On Monday evening, over 100 people gathered for the Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Business Improvement District (BID) 12th Annual Meeting at Cultura Pan Latin Cooking in Clinton Hill. The event provides an opportunity for BID Members – property owners, merchants, and residents within the district – to review the BID’s work over the past year.  The meeting closed with a forum for sharing the concerns of merchants who have been impacted by the prolonged construction of the new Myrtle Avenue Plaza.  Representatives from various city agencies and elected offices were on hand to listen to community members, pledge action for improving the construction process, and provide updates on the remaining construction activity.

Following invitations from the BID, staff from the NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) and the Department of Transportation (DOT) were on hand to outline remaining construction schedules and to address long periods of inactivity occurred throughout 2016.  Additionally, representatives from the NYC Department of Small Business Services, Comptroller Scott Stringer’s office, and Councilmember Laurie A. Cumbo were present and advocated for the impacted small business community.

The NYC Department of Design and Construction, who is responsible for managing the construction of the project, stated that the plaza will be fully finished by May 2017.  Additionally, concrete work is on schedule to be complete by December 25, 2017; with plantings and furniture installation occurring in early 2017.

Several small business owners whose businesses face the plaza construction addressed the city’s representatives, citing the work’s impacts on their ability to conduct business.  Representatives from Liberty Pizza, Salon 718, Bergen Bagels, Key Food, Tipsy Wine, TD Bank and the former Pushkin Creperie all shared hardships caused by lack of communication, miscommunication, extensive construction delays, and the prolonged impact of construction on the community.

The discussion around plaza construction followed the official business portion of the BID’s Annual Meeting, in which several directors of the board were renominated.  The four directors who were reinstated include Doug Bowen, Kevin Shirley of Apple Bank for Savings, John Dew, and Larry Hoy.  Additionally, board officers were re-elected: Dr. Thomas F. Schutte as chair, John Dew as vice-chair, and Larry Esposito as treasurer. Kevin Shirley was newly elected to the position of secretary.

The Myrtle Avenue Plaza is shaping up along the south side of Myrtle between Hall Street and Emerson Place and we need your input on public programming ideas. With a new grocery store in tow, and the Pratt Film School adjacent to the 25,000 square foot site, we are full of ideas on how to program this space and we are sure that you have some ideas as well. Click here if you’d like to receive updates on plaza construction and provide feedback on the types of events you’d like to see in the plaza.

Construction is being managed by the New York City Department of Design and Construction (DDC).  For construction-related questions, please contact the DDC Community Construction Liaison (CCL) Chris Fields.  He can be reached at myrtleplazaccl@gmail.com or (718) 857-3283.

Upon completion, the Myrtle Avenue Plaza will provide a much needed space for community activity in the Clinton Hill section of Brooklyn. In order for the space to best serve the community, and the city, it is imperative that we hear about the ways that you, our neighbors, wish to see it used. In the past we have had some dynamic input about events ranging from farmers markets to music performances; share your ideas with us by completing our plaza community survey.

There is no work scheduled for this week.  Work may resume shortly.

If you have any construction-related questions, please contact the DDC Community Construction Liaison (CCL) Chris Fields at myrtleplazaccl@gmail.com or .

If you’d like to receive updates on plaza construction and its impacts on Myrtle Avenue, please sign-up here.

UPDATE: DDC indicated that no work is scheduled for this week in order to “resolve unforeseen field conditions.”

If you have any construction-related questions, please contact the DDC Community Construction Liaison (CCL) Ronnell Madison at myrtleplazaccl@gmail.com or (718) 857-3283.

If you’d like to receive updates on plaza construction and its impacts on Myrtle Avenue, please sign-up here.

We’ve received many inquiries about when construction of Myrtle Avenue Plaza will start. According the NYC Department of Design and Construction, the construction will begin in late summer or early fall, 2014. Previously, construction was scheduled to begin in the fall of 2013. Contractors will start with work on water mains and catch basins before moving on to the plaza area itself. Estimated time to completion is 18 months. The official competitive bid documents were recently released and can be downloaded from this page.

The Myrtle Avenue Plaza will create approximately 25,000 square feet of new pedestrian space by reconfiguring two blocks of the four-block service road and the southeast corner of Myrtle at Hall. Enhancements include: improved crossings, new bus stops, dozens of new trees, large planters with ornamentals, game tables, a water fountain, a permanent art installation, moveable tables and chairs, and more. The plaza will also provide space for community programming. The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Business Improvement District will be the city’s maintenance partner and will be responsible for upkeep and programming.

Check out the site plan and renderings here.

This project is part of the first round of NYC DOT’s capital Plaza Program . Funding was provided by Councilmember Tish James, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, the Federal Government, and NYC DOT.

After extensive public input and multiple design iterations, the New York City Public Design Commission (PDC) approved the plans for Myrtle Plaza, a $6M capital project to reconstruct the streets and sidewalks of Myrtle Avenue between Hall Street and Emerson Place.

The Myrtle Avenue plaza will create approximately 25,000 square feet of new pedestrian space by reconfiguring two blocks of the four-block service road and the southeast corner of Myrtle at Hall. Enhancements include: improved crossings, new bus stops, dozens of new trees, large planters with ornamentals, game tables, a water fountain, a permanent art installation, moveable tables and chairs, and more. The plaza will also provide space for community programming. The Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Business Improvement District will be the city’s maintenance partner and will be responsible for upkeep and programming. Construction is scheduled to begin in the summer of 2013 and will last over a year.

Check out the site plan and renderings here.

This project is part of the first round of NYC DOT’s capital Plaza Program . Funding was provided by Councilmember Tish James, Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz, and NYC DOT.

This post was originally published on November 13, 2012.