Gerritsen Beachers cheer renovation plan
The city will be spending big
on a multi-year effort to renovate
the roads of Gerritsen Beach
(“City to spend millions on ‘very
intense’ Gerritsen Beach reconstruction,”
by Aidan Graham, online
May 1).
Slated to be completed in the
summer of 2022, the $6.6 million
project will fi x the streets
that have deteriorated in recent
years, according to one local civic
leader.
The project, which will begin
in the coming months, will focus
on retrofi tting the infrastructure
around the area to better deal
with storms and fl ooding, according
to a rep with the Department
of Design and Construction.
Readers gave their opinions
online:
I hope they do a good job, because
Build it Back was horrendous and
ended up destroying people’s property
instead of repairing it.
Jack from Gerritsen Beach
Very glad the city is fi xing our
roads. Not happy about the map
if the orange represents the only
repairs. Every single street here
needs repair.
Potholes, sinkholes, and fl ooding
are everywhere. Give us a freakin’
break.
Btw, the re-routing of traffi c and
installations of barriers along Gerritsen
Avenue is nightmarish. Fix
our streets, then leave us alone!!
NA from Gerritsen Beach
This is a neighborhood worth repairing
and maintaining. The waterfront
properties are unique and
should be maintained.. don’t let the
canal disappear.
Janet LaFragola. (Rubenstein)
from Gerritsen Beach
Looming toll
Drivers will soon pay tolls
in both directions on the Verrazzano–
Narrows Bridge, if a
group of local politicians has
its way (“More fare: Local pols
push for two-way Verrazzano
toll,” by Aidan Graham, online
April 29).
Federal legislation introduced
by three Kings County lawmakers
would cut commuter fares in half,
to be paid in both directions on
the bridge.
Currently, drivers fork over
$19 on each trip from Brooklyn to
Staten Island, or $12.24 for travelers
using the E-ZPass system,
whereas drivers can enter Brooklyn
from the island borough free
of charge. The current system allows
out-of-state commuters to
use the bridge as a cheap entry to
the City, said one rep.
Readers share their two cents
about the toll online:
This would be good news for people
that use the Holland Tunnel and
bad news for those that use the VZB
to Staten Island, as the change in
tolling will lead to most trucks going
back to using the bridge.
Commenter from Bay Ridge
It’s going to happen anyway because
of congestion pricing, but
sooner is better...
Sid from Boerum Hill
This change requires Congressional
approval, since fellow congressman
Max Rose is taking this
very seriously for his own constituents
in his own district.
Make it two way and cut the tolls
in half in each way, with rebates to
boot for transit starved residents.
And more bridge shopping, to boot.
It’s more common sense to me.
The Hunkster from Bed-Stuy
PA crooks have no right to take
our money before we use their “services”.
Suppose we come back to
NYC another way than a PA way,
or not at all! And even for when we
do come back, think of all that cash
they are sitting on, “interest free”,
that they’d be otherwise be waiting
for hours, days, weeks, or months
later when we return.
Besides, I so look forward to the
day I leave this NYC government
misery and never return. NYC life
isn’t what it’s cracked up to be.
PA crooks from NYC
This is a ploy to transfer revenue
from the Port Authority to the
MTA. If any trucks from NJ stop
using the Verrazzano Bridge, they
will quickly be replaced by cars
COURIER L 30 IFE, MAY 10–16, 2019 PS
from NJ. There will be no traffi c improvements,
except an even slower
ride into Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Merlino Fabro
from Dyker Heights
A better idea would be to just
eliminate the toll on the VNB altogether
so that everyone will win on
that. Why is Staten Island the only
place where you need to pay a toll
just to leave?
I can see why they are the biggest
opponents to congestion pricing,
considering that they are the
only borough that has barely any
good transit options.
As a matter of fact, I think all
the tolls around NYC should be removed,
especially if the bonds used
for building them were paid off long
ago.
Another thing is that we should
do a better audit on the MTA to see
where their existing revenues are
going to before even thinking about
something like congestion pricing
so that they won’t need to do such
constant hikes.
More importantly, I’m tired of us
motorists always having to be the
cash cow to help fund almost everything
especially when it involves
a transit system we can barely use
ourselves and have to resort to driving
due to having such schedules.
Tal Barzilai
from Pleasantville, NY
Democratic politicians are now
happily pushing for two-way tolling
on the Verrazano Bridge. As they
smile behind the podium saying it
will bring “fairness,” they are doing
this for a sinister, ulterior motive.
Tolls now have approached the
dreaded $20 mark. Anyone watching
TV adverts, shilling wares for
the amazing price of $19.95, there
is a purpose for this. Psychologists
have proven that people are turned
off when prices bypass that $20
mark.
Now, with two-way tolling, the
price magically is lowered to a $9.50
level. BUT, now they are free to
start raising tolls each way.
As the tolls go up once again to
a new level, they expect that people
will be blind to the fact that instead
of paying $19 for one way, two-way
tolls seem cheaper.
Theoretically, full tolls can go
back to the magic 19+-dollar level
each way for a total toll of almost 40
dollars!
Ca-ching, ca-ching!
Robert W. Lobenstein
Sheepshead Bay
Too many problems
Bike lanes on Ninth Street going
from the Prospect Park to Fourth
Avenue is ridiculous. Trucks double
park now and car drivers have to
wait to cross over to other side. Bikers
aren’t using the lanes, they are
still riding in the streets alongside
the cars. Ridiculous!!! And when de-
Blalsio goes to the gym at the Y on
Ninth Street, his SUVs are either
double parked or illegally parked.
WTF?
Bikers should get plates on
their bikes and be a liability, and
car drivers have to drive safely on
roads!!! Fix the problem, but here is
one original Brooklynite who has
offi cially moved out of Brooklyn because
I am not paying one more tax
dollar for stupidity and illogical non
common sense infrastructures!!!
Brooklyn is not the same, and
it is feeling like the ’70s and early
’80s: dirty, not safe, with drugs and
homelessness!!!! Let us not forget
the dog urine and dog feces people
who allow their dogs to do it right in
the middle of sidewalks as you walk
by. Totally disgusting!!!!
Maria Polo
Park Slope
Pony Express
What is going on with the mail
in Brooklyn? I live in zip code area
11235, and mailed a holiday greeting
card to a friend who resides in the
same zip code area. The card arrived
at its destination fi ve days later. I also
mailed a card to zip code area 11210
and the card arrived 11 days later.
For the money we pay, we expect
a better, more competent system.
Have you visited the local post offi
ce on 18th Street and Sheepshead
Bay? People place their mail in the
box provided, but those working at
the post offi ce take their sweet time
in emptying the box.
As a result, mail in the box is
overfl owing, and you can be rest assured
that some mail falls out and
goes lost.
When you say something to
those at the Post Offi ce, they look
at you with complete disdain.
Ed Greenspan
Sheepshead Bay
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