THEY’LL TAKE IT FROM HERE: A panel of experts formed this month
will be tasked with sifting through alternative proposals for fi xing the
beleaguered Brooklyn-Queens Expressway. dlandstudio
absolute best minds in urban
planning, transportation,
business, design, engineering
and construction
and will create a thoughtful,
meaningful and inclusive
process,” said Scissura.
The city may announce
additional panelists in the
future, according to the
mayor’s offi ce.
Politicians, civic groups,
and world-renowned architectural
fi rms have all put
forward their plans as alternatives
to the department’s
unpopular schemes to either
repair the highway bit-bybit
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
It’s time to brainstorm.
The city has formed
a panel of experts to sift
through the multitude of alternative
proposals to fi x the
ailing Brooklyn-Queens Expressway,
Mayor de Blasio
announced on April 3.
The panel will be led by
Carlo Scissura, the chief of the
building industry advocacy
group the New York Building
Congress and previous head of
the business advocacy group
the Brooklyn Chamber of
Commerce. Scissura will meet
with 15 fellow eggheads to examine
the alternative proposals
over the coming months in
order to fi nd the best solution
for the project, according to
de Blasio.
“The BQE is a lifeline
for Brooklyn and the entire
city — which is why we are
bringing in a panel of nationally
renowned experts from
a range of fi elds to vet all
ideas and make sure we get
this right,” Hizzoner said in
a statement. “We will be engaging
in a transparent, collaborative
process to fi nd the
best solution for one of the
most critical transportation
corridors in the nation.”
The brain trust will begin
meeting this month to
look at the ever-growing
number of alternatives that
have emerged since the Department
of Transportation
announced its controversial
plans last September, and
will fi le a report with their
recommendations to the city
this summer, according to
the mayor’s offi ce.
It consists of a number of
top fi gures from academia,
industry groups, local civic
organizations, as well as labor
and business interests,
according to its chair.
“The panel that has been
assembled represents the
or run a six-lane highway
along the beloved Brooklyn
Heights Promenade during
construction.
The department recently
indicated it was backing off
from those plans and instead
would look at the new alternatives.
The agency has met with
several local residents, politicians,
and businesses to
hear their concerns, including
a closed-door gathering
with leaders of community
boards 2 and 6, but members
of the former board’s transit
committee want to become
project by having a liaison
from the agency to keep them
informed.
panel would provide a new
way for the community to get
involved and that the panel’s
combined expertise would be
a chance to fi nd the best plan.
possible — with community
voices heard throughout the
process,” said Polly Trottenberg,
commissioner.
Building Congress (Chair)
York City Central Labor
Council
Municipal Arts Society
Bridge Park
Edison
School of Engineering
School of Engineering
Law School
Companies of New York
Plan Association
Partnership for NYC
INSIDE
This Charming band
Duo sings of murder and witchcraft in Coney
TBy Aidan Graham he road to Disaster ends in Coney
A Brooklyn duo known for murder
ballads and witchcraft-inspired tunes
will wrap up its first national tour with
a ghoulish concert in the Sodom by the
Sea. The band Charming Disaster will
open for surreal rock act Cookie Tongue at
Coney Island’s Sideshow by the Seashore
on April 19, launching the 2019 “Music of
Curiosities” series. Both bands draw on folk
tales and mystical stories for their songs,
said Charming Disaster’s ukulele player.
“The subject matter tends to be on the
darker side. We get a lot of our inspiration
from folk lore, fairy tales, and ancient
mythologies,” said Ellia Bisker, who also
sings and plays piano with bandmate and
guitarist Jeff Morris.
Bisker, who used to play with a circus
show, promised that the concert will be as
wild as the duo’s music.
“The shows are highly theatrical and
pretty interactive. For example, we’ll go
out into the audience and sing in the
middle of people,” she said. “We like to
break the fourth wall.”
Visitors to the show can get an advance
listen to Charming Disaster’s upcoming
third album, “Spells and Rituals,” set to
debut on June 9. The 11-track album,
filled with songs like “Soft Apocalypse”
and “Be My Bride of Frankenstein,” represents
an evolution of the band’s music,
said Morris.
“It’s a natural progression. It’s definitely
in the spirit of the first two, but I
think it’s more sophisticated and more
ambitious,” he said.
The gothic-folk duo formed in 2012,
after the pair met in a Park Slope bar and
decided to write music together, as a side
project to their respective bands. The
musical chemistry soon led to Charming
Disaster becoming their primary focus,
said Morris.
“It was quickly taking up a lot of our
Charmed, I’m sure: Brooklyn goth-folk
duo Charming Disaster will perform in
Coney Island on April 19. Shervin Lainez
creative energy,” he said. “We found that
we work very collaboratively and complement
each other really well.”
The new band allowed each of them to
focus on the gothic, noir source material
they both enjoy. But working together has
not been without challenges, said Bisker.
“As a two-piece band we have to do
a lot more with a lot less,” said Bisker.
“There’s less instruments, but this project
focuses a lot more on storytelling that we
find interesting.”
Charming Disaster at Sideshows by the
Seashore 1208 Surf Ave. at W. 12th Street
in Coney Island, (718) 372–5159, www.
coneyisland.com. April 19 at 9 p.m. $20.
Your entertainment
guide Page 49
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HOW TO REACH US
COURIER L 2 IFE, APRIL 12–18, 2019 M BR B G
more involved in the
The transportation agency’s
chief said that the expert
“This new panel presents
an important opportunity
to create the best plan
the department’s
Here’s the full panel:
• Carlo Scissura, New York
• Rohit Aggarwala, Sidewalk
• Vincent Alvarez, New
• Kate Ascher, BuroHappold
Engineering
• Elizabeth Goldstein,
• Henry Gutman, Brooklyn
Navy Yard Development
Corporation/Brooklyn
• Kyle Kimball, Con
• Mitchell Moss, NYU Wagner
Graduate School of Public
Service
• Kaan Ozbay, NYU Tandon
• Hani Nassif, Rutgers
• Benjamin Prosky, American
Institute of Architects
• Denise Richardson, General
Contractors Association
• Ross Sandler, New York
• Jay Simson, American
Council of Engineering
• Tom Wright, Regional
• Kathryn Wylde,
Labs
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EXPERT PANEL
Mayor appoints 16 to evaluate alternate BQE proposals
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