Firsts

Hopefully, this first full week of 2025 has been a good one. It was certainly a cold and active one with congestion pricing finally starting, the Mayor’s State of the City address, and our Full Board Meeting.

Hopefully, this first full week of 2025 has been a good one. It was certainly a cold and active one with congestion pricing finally starting, the Mayor’s State of the City address, and our Full Board Meeting.

Our Full Board meeting on Wednesday at Van Alen & via Zoom had three items up for a vote: 2 landmark applications and 1 Liquor License, which were all approved. The first landmark application was for 14 Sterling Place, allowing for a rear yard extension, mechanical equipment on the roof, and facade renovations. The second was for a new four-unit building at 28 7th Avenue. The liquor license application was for a French/ American restaurant at 305 Smith Street. Along with those votes, we were joined by reps from our city, state, and federal governments; there were reminders for upcoming meetings, BMT workshops, concrete on Columbia Street, Community Board applications, Mulchfest, Gowanus construction, our ever-popular Alternate Side Parking Calendar and more.

You’ll find more items of interest by scrolling and reading the rest of this email. But before you do that, I want to highlight that today is the second anniversary of Sarah Schick’s death and that at 5 PM today, there will be a vigil, organized with her family, at the corner of 9th Street and 2nd Avenue to honor her. Some may recall that Sarah was a 37-year-old mother of 2 who was killed by a box truck driver while cycling at the intersection of 9th Street and 2nd Avenue in Gowanus. Sarah’s death, and others, would’ve been avoided had better policy choices been made. Policy choices we’ve long supported, specifically on 9th Street and beyond, such as expanded – and unobstructed – sidewalks and pedestrian islands, continuously protected bike lanes, universally daylighted intersections, and dedicated enforcement of dangerous driving and parking behaviors. There have been some, but not nearly enough, improvements on 9th Street in the intervening years, but we shouldn’t have to wait for tragedy for those design and enforcement improvements to happen. Making those changes would save lives and honor Sarah’s memory. 

On that note, whether you read past this point or not, I wish you the best. 

This is the web archive of a newsletter originally sent by email to Brooklyn Community Board 6 subscribers on Friday, January 10, 2025. The email edition may contain additional event listings and links.