Manhattan-based atheists are ready to sue the city for installing a Red Hook street sign endorsing ideas of the afterlife, according to the Brookyln Paper.
The sign, which reads “Seven in Heaven Way,” a renaming of a stretch of Richards Street, was designated to honor seven firefighters who died during the Sept. 11 attacks. The protestors term the sign spiritual “product placement.”
“We see religion imprinted in our culture from the time we’re young enough to remember,” said Ken Bronstein of NYC Atheists, who has met with lawyers and plans to file suit. “Taxpayers are paying for this sign, so we’re paying for this message to be broadcast.” [more]

A greening initiative at Red Hook’s waterfront is ready to set sail, but some local activists see the Port Authority as slow to get on board. The agency, which owns the piers between Atlantic Avenue and Red Hook, says it is looking into installing the infrastructure required to allow for a process called cold ironing — which helps reduce likely carcinogenic emissions from docked ships — but only at Pier 12, the passenger cruise ship terminal. That’s because there are far more incoming cargo vessels than cruise ships, making the initiative more complex to implement in other terminals, said a spokesperson for the Port Authority. But others say cargo vessels would actually be easier and cheaper to retrofit with the greening equipment, and Community Board 6 is behind the efforts of port operator American Stovedoring International to move ahead with cold ironing outfitting despite the Port Authority’s resistance. Last week, the board unanimously approved the installation of the infrastructure at Piers 8, 9 and 10, saying that the move could have tremendous health benefits for the neighborhood.

In response to a building boom that left Brooklyn with hundreds of stalled construction sites, the borough’s Community Board 6 has unanimously approved a new development policy aimed at increasing safety at construction sites by weeding out contractors with a tendency to overlook violations. Now, new construction, renovation or addition projects of 10,000 square feet or more will be subject to a special board review process, in which applicants will be asked to commit to following a series of responsible development standards, including maintaining a safe work site and having a history of good behavior. While the board, which represents Gowanus, Red Hook, Park Slope, Cobble Hill, the Columbia Street Waterfront District and Carroll Gardens, cannot force a contractor or developer out of a project, it hopes the new policy will encourage higher standards. “Too often, our community has seen developers, contractors and subcontractors who violate the health, safety, buildings, noise, and workplace laws and standards of New York City, jeopardize the health and lives of their workers, and permit dangerous and severe nuisances for adjacent property owners,” the board said in its decision. [Post]

Manhattan’s East Siders are getting shafted when it comes to being able to enjoy the island’s waterfront, according to William Oddo, a longtime Stuyvesant Town resident and former Community Board 6 member. Whereas West Siders have gained an array of water access points in recent years, from Hudson River Park to Riverside Park and their adjacent piers, the East Side has seen little development to match. Oddo, who is also an engineer, has been working to change that. After founding Stuyvesant Cove Park, which opened in 2002 between 18th and 23rd streets on the East River, Oddo has set his sights on a small pier 100 feet offshore, connected by gangways. He has applied for $825,000 in funding from the Environmental Protection Fund through the city. Oddo envisions a place where East Siders can escape from the city and from the noise of the highways. [Villager]

Brooklyn’s Community
Board 6′s land use committee approved the rezoning of 86 blocks in
Carroll Gardens and the Columbia Street Waterfront District, which will
establish height limits on new construction in the brownstone
neighborhoods. One criticism the committee had in the rezoning plan is
about one L-shaped section on Clinton Street from Degraw Street south
to First Place and east to Court Street that could permit building
heights of about seven stories. The committee adopted an amendment
calling for the city to change that part of the plan and cut the
allowed height. “The community spoke with a fairly unified voice and no
one actually seemed to object to the overall acknowledgment that the
neighborhood was worth protecting through a contextual rezoning,” said
Craig Hammerman, the district manager of the board.