Pacific Street in Boerum Hill has devolved into a rutty mess, according to locals, who say the city is more concerned with inviting developers to their block than taking basic care of the roads.
“Our taxes are too high for our streets to be looking like this — that’s what you literally pay for,” said Kenda Jackson. “You have a pretty mall and all of that stuff but the things that really matter, that’s the problem.”
The stretch of the one-way street between Third and Fourth avenues has become scattered with unsightly craters, including one abyssal hole that plunged knee-deep beneath the pavement.
Making matters worse, the street is burdened by numerous construction sites that jut into Pacific Street and narrow the road, such as a sidewalk shed erected in 2015 projecting from a rising 12-story co-op at the corner of Fourth Avenue, and a walled-off container outside the Brooklyn High School of the Arts.
As a result, the city is incapable of preforming necessary work, such as milling, that’s necessary to fully repave the road, but that shouldn’t stop officials from performing a quick and dirty patch job while waiting for the construction to wrap, according to a local civic leader.
“They could close the street and put asphalt into the potholes, they can do that any time,” said the head of the Boerum Hill Association Howard Kolins.
The constant construction and nearby high school lead to large work vehicles and school busses frequenting the narrow street, making a terrible racket as they rumble across the pitted asphalt.
And while the city won’t lift a finger to repair the potholes, it has no problem with fining residents for failing to clean out the garbage that collects in them, according to one senior resident of the block.
“I have to clean out the pothole area, because it doesn’t drain,” said Patricia Howard, Jackson’s mother. “It looks nasty and bad.”
And if there’s one silver lining for Jackson, it’s the fact that she’s got a all-terrain vehicle to able to handle her rock road.
“I have a Jeep, so I’m ok, but it’s still pretty rocky to go over those, it’s like off-roading,” she said. “Just fill them up or put in some gravel or something.”
A Department of Transportation spokesman confirmed that the street’s construction projects and ongoing work by the Department of Environmental Protection are delaying officials from scheduling a resurfacing of the block, but noted that they would send out an inspector to see if they can fill in some of the craters in the meantime.
“We will send a supervisor out to inspect the block, and schedule any pothole repairs that are necessary,” said Brian Zumhagen.
