For Jane Jacobs Lives Here, I resurrect the activist spirit of Jane Jacobs, having her inhabit the Old Stone House (OSH) and once again confront Robert Moses (who played a central role in rebuilding OSH and its grounds); this time the struggle is about his decision to scrap a planned bike/pedestrian path on the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge although one was originally planned. I combine images of the Verrazzano, that I made in my Bay Ridge neighborhood, with Jane Jacobs’ quotes from her book, The Death and Life of Great American Cities, that she was writing around the same time as Moses decided to eliminate the Verrazzano bike/pedestrian path.
A crucial part of the project is a QR code on flyers that link to my petition, asking people to support one of the Verrazzano's 13 lanes becoming a bike/pedestrian path, as proposed by Bike South Brooklyn - an activist bike group that I co-founded. Here is the first person to scan the QR code from my flyers on the fence, done while I was installing my work with a friend.
I've organized Green Harbor Ride - join by riding your bike to The Old Stone House on September 12, arriving between 1PM - 3PM. Start off from wherever you prefer – Bike South Brooklyn is meeting at 12PM in front of Stand Gallery, 414 78th St, Brooklyn, NY 11209
When no action was taken to implement the bike/pedestration lane on the Verrazzano even during a pandemic/shutdown, I realized there is no political will or support for this to happen and consequently created a petition addressing our state's governor.
As Chair of Transportation Alternatives South Brooklyn, I attended this meeting with Polly Trottenberg and the MTA along with Transportation Alternatives Staten Island. It was generally agreed that, during the summer, one of the 13 lanes on the Verrazzano Bridge would be tested to use as a bike/pedestrian lane. This has still not happened.