Fort Greene Park Curb Is Finally Made Wheelchair-Accessible

FORT GREENE, BROOKLYN — A steep curb that impeded disabled people’s ability to get to Fort Greene Park has been fixed after a yearlong battle with the city.

The curb on the corner of Dekalb Avenue and Washington Park has been a source of frustration for people with wheelchairs, walkers and strollers for as long as Fort Greene resident Ed Goldman can remember, he told Patch.

“We often see people struggling to get up that curb,” said Goldman, who petitioned the Department of Transportation to install a ramp at the corner. “This is an important issue, the least you could do is throw some asphalt down there,” he said.

At some point this week, the city did just that.

Victory! Over a year of FGP calling for it, NYDOT finally installed a temporary access "ramp" at the South west corner of Fort Greene Park. pic.twitter.com/8SbUypwFkP
— Fort Greene Peace (@fortgreenepeace) April 21, 2017

Goldman and Fort Greene Peace — an activist group of which Goldman is a member — have been lobbying the Department of Transportation and their local representatives to fix the curb, without much success, for one year, he said.

Finally in March, Community Board 2 District Manager Robert Perris connected the group with a Department of Transportation representative, he said, but the group was told the problematic curb might be too difficult to fix.

Fort Greene Peace heard nothing more about the curb until a friends sent Goldman a photograph of the newly paved ramp on Friday, Goldman.

The asphalt ramp was installed by the Department of Transportation as a temporary solution until the agency can create a site-specific design to meet with local zoning regulations, a spokesperson said in a statement Friday.

"This location will be added to a future Pedestrian Ramp contract and DOT has installed a temporary ramp at this location to improve accessibility to Fort Greene Park in the meantime," the spokesperson said.

Goldman was more than surprised, but happy that the ramp had been installed in time for summer.

“It’s a victory for all the people in the community — they waited a very long time,” Goldman said. “For me, it’s nice to fight for something and win.”

Image via Kathleen Culliton