Ditmas Park bench the builder says was put in place to support the community gets mixed reviews
NEW YORK -- A single bench in Ditmas Park has become the talk of the Brooklyn neighborhood after the builder received a city violation.
Some say it's a beneficial gathering place, while others see it as encouraging loitering.
"I mean, it's cool. It looks nice," one person said.
As the brightly colored public bench was being built a few weeks ago at the corner of Marlborough Road and Newkirk Avenue, it started gaining lots of attention -- most of it good.
"It's decorative. It's brightening up what going on around here," Georgette Irick said.
"You can sit. You can eat. You can (be) with a friend," another person said.
Some of the feedback, however, has not been so good.
"It's a 4 out of 10. It's not really comfortable, kid friendly. I don't know. They might get stuck," a person said.
"In certain places, it's going to have people sleeping on it. In certain places, kids stuck on it," another added.
The bench designer, Michael Combs, was commissioned by the Flatbush Development Corporation to build it. He invited the neighborhood to take part in its creation. But before it was even complete, Combs was told he didn't have the right permits and that there were some safety concerns.
"A DOT violation came to the landlord saying we had 30 days to remove the bench, and I was heartbroken and stuff like that. I said we wouldn't give up and we'll keep finishing," Combs said. "One of the concerns was that it could be unsafe for small children, so I put blocks in between the biggest rungs. I used my 3-year-old son's shoe as a space. A 3-year-old new at jumping, running, climbing foot won't go through it."
Now, some community members and local businesses owners, including a nearby deli, are rallying to keep it.
"It's better on our end so people could grab their breakfast and their coffee," deli owner Moe Ali said. "A bench is a bench at the end of the day, you know what I mean?"
"I don't think it needs to be taken down, no," resident Nyia Ballinger added.
The Department of Transportation told CBS New York about the violations, saying, in part, "DOT rescinded the encroachment violation to the building owner because it wasn't the owner who installed the bench. We will reach out to the Flatbush Development Corporation and work with them to determine if the bench can be approved by the city to remain in place."
"I did it for our neighbors, for our neighborhood. We did it together. It's a beautiful thing about supporting one another. A bench supports," Combs said.
Combs added he has already been asked to build another nearby, but said now he has learned that before construction can begin, there must be approvals through the correct city channels, or you'll get benched.
Approval of the bench is complicated. It involves a multi-agency process because there is a sidewalk, which is a DOT jurisdiction, a tree pit, overseen by the city Parks Department, and the structure is in a public space, which falls under the city's Public Design Commission.
