As proposed in July 2011 by the NYC DOT, the sidewalk along Front Street near York Street is being widened and landscaped neckdown on the corner of York and Front are being worked on according to workers on site. A neckdown is a curb extension at intersections that reduces the roadway width and tightens the curb radii at the corner. This provides a shorter distance for pedestrians to cross and reduces the speed of turning vehicles.

The cross walk at York Street and Front Street will be reduced from 71 feet to 25 feet. This will also improve sight lines for drivers on York Street turning onto Front Street. However, as one of our readers pointed out, semi trucks use York Street to make a right turn onto Front either because they can’t make the turn at York and Washington Streets.

Permit # TV-351: Monday and Tuesday, 10/31 – 11/1 2011 between 6am – 10pm

Filming for a new Spike Lee TV drama series, Da Brick is occurring in Dumbo Brooklyn on Front Street between Washington and York Streets and on York Street today and tomorrow (10/31-11/1). Da Brick stars Kamil Dabrowski, Milauna Jemai and Julito McCullum.

All filming posts are tagged here: DumboNYC.com/tag/filming

Drivers, please note there’s a new ‘No Standing’ sign on York Street at Front Street. This sign went up last week and cars have been ticketed and towed. One of our readers wrote in:

Wanted to alert you to the new No Standing sign at the bottom of York Street at the corner of Front. I parked at the bottom of the street Friday night and was towed promptly at 7am on Saturday morning. I talked to a neighbor who said the sign went up on Monday (to the best of his knowledge).

The new No Standing sign is quite a ways away from the restricted area (because there is a hydrant and a driveway in between) and there is no sign at the very corner, so if you are on “auto pilot” when you are looking for parking in the neighborhood, there is no way you are going to see the new signage. In addition, the sign is on the far side of post, making it nearly impossible to see unless you are standing right in front of it.

In other parking news, the parking meter pay system (made by Parkeon) have been installed to replace the individual meters. The cost is $0.25 per 15 minutes.

As part of the Old Fulton Street redesign presented by the NYC DOT (DOT PDF, 3.42mb), the street leading to Pier 1 at Brooklyn Bridge Park got all of the attention. However, it’s also worth noting that they are proposing to shorten the cross walk at York Street and Front Street from 71 feet to 25 feet. Their proposal will:

• Improve sight lines for drivers on York Street turning onto Front Street
• Shorten cross walk distance from 71 to 25 feet
• Add new bicycle markings
• Construct landscaped neckdowns on Front and York Streets

We’ve seen a bicyclist get hit in that crosswalk and several near misses. Cars seem to zoom by that long crosswalk and swerve around pedestrians and bicyclists, so this proposal would reduce the risk of an accident there.

Previously:
{DOT Looks to Revamp the Streets Near Pier 1 but Not B25 Bus Route, 13Jul2011}

On Tuesday morning, several car owners on York Street, between Washington and Front Street discovered that their windows were smashed. There were at least 7 windows smashed. Broken glass is still littered on the sidewalk/street (as of this morning).

Be on the lookout for suspicious activity and call the 84th Precinct (718-875-6811 (store this number in your cell phone)) or 911 if you witness any crimes. Please continue to call so they can log/track the area.

[+ click for larger]

The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation sent an update to residents in the Vinegar Hill area announcing that the “site characterization of a former manufactured gas holder station”, located on Front Street will begin in the fall of 2010.

According to the mailer (PDF alert 1.3mb), the former holder station is located on Front Street in the block bounded by Front, York, Bridge and Gold Streets (map above):

Site Description
“The Site was operated as a gas storage and distribution facility from the late 1800s to the 1930s. No gas was manufactured at the Site. Gas was manufactured at other facilities in Brooklyn and delivered to the Front Street Holder Station through a network of underground pipes. The gas was provided to homes, businesses and industries and used in much the same way natural gas is used today.”

Site Characterization
The principal contamination targeted by the site characterization is coal tar, which is the primary by-product associated with manufactured gas sites. Coal tar is a brownish to black liquid with an odor similar to driveway sealer. It contains a variety of environmental contaminants including polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX).

Background
In 2007, National Grid (then KeySpan) entered into a consent order with the NYSDEC that requires Natioanl Grid to investigate, and where necessary, remediate former gas manufacturing and storage sites. The former Front St. site is one of the storage sites that are included in the consent order.

In the fall of 2010, National Grid will begin a site characterization to determine whether any contamination related to the former gas storage operation exists in the soil or groundwater beneath the Site. Site characterization activities will include drilling of soil borings, installation of groundwater monitoring wells, and collection of soil and water samples for chemical analysis. All work will be done under the oversight of NYSDEC and the NYSDOH.

The area includes addresses such as 206 Front Street, 218 Front Street (Joy Foot International Inc. Import/Export/Wholesale business warehouse), 181 York Street and 185 York Street (pic).

Additional information on manufactured gas is found at dec.ny.gov/chemical/8430.html.

{181 York Street Rentals On the Market, 11May2010}
{181 York Street Update, 16Feb2009}
{New Residents, How’s 206 Front Street?, 20Jul2007}

Another development that shows that Dumbo is ‘growing up’ (read: gentrified), Dumbo is getting its first stoplight on the corner of Jay and York Street. The DOT crews were pouring concrete in the foundation this afternoon to install the base of the streetlights (photo of base). This corner is near the F station entrance and gets busy with pedestrians in the morning and afternoon.

We guessed correctly, after the Dumbo Improvement District tweeted a message with a photo yesterday of lamp post being removed. Not confirmed yet, but there are talks about having other stop lights on Washington and York Street and on Front and Pearl Adams Street. [correction: There's a request for a stop sign (not light) on Front and Pearl, and not Adams as originally posted.]

We’re no city planners, but with the increased number of pedestrians in the area, the lights should help avoid any accidents…in theory. Do you think this will help our neighborhood? Are there other corners that need a stop light?

Readers have reported recent car break ins on York Street between Adams and Front Street and on Front Street between Gold and Hudson Streets this past week. According to police patrols, they have received at least 6 or 7 reports of car windows smashed or items stolen from cars. Could Squarehead be back on the streets?

Be on the lookout for suspicious activity and call the 84th Precinct (718-875-6811 (store this number in your cell phone)) or 911 if you witness any crimes. Please continue to call so they can log/track the area. If they get enough calls, they will deploy more patrol or even a NYPD Sky Watch.

181 York Street (aka The Lili Rose), by architect Bricolage Architecture & Design, is now on the market for rental units. Prudential Douglas Elliman and Corcoran both have listings for the Vinegar Hill apartment. There are two 2 bedroom units and eight 1 bedroom units in the building. Initial prices for the 10 unit building:

• 2 beds, 2 bath, 850 ft², range: $2,800 – $3,000 per month
• 1 bed, 1 bath, 500 ft², range: $1,650 – $2,350 per month

Will the Lili Rose rentals go at these price points?

(Photos from Elliman)

(Photos from Corcoran)

{Streeteasy listings for 181 York}
{BIS}
{181 York St Update}

A NY Times article mapped the NYC Transit station-by-station ridership in 2009. Some areas of NYC went down in ridership, such as Midtown, “which has lost tens of thousands of jobs since 2008, dropped at more than twice the rate of the system as a whole…In all, the system had 1.58 billion rides last year, officials said, a decline of 2.7 percent from 2008.” So how did the Dumbo-area subway stations do in 2009? York Street (F) station increased ridership by 3.2% and High Street (A, C) decreased slightly by 1.8%:

• High Street (A, C) – Avg daily riders, 2009: 5,173. Percent change, 2008-2009: -1.4%
• York Street (F) – Avg daily riders, 2009: 5,243. Percent change, 2008-2009: +3.2%
• Clark Street (2, 3) – Avg daily riders, 2009: 4,674. Percent change, 2008-2009: +4.8%

For other stations, check out the NY Times interactive map of the subway ridership.