabbed, located Stewart-Gordon and the couple’s son, a 15-year-old boy, who suffered a laceration to his hand.
EMS rushed Stewart-Gordon to Brookdale University Hospital, where she was pronounced dead a short time later. The 15-year-old boy was also taken there for treatment and is listed in stable condition.
Law enforcement sources said on Dec. 26 that Lewis Gordon allegedly attacked Stewart-Gordon with a knife following a verbal dispute; the circumstances that led up to the deadly argument were not yet known.
Gordon was charged with second-degree murder, endangering the welfare of a child and criminal possession of a weapon, the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office said.
According to court records, Gordon was arraigned on Dec. 24 in Kings County Criminal Court before Judge Jung A. Park, who ordered him held indefinitely pending trial. The suspect is due back in court on Friday.
Through Dec. 15, according to the most recent CompStat report, the 69th Precinct had four homicides, equal to the total at the same point in 2023.
If you or someone you love is experiencing domestic violence, there is help; call the 24-hour NYC Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-621-HOPE.
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— Michael Novakhov (@mikenov) December 26, 2024
AROUND 4:30 A.M. on Christmas Eve, an apartment building’s second floor caught fire on Greenpoint Avenue, injuring two.
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