One of the trendiest and most expensive areas of Brooklyn is being choked by tourists, locals said.
Residents in posh Dumbo say the local business improvement district has been damaging the area for nearly a decade for everyone but tourists — frivolously closing down streets for events and creating a congested day-tripper environment without any input from the people who live in the historic district.
“We cannot accept the overreach of the Dumbo BID and the continued disrespect of the residents by that organization,” a petition signed by nearly 150 locals states.
The biggest problem area is Washington Street, which acts as the main artery in and out of Dumbo, critics say.
It’s closed between Front and Water streets for 10 hours every day in partnership with the city Department of Transportation’s open streets initiative to make room for endless sightseers. It’s been nicknamed “Selfie Street” because of the packs of visitors who jam the roadway and take snapshots with the Manhattan Bridge in the background.
The result is a severe lack of parking, and firetrucks and delivery vans forced to navigate narrow side streets, occasionally jackknifing and smashing into cars, fed-up locals say.
“I didn’t sign up to live in Disneyland,” resident Daniel Meek said.
Formed in 2005, the nonprofit Dumbo Improvement District operates on a $1.2 million budget, according to its most recent available tax forms from 2021. Its funds largely come from special assessments paid by commercial property owners in the area.
Tara Quinn, who co-wrote the petition and helped set up public discussion Thursday with City Councilman Lincoln Restler, said the BID isn’t listening.
“Many of us have been asking for change or at the very least communication with this group, and it’s completely fallen on deaf ears,” she said.
While happy to facilitate the meeting, Restler, a progressive and once an advisor to ex-Mayor Bill de Blasio, continued to show his support for so-called “open streets” and called the BID a “strong partner.”
“Washington Street is like a circus,” Arlyne Blitz said during the meeting.
Magdalena Levy, who owns the La Catrina Flower Studio on nearby Water Street, said the open street makes it impossible to efficiently fulfill orders.
“To make a heavy delivery only four blocks away, it can take us forty minutes,” she said. “We have the world class [Brooklyn Bridge Park] only a block away. I don’t see why they need to shut down the street.”
On Friday, The Post witnessed Sweetgreen employees shoo away a 20-person tour group from the restaurant’s outdoor eating area on Washington Street because they weren’t ordering anything — just taking up space.
There is some love for the open streets, though.
“It makes it safer and easier to walk around with a young child, and it helps slow traffic down, which I think is a benefit to a contained neighborhood like Dumbo,” resident Brian Steinwascher said.
When asked if they plan on cutting back the open street hours or how they’ll address traffic concerns, Dumbo BID Executive Director Alexandria Sica instead focused on foot traffic to local shops and the “magical moments” the locale creates.
“It’s a destination for the photos New Yorkers take to celebrate life’s major moments — like a graduation, engagement or Quincinera, and a must-get photo for visitors, bringing people to Brooklyn — which is great for the borough,” she said.
