Beginning on Wednesday, February 23, 2011, and continuing for approximately one and a half weeks, the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) will continue excavating test pits along Eastern Parkway between Grand Army Plaza and Washington Avenue/Underhill Avenue (mid-block) Service Road. The work will cause short-term interruptions to curbside parking and driveway access along the affected section of Eastern Parkway. The contractor's working hours are Monday – Friday between the hours of 7:00AM and 6:00PM.

At a meeting Thursday evening that stretched into early Friday morning, the Department of Education Panel on Education Policy voted to close M.S. 571, located at 80 Underhill Avenue in the P.S. 9 building. The PEP further voted to co-locate the Brooklyn East Collegiate charter school in the P.S. 9 building. Brooklyn East Collegiate currently serves the East New York neighborhood.
 

On Wednesday, December 8, PHNDC presented a public forum on traffic issues experienced since the start of arena construction at Atlantic Yards, as well as those impacts expected to occur at the time of the Barclays Center opening in 2012. Representatives from PHNDC were joined by Ryan Lynch, senior planner from the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, as well as Assemblyman Hakeem Jeffries and Councilmember Letitia James.

New York State Supreme Court Justice Marcy Friedman found that the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) unreasonably failed to properly assess the impacts of twenty-five years of extended construction at the Atlantic Yards site in Brooklyn. Judge Friedman’s ruling was entered following a motion by BrooklynSpeaks petitioners to reargue an earlier decision by the Court in favor of ESDC and Forest City Ratner Companies (FCRC).

The NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission has updated and revamped its Rowhouse Manual, a handbook that assists owners of the buildings that lie within New York City’s 116 historic districts and extensions maintain their special properties. It also offers step-by-step instructions on how to work successfully and efficiently with the Commission throughout the permit process.

Owners of properties within the Prospect Heights Historic District are encouraged to download and review the updated Rowhouse Manual prior to planning remodeling or maintenance work on their buildings.

As part of the city’s recent Pedestrian Safety Study and Action Plan, and as a continuation of ongoing efforts to improve the pedestrian experience on Flatbush Avenue, NYC DOT will soon equip all Flatbush intersections between Fulton Street and Grand Army Plaza with safety-enhancing pedestrian countdown signals. These signals are among 1,500 the Department of Transportation plans to install at intersections selected for their above average roadway width, unique layout, and high rates of accidents involving pedestrians.