UPDATED: STOP Sign By A Middle School By End Of October …. Will NOT Happen

MARINE PARK – In his Sheepshead Town Hall back in September, Mayor De Blasio promised many things. Among them was a STOP sign by a local school – which he was adamant would be installed by the end of October, if warranted.

The exchange at the town hall was extremely memorable:

The staff at the school – I.S. 278 (Marine Park Junior High) have been advocating for a  STOP sign on the one way Stuart Street at Avenue S for 10 years.

For those unfamiliar with the area, Marine Park Junior High School is located at the corner of Marine Park that borders Stuart Street and Fillmore Avenue.

According to the woman posing the question to the Mayor, at dismissal, there are three teachers with stop signs acting as a human barrier to allow kids cross safely.

Back in 2007, there was not even a crosswalk at the intersection, to cross Stuart street. That was installed sometime between late 2007 and August 2011, judging by Google maps.

Interestingly, at the other intersection of the very long park block – Stuart and T – there is an all-way STOP arrangement:

As of this afternoon, the STOP Sign on Stuart Street is nowhere to be seen. We have reached out to the NYC DOT to see if that means the sign was not approved, or if there is another explanation.

UPDATE: 6:01pm – we received the following statement from a DOT spokesperson: “DOT reviewed the location following the Town Hall request. Using federal guidelines, we found the location feasible for an enhanced crosswalk. We will also install no standing anytime signage in advance of the marked crosswalk in the field that crosses over Stuart Street. All matters regarding speeding should be directed to DCPI/NYPD, as they are responsible for enforcement.”

An enhanced crosswalk is one that DOES NOT have a STOP sign, according to this document on Enhanced Crossings.

It looks like the No Standing Anytime signs have been attached to the posts, but are kind of useless, as all they indicate one should not park in the pedestrian crosswalk which is not allowed anyway.

We’ll keep you posted if anything changes, but if we are to take the Mayor at his word – the STOP sign would have been there if that were possible.