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BROOKLYN WEEKLY, FEB. 24, 2019
Someone call the police!
City must install traffi c agents amid construction on Fourth Ave, locals demand
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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 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
police to install the traffi
c agents before the start
of construction, which required
closing lanes on
Fourth Avenue to set up
equipment-staging areas,
and setting up barriers that
narrow the 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 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.
“The situation is dangerous
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
ruled out diverting resources
to Fourth Avenue,
however, and will continue
to liaise with state transit
leaders about traffi c issues,
according to Grimpel.
“We are always willing
to talk to our partner agencies
regarding community
concerns,” he said.
The disconnect between
city and state agencies on
the Fourth Avenue traffi c issue
is just the latest example
of government offi cials at
all levels failing to properly
serve their constituents, according
to Jasie.
“Somehow the two agencies
can’t seem to coordinate.
This is indicative
of the way things happen
in the city, and in Sunset
Park,” he said.
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
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