Parents and teachers at schools in Dyker Heights are apparently fearful for their children’s safety around local motorists, according to a report from Brooklyn Daily.

Vincent D. Grippo Elementary School principal Jayne Marie Capatenakis recounted an incident several years ago that resulted in a student losing a foot after being struck by a car at 65th Street and Fort Hamilton Parkway.

And Grippo at least has a crossing guard at Ninth Avenue: as a middle school, nearby Christa Mcauliffe  Intermediate School on 65th Street between 10th and 11th avenues is ineligible for crossing guards.

Christa Mcauliffe assistant principal Bill Nicoll said that cars have struck two students in the past year and a half alone, though both survived.

“You’ll have people who can tell we’re having a fire drill, and they’re beeping the horn at us, yelling, ‘Hey, get out of the way’,” Nicoll said.

Fire drills are also problematic for Grippo, according to Capatenakis, where people often try to pull sudden U-turns.

Since they can’t get crossing guards, Nicoll reportedly asked the Department of Transportation for “No U-Turn” signs, speedbumps, flashing lights, and a four-way stop near the school to try to slow reckless drivers.

“What we get is they’re ‘doing studies,’” Nicoll said. “A study does me no good.”

“I know we don’t want to disrupt the flow of traffic, but I think that’s a small price to pay for saving a kid’s life someday,” he added.

A Department of Transportation spokesperson reportedly told Brooklyn Daily that the DOT is looking into options like repainting the lanes and creating left turn bays along the roadway between Ninth and 13th avenues.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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New York City has already sold 5,000 Citi Bike memberships, the city announced today.

A special version of the $95 annual memberships, which only became available yesterday, were sold out by 3:30 p.m.

“New Yorkers are clearly ready to take advantage of the quick, convenient travel our bike share program will provide,” Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan said. “It’s a strong early sign of success.”

The city announced yesterday that the first 5,000 people to sign up would receive keys and ride exclusively during the first week of the system’s launch along with a $10 coupon for a bike helmet.

The memberships provide one year of unlimited free rides under 45 minutes or less.

The bike share, which opens in May, includes 6,000 bikes at 330 stations around Brooklyn and Manhattan south of 59th Street.

Ultimately, the city hopes to install 10,000 bikes in neighborhoods including the Upper West Side, Upper East Side, Long Island City and Sunnyside in Queens and Park Slope, Cobble Hill and Prospect Heights in Brooklyn.

The DOT said it spoke to hundreds of New Yorkers to garner input about the system.

Aside from the annual memberships, the bike share also offers 24-hour and seven-day passes. Prices start at $9,95, according to city plans.

The bike share is intended for trips shorter than 45 minutes, according to organizers.

The program was delayed several times, including when Hurricane Sandy damaged equipment.

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While some preservationists are balking at construction plans for the historic cobblestone streets of Vinegar Hill, the city insists the upgrading is imperative for the safety of pedestrians and cyclists, and necessary to bring the city streets into compliance with accessibility standards set by the American Disabilities Act.

The $20 million capital construction project “to reconstruct cobble roadways and subsurface utilities,” as the DOT website puts it, comes by way of a collaboration among the DOT, the DUMBO Improvement District, the Department of Design and Reconstruction and, according to DOT spokesman Nicholas Mosquera, community boards and local residents and stakeholders.

“At our last public meeting last month, we saw growing, enthusiastic support for this overdue work,” Mosquera asserted, noting that the Department has held three workshops in the last year to receive community feedback and display plans.

Mosquera also said that the DOT and its partners in the project are “discussing options to reuse as many cobblestones as possible.”

A plan presented at the most recent community workshop last month detailed how the reused stones will be used alongside new stones, with particular attention paid to the color, size and textural consistency.

The catch, as some news reports and neighborhood groups have noted, is that the current stones are not merely “granite cobble” — they are hand-cut Belgian blocks.

And the new stones the city plans to use — aside from the ones Mosquera hopes to reuse — are new laser-cut blocks that will be put through a tumbler to give them an older, weathered look.

However, the cobblestone streets are already covered with a smattering of asphalt patches: Mosquera says that half the cobblestones are covered by asphalt just to make the street navigable.

The issue is not only surface-level: as there have been no street improvements in over a century, underground utilities like sewers and water mains used by the homes, stores and restaurants in the area “are long overdue for reconstruction.”

“A huge part of this work is just to bring what’s underground into the 21st century,” Mosquera explained.

Ultimately, the goal is to make the street safer and easier to navigate, and implement ADA-compliant smooth crosswalks.

Mosquera emphasized “the most important thing… is that this is a complete street reconstruction that builds on similar projects elsewhere in DUMBO,” essentially maintaining consistency in street design throughout the neighborhood.

Similar, complete street reconstruction on Washington Street and another section of Water Street started more than three years ago.

Are the cobblestones protected landmarks?

Elisabeth de Bourbon at the Landmarks Protection Council said there are “a number of streets in some of the city’s historic districts that are landmarked by virtue of being in the boundaries of those historic districts,” like DUMBO, Tribeca and the Gansevoort Market Historic District.

Cobble roads in the Ninth Avenue-Gansevoort area are also undergoing some construction, according to the DOT’s website: on Ninth Avenue from Gansevoort to West 16th Street, the DOT has plans underway for “upgraded water and sewer lines, and a resetting of its historic cobblestones.”

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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The Department of Transportation is working on a waterfront pedestrian walkway and bike path in Williamsburg that will extend from Bay Ridge to Greenpoint, according to reports from Brownstoner.

Construction for the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway is scheduled to start in Red Hook this summer. Preliminary plans have been approved for sections in Greenpoint and by the Brooklyn Navy Yard.

The bike path will run for 14 miles. The DOT is apparently hopeful that they will eventually be able to extend the pathway to Queens.

Five miles of the pathway already exist. The entire project is expected to cost $150 million to $200 million. Funds are coming from various sources, including city agencies, private sources and federal funding.

The removal of some of Vinegar Hill’s historic cobblestones is reportedly not part of this DOT plan.

Follow Danielle Tcholakian on Twitter @danielleiat

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The federal Department of Transportation has ordered the Fung Wah bus company to shut down immediately, one day after state officials said they were requesting the feds to declare the company an “imminent hazard” over safety concerns.

The DOT’s Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration made the decision today, according to a statement from the agency.

The statement said that the agency has “ordered Fung Wah Bus Transportation, Inc., to immediately cease passenger service and provide its entire fleet of 28 motorcoaches for thorough and detailed safety inspections by qualified inspectors.”

The agency said it is continuing an examination of the discount bus company’s operations, including its vehicle safety records, driver safety performance and other records.

Additional actions against the company may be warranted, the agency said.

Ann Berwick, chair of the state Department of Public Utilities, said Monday that the agency’s Transportation Oversight Division conducted random inspections earlier this month and of nine Fung Wah buses looked at, eight had cracks in their frames. Those buses were ordered off of the road.

State officials met with the bus company’s owner who agreed to take all buses manufactured before 2005 off of the road. As of Saturday, 21 of 28 buses were taken out of service.

Calls placed Monday to the bus company’s Boston and New York City offices requesting comment were not returned.

Follow Michael Naughton on Twitter @metrobosmike.

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