Markowitz Announces Task Force To Transform Fourth Avenue by Brooklyn Eagle (edit@brooklyneagle.net), published online 08-12-2011

From Atlantic Avenue to the Atlantic Ocean BROOKLYN — On Wednesday, August 10, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz hosted a long term planning meeting at Borough Hall for the transformation of 4th Avenue, and announced the formation of a task force, chaired by Chief of Staff Carlo Scissura, to oversee planning of project specifics, including tree planting and use of a newly expanded Times Plaza — the intersection of Fourth, Atlantic and Flatbush avenues. Attendees included Councilmembers Vincent Gentile, Sara González, Brad Lander and Stephen Levin, as well as representatives for Congresswoman Yvette Clarke, Congressman Michael Grimm and Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez. Community board members, civic organizations and representatives from the DOT, City Planning, Parks Department, MTA and other agencies also participated. Among the task force’s key planning initiatives: • Planting sidewalk trees along the entire length of 4th Avenue from Flatbush Avenue to Shore Road • Design use of newly expanded Times Plaza at the intersection of 4th, Atlantic and Flatbush Avenues • Ensuring safety for all users of Fourth Avenue • Enhance subway median vents with artworks and/or plantings • The co-naming of Fourth Avenue. In May 2010, BP Markowitz released “Vision for the Fourth Avenue Corridor,” a collaborative effort with urban planning students from New York University’s Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service (NYU Wagner) to begin the process of initiating a community-driven transformation of Brooklyn’s Fourth Avenue into “Brooklyn Boulevard,” a signature street worthy of the great communities that surround it. The vision plan proposes an active street for residents, economic opportunities for local businesses and exhibit spaces for the artist community. These goals will be achieved through traffic-calming measures, streetscaping, placemaking and wayfinding improvements, and community partnerships. To view the report, visit www.brooklyn-usa.org. “I am thrilled that the City Planning Department is moving ahead with recommendations I proposed in a February letter to Commissioner Burden,” said Markowitz. “This proposed commercial rezoning along Fourth Avenue from Atlantic Avenue to 24th Street — on which it was a pleasure to work with Councilman Brad Lander and the Park Slope Civic Council, among others — will allow for new retail and other appropriate uses while preventing the changes that have resulted in an aesthetically unpleasing environment for pedestrians. For years now, I have called for the transformation of Fourth Avenue into a signature street worthy of the great neighborhoods it traverses, and street-level retail is a necessary requirement to facilitating a vibrant and active street life.”