Know More about the Streets and Sidewalks
The concrete contractors are assigned to perform the repair works on the sidewalks, streets, roadways, and highways. Mostly, you will find the expressways and parkways in the western and southern sections of Brooklyn. The various expressways and roadways include Gowanus Expressway, Brooklyn-Queens Expressway, Jackie Robinson Expressway, and so on. There are multiple thoroughfares e.g. King’s Highway, Atlantic Avenue, Fourth Avenue, Bay Parkway, Flatbush Avenue, Pennsylvania Avenue, and so on. Brooklyn mostly has well-maintained sidewalks and named streets.
The western sections of the borough have the numbered streets. The borough is connected to Manhattan by three bridges: the Brooklyn, Manhattan, and Williamsburg Bridges. Also, the Brooklyn-Battery tunnel and several subway tunnels are there to connect Brooklyn to Manhattan. The Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge connects the borough to the suburban boroughs of Staten Island. Brooklyn shares several water crossings with Queens. The bridges hereby include Grand Street Bridge, Pulaski Bridge, Greenpoint Avenue Bridge, Marine Parkway Bridge, etc. The Marine Parkway Bridge connects Brooklyn to the Rockaway Peninsula. The bridges are often repaired by specialists providing services like sidewalk violation removal service, sidewalk patchwork repair service, etc.
The Growth and Development of Brooklyn
Brooklyn actually grew gradually step by step. It didn’t emerge out of the blue. As we have discussed earlier, Brooklyn holds a rich history of establishments. It slowly became what it is today. This current large land mass was divided into six sub-sections. The largest one was Flatbush. The history still has its sign on the names of the streets. There are streets with the names of Dutch Ancestry. Most of these are in Brooklyn Heights, earlier known as Brooklyn Village.
There is the renowned King’s Highway. Some call it a Native American Footpath. Just like Flatbush Avenue, it has a significant heritage associated with it. It is said that Lady Deborah Moody was once invited by the Dutch to settle Gravesend as a buffer against Native American attacks. Later, this incident has left its sign as Lady Moody Triangle and various street names on the incidents. The streets now are called Village Square East, North, and South. Several streets are named for weapons. Among these famous ones is Gatling Place for the Gatling gun. Also, it is associated with Richard Gatling. Parrot place is associated with Robert Parrot who invented a type of cannon. There are Dahlgren places, Battery Avenue, Monitor Street, etc.
The Detailed History of Brooklyn Streets Names
By the 19th century, developers however thought over the fact that anglophiles are attracted to British names, so a variety of Anglican names came up in the real estate market in alphabetical orders. First, it came in Flatbush and, later in Manhattan Beach.
Usually, street names cannot be changed instantly as it requires new mapping and changing of signs and addresses. But in the 1930s, a mass alteration took place. Some of the alterations include only the spelling corrections while some of them showcase the anglicized effort of simplification. There are some political or patriotic changes as well. Streets with German names were attributed with Americanized names during World War-1. For example, Dresden Street has named Highland Place; Hamburg Avenue changed as Wilson Avenue and Vienna Avenue became Lorraine Avenue to pay the tribute to France and Alsace-Lorraine.
There are some streets majorly located in Williamsburg, declaring the honored sign of independence. They are scattered in Carroll Gardens, Flatbush, and Fort Greene. A few notable names are found in the street names e.g. Rip Van Dam, Malcolm X, Marcus Garvey. Franklin Street is named after John Franklin, a signer of declaration. Gilmore Court is named after Patrick Gilmore, bandleader, and composer.
DOT’s Liability for Sidewalk Maintenance and Repair
DOT holds itself liable for the maintenance of the city’s 12750 miles of sidewalks. It ensures the safety of pedestrians. It also helped to prevent injuries caused by flawed sidewalks. DOT replaces more than 2 million square feet of sidewalk annually. These replacements are done by professional sidewalk contractors mostly on city-owned property and in residential neighborhoods. Though they handle this huge amount of repair, it is not enough considering the long sidewalk structures of Brooklyn and different areas in NYC. The sidewalks in the city are largely maintained by the property owners. The property owners are liable to maintain the sidewalks adjacent to their properties. Being a property owner, if you fail to remove the sidewalk violation at right time, it may lead to a violation notice from DOT. As per section 19-152b of the NYC Administrative Code, property owners must take responsibility for maintaining the sidewalks. DOT is always ready to inspect the sidewalks and if any damages are found, DOT hires private construction workers for the repair works. And after the repair work is done, the property owners are handed over the bill. They are asked to pay the cost of the whole work. It may be higher than the supposed cost when you hire a sidewalk contractor for repair work. So, it is always better to repair any kind of damages on sidewalks before the DOT’s involvement in the matter.
