whats happening in the middle of Vandy?

am i crazy or does it look like they are prepping the middle of Vandy between Atlantic and about Prospect for a median strip?

http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=41758
and, earlier: http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=28423

I'm very excited about this!

Im also extremely excited about these...Yay!!!!

Very Nice indeed!

this is a good thing.

Why is this a good thing? I'm just curious.

I've always ridden down the ave. (bikes, skateboards) late at night and there's nothing more fun than slaloming across that big fat wide road.

adding a median for pedestrians? you really need a 'break' from one side to the other?

if it's very well kept with nice plants, well, that might be nice. But I forsee a dead strip with stray coke cans.

will miss those late night runs.

Oh..

"* landscaped pedestrian crossings at Park Place, Bergen Street and Dean Street, and a raised and landscaped median between Prospect Place and St. Marks Avenue."

So it will be landscaped.. and it's billed as helping out bikers. Ok.. I'm down to check it out.. just not sure how taking away space on the road will make it easier for a biker.. shouldn't they just made better bike lanes?

Unless it's being done euro style with a separate bike line with its own median. THAT would be cool.

bicicleta wrote:

Unless it's being done euro style with a separate bike line with its own median. THAT would be cool.

agreed.

vanilla wrote: [quote=bicicleta]

Unless it's being done euro style with a separate bike line with its own median. THAT would be cool.

agreed.

That would be very nice!

But I have to say that I do think that this is a good idea. The light to cross Vanderbilt is a short one and I see lots of kids going to school and moms with little ones trying to rush across that street so at least if you get stuck in the middle your can wait for the light instead of playing human frogger

So is anyone old school enough to know whether there used to be a trolley line on Vanderbilt? I'm assuming the answer is yes, because the street excavation in preparation for the new landscaping revealed these old tracks:

Pretty cool. I'm not nearly old enough to remember trolleys anywhere in NYC (i do remember double decker public buses and checker cabs though)...however this pic of Vanderbilt looking North from Grand Army seems to support the notion:

http://www.brooklynpix.com/photoframex1.php?photo=/photo1/P/pheights37.jpg&key=PHEIGHTS 37


edit: This one is better. Early 1950's Vanderbilt at Park, looking North....pretty much right where your modern day pic was taken.

http://www.brooklynpix.com/photoframex1.php?photo=/photo1/P/pheights36.jpg&key=PHEIGHTS 36

Nice pics! I think the first one is almost exactly where I took my pic!

Subject: Cool

Yep, those are definitely trolley tracks!

Here's the first of the Vandy medians -

Anyone else spot that 1950s scourge of Prospect Heights in the lower left hand corner of this photo:

http://www.brooklynpix.com/photoframex1.php?photo=/photo1/P/pheights36.jpg&key=PHEIGHTS%2036

!@#$% strollers!

I mean look at that guy, thinking he owns the sidewalk!

There goes the neighborhood!

WhyFi...

Heh, I think I may have seen you (or someone else) snapping this exact shot at around 6:50p.

Dark blazer, jeans, black shoes?

Or was that someone else...

Too funny. Thanks for documenting and posting here.

These additions to Vanderbilt are fantastic, for both pedestrians and drivers alike.

jeffrey wrote: WhyFi...

Heh, I think I may have seen you (or someone else) snapping this exact shot at around 6:50p.

Dark blazer, jeans, black shoes?

Or was that someone else...

Too funny. Thanks for documenting and posting here.

These additions to Vanderbilt are fantastic, for both pedestrians and drivers alike.

Devilishly handsome?

Yeah, that was me - I made a new strap for my camera, so it's been getting a workout.

Hah, nice to almost meet you.

I was in a car waiting at the light and made the comment to my kids that I bet someone's gonna post that photo to Brooklynian, and I wonder who it is.

:scratch:

WhyFi wrote: Devilishly handsome?

LOCK YOU DOORS!

At least you didn't describe me as a hipster guy... :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

I remember takin' a look at the cars, 'cause someone honked, and I thought that it might have been directed at me...

(You're so vain, you probably think this honk is about you...)

sterling2000 wrote: Anyone else spot that 1950s scourge of Prospect Heights in the lower left hand corner of this photo:

http://www.brooklynpix.com/photoframex1.php?photo=/photo1/P/pheights36.jpg&key=PHEIGHTS%2036

!@#$% strollers!

I mean look at that guy, thinking he owns the sidewalk!

There goes the neighborhood!

That is awesome!

Okay, chalk up the 2nd-in-24h close encounter of the Brooklynian kind for me at the corner of Park and Vanderbilt.

Whatchuwant surprised me semi-incognito just now rockin' some seriously vamp, dark lipstick (rrrrowrrr! :twisted: ).

Good stuff.

Dude... at least bodega hangers-on have, uh, bodegas on their corner haunt - what's your story? Dry cleaner hanger-on?

jeffrey wrote: Okay, chalk up the 2nd-in-24h close encounter of the Brooklynian kind for me at the corner of Park and Vanderbilt.

Whatchuwant surprised me semi-incognito just now rockin' some seriously vamp, dark lipstick (rrrrowrrr! :twisted: ).

Good stuff.

For the record- there was not a drop of lint to be found on Jeffrey. Clean as a whistle and very spiffy in his button down.

Hah, WhyFi, close...

Suffice it to say that there is a place nearby that commands a fair amount of my attention, outside of my own work.

And Whatchuwant, you should have seen WhyFi yesterday.

Methinks I need to step up my game.

The one time I met Wi-fi, he was actually rockin' the look, tis true.

they made more progress today but the tracks def slow them down

There used to be trolleys and elevated trains all over Brooklyn. The Brooklyn Dodgers were named so because Brooklyn pedestrians were constantly dodging the trolleys. Are we still dodging?

Streetsblog

the divider looks nice, but i wish they would of built a separate bike path instead, like a road between park cars and side walk.

armchair_warrior wrote: the divider looks nice, but i wish they would of built a separate bike path instead, like a road between park cars and side walk.

Ala 9th Ave (in Manhattan?)