Bill to ban cars in Central Prospect Park Loops introduced.

ringrunner

Slope1980 said:

Piano, no, it frustrates me as well and if I have to educate one me-first individual at a time, I will.

A bicycle is a recreational vehicle. Just because you make the choice not to own an automobile or use the public transportation provided by the city in which you live DOES NOT mean that your will must be bent to.

This is the issue many people have with the bicycle contingent, please please get over yourselves.

How bad would it really be for you if cars were not allowed to use Prospect Park for a short cut?

pmonk

I think we should ban ugly people from using the park

puckbrooklyn

As someone who runs in the park in the AM a few times a week, I have a constant fear as I run up the hill towards GAP that any one of the speeding cars will lose control and hit one of us. I know it sounds crazy, but cars really speed up that hill.

It's weird too, because there is always an "undercover" police SUV that sits at the corner of Center Drive and East Drive and cars speed up after they pass the vehicle. I NEVER see anyone pulled over.

pmonk

Personally, the dumb asses who dress like Greg LeMond are the ones we should be worrying about

whyfi

pmonk said:

Personally, the dumb asses who dress like Greg LeMond are the ones we should be worrying about

Because everyone that wears activity-specific clothing is a dumb ass?

pmonk

WhyFi said:

Because everyone that wears activity-specific clothing is a dumb ass?

That and looking pretty stupid.

whyfi

pmonk said:

That and looking pretty stupid.

Well, I bet they'll all hang their heads in shame, with the vicious tongue-lashing that you've just handed out. Indeed, they will shrivel under your acerbic wit like lycra-clad worms on a sidewalk, caught in unexpected sun.

pmonk

WhyFi said:

Well, I bet they'll all hang their heads in shame, with the vicious tongue-lashing that you've just handed out. Indeed, they will shrivel under your acerbic wit like lycra-clad worms on a sidewalk, caught in unexpected sun.

Nothing worse than park slope snobs using fancy words when flaming.

I bet you are one of them hippie food coop'ers who rat on your fellow coop'ers who break them commie rules?

boygabriel

Do us mods a favor and keep this on topic and spare the personal attacks.

Thanks.

whyfi

Boygabriel said:

Do us mods a favor and keep this on topic and spare the personal attacks.

Thanks.

Okay, okay. Gotta give him credit, though - wasn't sure if he'd realize that he was being insulted.

whynot_31

Wait, where are the fancy words?

I don't see any fancy words.

Returning to the topic: Does anyone know when the city council is supposed to vote on this bill? Do we have any government types who know what makes the city council have a hearing on a bill?

....a hearing on this bill could be complete madness. I kinda like watching madness on TV.

whyfi

Fancy is relative, I guess.

whynot_31

Whyfi-

Why did you write about "lycra clad worms"?

Did you mean to type "lycra clad women"?

The latter are sometimes awesome.

whyfi

Geez, whynot - you've interrupted my thinking... I'm still trying to decode pmonk's retort, but, for the life of me, I can't think of any barrel makers in Park Slope, let alone hippie or communist barrel makers... maybe he meant cobblers - the guy that re-soled my shoes a couple years ago struck me as Marxist, but close enough.

No, no - I meant worms. Why would lycra-clad women shrivel on the sidewalk? Being a gentleman, I would surely offer them assistance before anything so horrible came to pass. I'm sure that the other gentlemen in the neighborhood would do the same.

whynot_31

yes, I would help them as well.

booklaw

Wait, please... Of all the many deep philosophical quandaries I've encountered on this site, including those that get WhyNot, Cool the Kid, Boy Gabriel, Trumystic and others yammering at one another for endless dozens of pages, the one that has finally captured my imagination (such as it is) is... Under what circumstances would worms come to be clad in lycra?

Does it coincide with lindsey lohan tours? Fashion Week?

Please enlighten us!

whynot_31

Whyfi-

Booklaw asks a good question.

whyfi

booklaw said:

Wait, please... Of all the many deep philosophical quandaries I've encountered on this site, including those that get WhyNot, Cool the Kid, Boy Gabriel, Trumystic and others yammering at one another for endless dozens of pages, the one that has finally captured my imagination (such as it is) is... Under what circumstances would worms come to be clad in lycra?

Does it coincide with lindsey lohan tours? Fashion Week?

Please enlighten us!

Duh - it prevents chafing and the compression not only improves performance, but it also decreases the chance of injury and aids in recovery, as well - what worm in its right mind wouldn't wear them, given the choice?

whynot_31

Meanwhile, the male worms like to think the female worms are merely advertising themselves as single.Of course, anything a female worm wears invariably causes some male worm to hope she is single.

Damn male worms.

[Mrs Whynot points out that earthworms are both male and female. As a result, this post should be used as information for a 7th grade biology report. She also is uncertain regarding the reproductive organs of tape worms.]

pmonk

They should pave Prospect Park and turn it into a big parking lot.

booklaw

That would certainly free up a number of parking spaces throughout the Slope, thus allowing the side streets to be used for other purposes... Truck loading zones, skateboard parks, bike lanes, etc.

It's worthy of serious consideration, right?

whynot_31

Arguably, the Bronx lost park space for the new Yankee stadium. But I can't think of any other instances in which park space has been converted to another use, like parking.

idlewild

whynot_31 said:

Arguably, the Bronx lost park space for the new Yankee stadium. But I can't think of any other instances in which park space has been converted to another use, like parking.

The Belt Parkway maybe. I believe there were a few parks scattered between Bay Ridge and Caesar's Bay. Regardless of Yankee Stadium, doesn't the Bronx have more acres of public parks than the other boroughs combined?

whynot_31

Idlewild-

You are probably right on both on both assertions.

I was using the frame of reference that is approximately equal to my arrival in the NYC area: From 1992 forward.

Which is an excellent segue into "how, in my view, we seem to be less willing to give up our park space to cars than anytime in recent memory."

As residents of the poorest boro, you'd think that they would have all voted to make the Bronx parks into low income apartments, parking or something that would generate some monetary contribution to their economy.

...but they haven't.

This is likely the result of parks being protected in a way that the local community board does not have the authority to adapt them for other uses, and/or people actually liking the parks.

Even the impoverished area around the new Yankee Stadium was able to get assurances of improved facilities, etc in the deal. (Basically the old stadium was to be torn down, and they were to build a new larger one, next to the old one).

....I read an article that the the public has yet to get its new facilities because the construction is behind schedule.

Intuitively, someone might think building a huge new stadium would have been more likely to run behind schedule than some park space, but only if they forgot the power of the almighty dollar.

Tearing something down with heavy equipment is always quicker than building something new and beautiful, right?

homeowner

Nah, the problem is that the Yankees oversaw the building of Yankee Stadium while the Parks Department is overseeing the building of the replacement park. The Yankees had a vested interest in making sure they had a facility completed on-time and within budget. The Parks Department has to deal with budget cuts, the inability to incentivise its projects and the fact that even if they never build the park, there is absolutely nothing the citizens can do about it.

Had the city been smart they would have made the rebuilding of the park the Yankees responsibility and required it to be turned over completed prior to opening day at the new Yankee Stadium. But Rudy was never going to twist either Randy Levine's or George Steinbriner's arms so...

whynot_31

Sorry, I didn't mean to leave out the tendency for NYC government to be slow and unaccountable, as a result of:

unpredictable fund availability,

contracts which are often toothless, and

un-savvy and wimpy negotiators.

whynot_31

this just in......

It seems the City Council Member who was going to propose banning cars from Prospect Park AND Central Park, is now only going to request a ban in

(wait for it)

Central Park.

.....so, cars will continue to have access to Prospect Park during rush hours for the indefinite future.

I predict we will get to revisit the issue again in a few years

Sources: http://www.brownstoner.com/brownstoner/archives/2011/05/closing_bell_ca_5.php#comments

http://www.brooklyndowntownstar.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Car-free+parks+bill+won-t+target+Prospect+Park &id=13043072&instance=home_news_1st_left

boygabriel

Brewer has decided the controversy surrounding the Prospect Park West bike lane "threw a wrench into any hopes of tackling another hot-button transportation issue" in Brooklyn.

So the superfluous and weak lawsuit about the PPW bike lane brought by a small group of privileged people have successfully influenced a pro-car policy in this case.

They're achieving their goal.

Wonderful.