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Park Slope advocates push for simple fix at Fourth Ave./Ninth St. stop

BY RACHEL MONAHAN
DAILY NEWS WRITER

Sunday, October 19th 2008, 5:20 PM


Park Slope advocates fear the Fourth Ave. stop at Ninth St. won't ever be refurbished because of budget problems - so they want simpler fixes made now.

"Instead of a high-dollar renovation, we can achieve something tangible for less money," said Michael Cairl of the Park Slope Civic Council.

Their proposal includes refurbishing a spot under the F-line viaduct for use as a newsstand or a cafe.

"That would be a way for the MTA to make some money," said Cairl. "In these times, the MTA needs to be more creative about how to maximize its real estate."

But Metropolitan Transportation Authority officials said they've already determined what repairs need to be done, and said the project would begin in 2010.

New York City Transit spokesman Charles Seaton said the agency already has worked out "all of the parameters" for the project, which is now slated to be finished by 2012.

The project will include refurbishing station platforms as well as the windows over Fourth Ave.

"It's always more money to go back" and redesign the project, Seaton said.

High on the Park Slope Civic Council's list of needed improvements is the reopening of a long-shuttered entrance on the eastern side of Fourth Ave.
Park Slope residents now have to cross five lanes of traffic to get to the F train.

Transportation Alternatives' Shinpei Tsay said reopening of the entrance would make the dangerous intersection of Ninth St. and Fourth Ave. safer for pedestrians.

A large number of pedestrians are hurt there, she said.

"The street is very wide, so cars speed," she said.

The Civic Council also wants to see improved lighting under the F-line tracks of Fourth Ave., and some art in addition to the newsstand or a cafe.

They also say lighting and security should be improved in the long passageways riders must navigate to transfer between the F and R lines.

The station is "dank and dark," said Cairl.


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