Someone call the police!
City must install traffi c agents amid construction on Fourth Ave, locals demand
LET OUR CLAIMS DEPARTMENT
COLLECT FROM THE RESPONSIBLE
INSURANCE COMPANY INCLUDING
IMMEDIATE CAR RENTAL
You Benefi t By Keeping Your Insurance
Rates Down While Maintaining
An Excellent Driving Record
IMMEDIATE CAR RENTAL
BAY
RIDGE
COURIER L 16 IFE, FEB. 22–28, 2019 M BR B G
3511 Fort Hamilton Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11218
- 10 Blocks from Ocean Parkway on Ft. Hamilton Parkway -
Established 1958
Offi cial Insurance Inspection Station
CALL
ANYTIME
24/7
TOWING
FROM
ANY
LOCATION
F T HAMILTON PKY
CHURCH AV
CATON AV
LY N DE N B LV D
37 ST
McDONALD AV
CONEY ISLAND AV
OCEAN AV
FLATBUSH AV
36 ST
PARK
SLOPE
FLATBUSH
NEW
UTRECT
SHOP
LEAVE ALL YOUR CONCERNS WITH US
SATISFACTION IS OUR CONCERN!
BY COLIN MIXSON
The city refuses to station
traffi c-safety agents near ongoing
construction projects
on Fourth Avenue in Sunset
Park, putting hundreds of area
students’ lives at risk as they
walk to school each day, according
to a local civic leader.
“There are two middle
schools located between
40th and 41st streets, and the
thought that there wouldn’t
be traffi c agents at this pinch
point when there’s well over
a thousand kids crossing every
day is horrible,” Zak
Jasie, chairman of Community
Board 7’s Transportation
Committee, said in reference
to Fourth Avenue learning
houses IS 136 and MS 821, Sunset
Park Prep.
Last summer, leaders of
the state-run Metropolitan
Transportation Authority requested
Police Department
agents monitor traffi c along
the avenue between 40th and
60th streets, ahead of planned
repair work to subway tunnels
on the N and R lines and at the
59th Street station.
Reps for the Transportation
Authority told CB7 members
in August the agency
would work with local police
to install the traffi c agents before
the start of construction,
which required closing lanes
on Fourth Avenue in order to
set up equipment-staging areas,
and setting up barriers
that narrow the busy road to a
single lane at points, occasionally
blocking sightlines for
motorists and pedestrians.
But no agents were in place
when work kicked off later
that month, according to the
panel’s top staffer.
“They came to us in August
and told us they had money in
their budget for traffi c agents,
then the project started and
no agents materialized,” said
CB7 District Manager Jeremy
Laufer.
Laufer, fearing an impending
disaster amid what he described
as a “traffi c mess,” in
October wrote to Police Department
brass, describing
crosswalks on that stretch of
Fourth Avenue as “a frightening
experience,” and demanding
cops heed the state
agency’s request for agents to
monitor the road.
“The situation is dangerous
and intolerable and we
fear that our constituents’
lives are in danger because
the promised traffi c agents
have not been assigned,” his
letter read.
The CB7 district manager
claimed cops never responded
to his letter, but Police Department
spokesman Lt. John
Grimpel told this newspaper
that authorities chose not to reassign
traffi c agents on other
posts to Fourth Avenue after
surveying the situation, despite
the local civic gurus’ and state
transit offi cials’ requests.
Grimpel argued the department
lacked the funds
necessary to beef up enforcement
on Fourth Avenue, but
Transportation Authority
spokeswoman Amanda Kwan
claimed the agency set aside
$2.5 million specifi cally for
that purpose.
Kwan added that the authority
turns to city offi cials
for enforcement support when
its projects affect local streets,
because the state agency does
not have jurisdiction over
those roads.
“We don’t have the ability
to enforce traffi c such as impose
fi nes,” she said.
Police have not entirely
LANE DRAIN: State transit workers took over a driving lane on Fourth
Avenue outside IS 136 and MS 821 to make repairs to subway tunnels
beneath the road. Photo by Colin Mixson
Continued on page 20