At the urging of Councilman David G. Greenfield and local residents, Community Board 12 members unanimously approved a resolution on Tuesday calling on the city to revoke all permits allowing ShopRite to connect its property to the dead-end at 19th Avenue near 50th Street. Prior to the vote, Councilman Greenfield and several Borough Park residents who live near that intersection testified about the impact that opening up this dead-end to traffic would have on their safety and quality of life, and asked the board to formally oppose ShopRite’s proposal. With this vote, Community Board 12 is now on the record in requesting that the NYC Department of Transportation and Buildings Department revoke any permits that have already been issued to ShopRite due to the major impact this would have on traffic throughout the neighborhood, and the fact that the corporation did not approach the Community Board, Councilman Greenfield or neighbors about their plans or conduct any type of traffic study.

“My thanks to the entire membership of Community Board 12 for doing the right thing and standing up for the many Borough Park residents who would be greatly impacted by ShopRite’s proposal. I was very disappointed that ShopRite did not inform the public about their intentions or give the community a chance to provide input to reduce the project’s impact on the surrounding neighborhood. If ShopRite gets their way, this will back up traffic all the way down 50th Street in Borough Park. This vote was an important step in our efforts to protect the quality of life for local residents,” said Councilman Greenfield.

“If this project is allowed to proceed, it will present a logistical nightmare and only exacerbate the existing congestion and transportation issues in the neighborhood. The vast majority of ShopRite’s costumers do not even live in the area. ShopRite has acted in bad faith in pursuing this venture without the input or support of the community. It’s time for ShopRite to heed the concerns and objections of the community and act accordingly. I unequivocally oppose this measure,” said State Senator Simcha Felder, who sent a representative to relay his concerns to the Community Board.

Under the proposal, ShopRite would connect the parking lot at the rear of its property to the dead-end at 19th Avenue just north of 50th Street via an internal driveway. This new access would be used throughout the day and night by customers, bringing hundreds of cars to a small section of 19th Avenue that is currently free of through-traffic and is not large enough to accommodate this volume of vehicles. It would also likely cause major backups along already-busy 50th Street, which is a city bus route and one of the few direct thoroughfares between Borough Park and Midwood. As a result, the quality of life, safety, health and peace and quiet that residents in that area deserve would be destroyed irrevocably. In addition, this immediate area is home to three schools and a senior assisted living facility, compounding the safety concerns.

At Tuesday night’s CB 12 meeting, Transportation Committee Chairwoman Sandy Aboulafia presented the emergency resolution to the full board after hearing strong opposition to ShopRite’s plan from a half-dozen residents. The resolution cites the amount of traffic that would use this route and the impact it would have on the community at large, and strongly requests that all city agencies revoke any approvals already granted for this project.

Councilman Greenfield will now continue to work closely with the Department of Transportation and Buildings Department to make sure those agencies are aware of the strong community opposition to ShopRite’s ill-conceived proposal. This morning, Greenfield met at the site with Brooklyn DOT Commissioner Joseph Palmieri to personally covey the community’s concerns to him and show him the impact this project would have on the area.

“It was great to see so many residents join the political process by speaking out against this proposal and the negative major impact it would have on their neighborhood. I appreciate Commissioner Palmieri taking the time to meet with me on site this morning and his commitment to work with us on this issue. I will continue to fight alongside my constituents and my colleagues including State Senator Simcha Felder until this situation is resolved to the community’s satisfaction,” concluded Councilman Greenfield.

(YWN Desk – NYC)