Community Magazine October 2010

88 Community magazine City May Revive Brooklyn Trolleys Trolley cars may be riding through Brooklyn once again. Officials with the Department of Transportation say they hope to meet local groups and businesses to discuss the idea of reviving streetcar service between Red Hook and Downtown Brooklyn. Last summer, Mayor Bloomberg backed the prospect of using the city’s old trolley tracks to create new streetcar service in growing waterfront neighborhoods in Queens and Brooklyn, starting in Red Hook. City officials had hoped at the time to begin looking at the possibilities by the end of last year. But the five- month study is only starting now, with federal money secured by Congresswoman Nydia Velazquez. Advocates say the streetcars that once served the neighborhood are cheaper than subways, carry more people than buses, and have zero emissions. Presently, only one bus, the B61, runs between Red Hook and Downtown. Trolley proponents say that this is not enough for an area that has become home to major new stores, including IKEA, and the Brooklyn Cruise Terminal. NY to Get Cleanser Content Info Concerns have increased recently about the possibility of toxins in everyday products, and some studies have linked cleaning product components to asthma, antibiotic resistance, hormone changes and other health issues. But New York State residents might soon be breathing easier, thanks to a law that requires manufacturers to detail product contents. The law, unique in the country, has technically been on the books for nearly 40 years, without being enforced. While many cleanser companies have made some ingredient information available in recent years, the New York measures call for detailed breakdowns. Company-led research on the products’health and environmental effects will also be made available. Manufacturers recently stepped up voluntary disclosures of product ingredients, according to a statement by a spokesman for the American Cleaning Institute. Some ingredients previously were described generally as “fragrance” to protect trade secrets. The Consumer Product Safety Commission requires hazard warning labels on some cleansers, and the National Institutes of Health offer some health and safety information for hundreds of cleaning products. As recently as a year ago, people who wanted ingredient information generally had to show that this information was necessary because of health problems. Most City Restaurants Get A’s, B’s Some 250 restaurants have now completed New York City’s new two-step process for sanitary inspections, and a tally shows that about four out of five of these establishments have earned A or B grades. Nearly half – 48 percent – earnedA’s for their sanitary conditions and food safety practices. Another 31 percent received B’s. Just 12 percent of this initial sample received C grades, and 8 percent were closed until they corrected direct health hazards. Under the new system, any restaurant initially falling short of an Agets a repeat visit within two to three weeks, enabling the operator to improve food safety practices. It will take approximately a year to 14 months to complete a full graded inspection cycle for all of the city’s 24,000 restaurants. Establishments that are found to pose immediate health risks will be closed, and the Health Department will inspect restaurants with B or C grades more often than those receiving A’s, focusing resources on the establishments that need more monitoring. Consumers can review details of inspection results on the Health Department’s improved restaurant inspection website at nyc.gov/health/restaurants. Brooklyn Bridge Out Nights Drivers from Brooklyn to Manhattan are now experiencing what is just the beginning of four years of increased traffic. All three Manhattan-bound lanes of the Brooklyn Bridge will be closed every night until 2014 in a federally funded $500-million project to repair, rehabilitate and repaint the world’s first steel- wire suspension bridge. Manhattan-bound lanes will be closed from 11pm to 6am on weekdays, from 12:01am to 7am on Saturdays, and 12:01am to 9am Sundays. The bridge will be shut entirely for 24 weekends over the four years. Life in the Big City  ” 