VIN News – Brooklyn, NY – After nearly a year-long battle with the New York City Department of Transportation, Assemblyman Dov Hikind (D-Brooklyn) is savoring the sweet taste of victory with the removal of the 35-feet long pedestrian islands along Fort Hamilton Parkway. Hikind, a vociferous critic of the islands, had long been advocating for the removal of the medians because they impeded the work of ambulance crews rushing to Maimonides Medical Center, firefighters, and sanitation personnel, and negatively impacted on business owners and local residents.

“Everyone told me I was crazy to even get involved with this issue, that these islands would never be removed because the installation had cost hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Hikind. “They said it couldn’t be done, that I was wasting my time fighting. My message to all those naysayers is that the removal of these medians proves you can fight City Hall and win. This is a great victory for the residents of this community and New York City.”

Hikind recalled all the efforts undertaken not only by him, but by so many concerned and outraged members of the community. “We really stopped at nothing to get these islands removed,” Hikind noted. “We wrote letters to the DOT, we collected over 1,100 petition signatures, we threatened to file a lawsuit and we took our case to the media. The DOT finally relented in June and gave Fort Hamilton Parkway back to its rightful owners — the people of this community and of this City.”

Video credit: Hershey Rubinstein.