(Photo by David Castillo of Blue Barn Pictures)
Anchorage Place
If you’re prepping for the Brooklyn Half Marathon on Saturday and you’ve already stopped by the pre-party at the Tobacco Warehouse, head over to The Archway for the Bike Home From Work Party on Friday, May 17, 2013 at 6:30pm. The Archway will be transformed into an evening festival of bicycles. Pop-up shops with bicycles, clothes and accessories will line the streets, with a “Reflective Fashion Show” on the catwalk. The event is free, and there will be food and drinks available for purchase. Celebrate bicycling to work:
What: Bike Home From Work Party Presented By GIRO
Who: Hosted by Transportation Alternatives
Where: The Archway Under the Manhattan Bridge, on Water St. between Adams and Pearl St., DUMBO
When: Friday, May 17th at 6:30 pm
Event Description:
Bright lights against the night, the Manhattan skyline in the distance and a catwalk alive with reflective tape? It’s not your typical Brooklyn Friday night at the first-ever Bike Home from Work Party. Under the high stone archways of the Manhattan Bridge, DUMBO Brooklyn will be transformed into an evening festival of bicycles. Pop-up shops with bicycles, clothes and accessories will line the streets. With a “Reflective Fashion Show” on the catwalk, visibility will blend with haute couture. Food, drink and a joyful way to celebrate bicycling to work.
RSVP: bikenyc.org/bike-home-party
Food vendors include:
If you were at this year’s Dumbo Art Festival, you saw ‘An Inquiring Age,’ part of the “Codex Dynamic” video projection exhibition.
The above video is a summary of the exhibition, directed by Dumbo based Blue Barn Pictures. Comprised of an international cast of artists and covering 33,000+ sq. ft. (3,065 sq. meters) of the Manhattan Bridge Anchorage, Archway and the adjacent cityscape, the exhibition employed the latest in video mapping technologies.
(Could this be the new Pearl Street Triangle?)
As we noted in November 2011, the Dumbo Improvement District secured $20 million for a second phase of street reconstruction. The funds will also be used to permanently build out the Pearl Street Triangle to create a plaza space between the Pearl Street Triangle and the adjacent Archway under the Manhattan Bridge.
The NYCDOT and NYCDDC are hosting a public workshop to gather community input on the permanent design of the plaza spaces on Tuesday, July 17, 2012 starting at 6pm at 111 Front Street, Room 216. This will be the community’s chance to let the designers know what you’d like to see in the space.
The Dumbo BID held an ideas competition for the triangle in 2010, which spurred some interesting (and some far fetched) ideas. While we may not see any of these ideas become reality, next week’s forum will allow the community to provide input to the city on a design that’s best suited for the space.
The above rendering was the winning proposal concept submitted by Brendan Coburn, AIA of Coburn Architecture (based at 45 Main Street) and his project designers, Yuliya Ilizarov and Abdou Ndoye titled “The Tracks: Ride the Rails!” for the Pearl Street Triangle “Ideas Competition” in 2010)
What design (or design elements) do you think should be in the space?
The Dumbo Improvement District, with NYC Department of Transportation are proposing the designation of Anchorage Place between Plymouth Street and Pearl Street as a “Restricted Use Street”, permanently closing it to public vehicle traffic, in order to create one unified plaza space flowing from the Pearl Street Triangle into the Archway under the Manhattan Bridge. In accordance with Local Law 24 of 2005, a public hearing on this proposed action will be held on July 11 from 6:30pm-7:30pm at the DUMBO Loft, 155 Water Street, Brooklyn 11201. Also, NYCDOT will host a public workshop to gather community input on the permanent design of the plaza spaces on July 17, 2012 at 155 Water Street 111 Front Street, Room 216.
Per the Dumbo Improvement District:
Restricting vehicular traffic and pedestrianizing Anchorage Place will enhance safety as pedestrians flow between the Archway and the Pearl Street Triangle. It will also allow the DUMBO Improvement District to increase programming in the plaza spaces by offering a larger area for public seating and for staging of events and art. This pedestrianization proposal received the endorsement of Community Board 2 following a presentation to the Transportation Committee on June 19. 8 retail businesses along Pearl Street and Anchorage Place have signed letters of support.
Details of the proposal:
- The closure would go into effect sometime this summer.
- The closure would be implemented through signage and temporary barriers such as movable planters at either end of Anchorage Place (at Plymouth Street and at Pearl Street).
- Anchorage Place will remain accessible to emergency vehicles at all times.
- Southbound traffic on Anchorage Place would be rerouted to Pearl Street.
- To mitigate the loss of 24 parking spaces along Anchorage Place, the NYCDOT Borough Engineer will modify existing parking regulations to create approximately 20-30 new parking spaces in the neighborhood.
A note on the permanent build out of the plaza spaces: This proposed action to designate Anchorage Place as a Restricted Use Street is separate and distinct from the capital construction of the plaza spaces, which is anticipated to begin in 2014 as part of a $20 million reconstruction of DUMBO’s Belgian Block streets. There are no permanent physical changes proposed as part of this action. However, if the proposed action to designate Anchorage Place as a Restricted Use Street is adopted, the permanent design of Anchorage Place in the capital construction project would reflect this designation accordingly. As part of the initiation of the capital design process, NYCDOT will host a public workshop to gather community input on the permanent design of the plaza spaces on July 17, 2012 at 155 Water Street 111 Front Street, Room 216. The proposed design(s) for the capital project will be presented to the Community Board by the Department of Design and Construction at a later date when those design(s) are available.
What do people think about this proposed change?
(Photo courtesy of Dumbo Improvement District)
The Dumbo Improvement District has noted that they have added 10 picnic tables under The Archway and 20 tables at the Pearl Street Triangle. For those looking for a place to sit for lunch during the summer, this is a good place to do so.