I hope you're enjoying the weekend. It follows quite a week for civics, from macro to micro: a debate, an election, a budget, and meetings, two of which were our committees.
The first of our meetings was on Monday when our Permits & Licenses committee unanimously approved two liquor license applications. One is for a Mexican restaurant on 2nd Street between 4th and 5th (previously Benchmark), and the other is for an Argentinian restaurant at 550 Court Street, off West 9th.
Then, on Thursday, DOT presented plans for a Flatbush Ave Bus Lane to our Transportation & Public Safety Committee. We made our preference for a center-running bus lane clear to DOT, especially after having the slow bus speeds documented in the presentation. However, we didn't vote on this since it's still in the preliminary stages, but we expect DOT to come back to us with more fleshed-out plans in the fall. During the meeting, we acknowledged the tragic death of Carolyn Cox, an 83-year-old woman who was struck and killed by a dump truck on Wednesday where Bond and Butler Street meet. As we said on Wednesday, this tragedy underscores the pressing need to design all of our streets with safety in mind, including features like physical curb extensions, clearly marked and raised crosswalks, and universal daylighting, and to implement the lower speed limits facilitated by the recent passage of Sammy's Law as soon as possible and that our thoughts are with the victim and her family and friends.
I'll stop and suggest scrolling to read the rest of this email. But before that, I'll highlight that the City's FY25 budget, as we voted for, will include an additional 2 billion dollars for affordable housing. We'd have preferred more money, but this part of the budget is a step in the right direction.
Whether you read past this point or not, I wish you the best.
