The NYPD’s Holiday Gift to Motorists: Central Park

The NYPD’s Holiday Gift to Motorists: Central Park: "

After introducing some yuletide sanity two winters ago, the city is back to sending a schizophrenic message to New Yorkers this holiday season: Please use mass transit, but if you choose to drive, we've made it easier by increasing the hours when cars are permitted on a section of Central Park's loop road. Only this time it's the NYPD, not the Department of Transportation, behind the double message.

These small, flimsy flyers are the only thing tipping off pedestrians and cyclists to the presence of more traffic in Central Park. Photo: Ken Coughlin.

According to a well-placed source with knowledge of the situation, the NYPD issued a directive this year that cars be allowed to use the loop's southeast corner as a cut-through for an additional two hours, until 9 p.m., on weekdays. The expansion runs until "January 2010," according to notices. The NYPD has not returned inquiries about the reason for the change or why it is setting traffic policy.

The road in question is the southeast corner of the Central Park loop, a half-mile stretch that allows drivers to go from Sixth Avenue to the Upper East Side by cutting across a corner of the park. Two years ago Streetsblog reported that the DOT had quietly done away with "holiday hours" on Central Park's loop road, ending the annual suspension of car-free time that had been used to accommodate motorists during the holidays. The change was a huge success in that the only people who seemed to notice were the park's recreational users, who were delighted. Holiday hours didn't resurface last winter, and the annual holiday traffic plan that DOT produced for 2009 contains no mention of the change [PDF]. (The DOT and Parks Department press offices both directed inquiries to the NYPD.)

Park users may have thought holiday traffic hours were gone for good, but they were wrong.

Would you notice this sign if you were passing by? Photo: Ken Coughlin.

Meanwhile, the way the change has been broadcast is revealing. The reduction in car-free hours is being announced to cyclists, runners and other park users by a small, 8½ by 11-inch flyer fastened to a pole a few feet shy of the point where someone on foot or on a bike would merge with car traffic. Identical small signs are secured to poles at six or seven other points along the route. The signs, which look for all the world like the "lost pet" or "affordable housecleaning" flyers taped to light poles all over town, would barely register with a cyclist or runner, much less be readable by them. Nevertheless, the signs warn recreational users to "Proceed With Caution."

"I was riding home through the park at 8:30 p.m. and cars were pouring in from Sixth Avenue," said commuter cyclist Albert Ahronheim, who first alerted Streetsblog to the extra time allotted to park traffic. "I thought someone must have left the gate open by mistake." Ahronheim only discovered the small signs when he returned the next evening to take a closer look.

By contrast, the city has taken great pains to ensure that any driver traveling up Sixth Avenue is aware of the change. Like a bright star in the east guiding the Three Wise Men to Bethlehem, a large mobile electric sign is positioned at Sixth Avenue between 55th and 56th Streets, announcing in foot-high, blinking letters: "PARK OPEN TILL 9 PM N/B [northbound] ACCESS 59TH AND 6TH EAST DRIVE IN CENTRAL PARK UNTIL 9PM." To ensure that no motorist will fail to remark the glad tidings, a duplicate sign flashes between 58th and 59th Streets -- still enough time to change lanes and speed into the world's most famous urban green space.

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A Reason to Give Thanks: State DOT Won’t Widen the Deegan

A Reason to Give Thanks: State DOT Won’t Widen the Deegan: "

This just in: The State DOT will not widen exit ramps from the Major Deegan Expressway, the Mott Haven Herald reports. NYSDOT Region 11 spokesperson Adam Levine confirmed to Streetsblog that the agency will also refrain from adding "auxiliary lanes" as part of its plan to fix a segment of the Deegan along the Harlem River. Instead, the agency has opted to rehab but not expand the 50-year-old roadway.

Opposition to expanding the highway was widespread. Community activists, city officials, and electeds -- including Congressman Jose Serrano -- condemned the proposal as a threat to redevelopment planned for the Harlem River waterfront. Transportation advocates warned that the project would attract more traffic, negating the promised reductions in congestion.

By choosing the rehab-only option, the agency will save somewhere in the neighborhood of $100 million. NYSDOT had previously set aside $266 million for the expansion
option in its five-year capital plan. And the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, which collected dozens
of public comments opposing the proposed ramps and lanes, reported yesterday that NYSDOT had pegged the full cost of the expansion project at $343 million. The rehab-only project, by comparison, will cost an estimated $170 to $200 million, said Levine.

Here's one suggestion for where to invest some of that savings: Tear down the Sheridan.

"

City Announces 2009 Gridlock Alert Days

City Announces 2009 Gridlock Alert Days: "

If it's almost Thanksgiving, it means the city is gearing up the influx of visitors to the city for the holidays. The Department of Transportation released its calendar of 'Gridlock Alert Days' (PDF) and its 'Holiday Traffic Mitigation Plan' (PDF)—above all, the DOT recommends that people take mass transit. Today is the first Gridlock Alert Day, as is Thanksgiving next week; next month, the Gridlock Alert Days are December 2 (Rockefeller tree lighting), 4, 11, 16, 17, 18 and 23.

The Case for a Car-Free Halloween

The Case for a Car-Free Halloween: "

So, I hope you'll forgive me for posting these Halloween pictures halfway through November. I took them on Fifth Avenue at the south end of Park Slope, and I've been meaning to share them since election week. 

Usually on Halloween I'm cooped up in an office until dark, but since it fell on a Saturday this year, I got to head out and enjoy the trick-or-treating with everyone else. And I mean everyone. The kids, the parents, the grandparents. The merchants who give away candy. The people who just happen to be out on the street. Halloween has got to be the
most active day of the year for New York City streetlife (even more than marathon day, I'd say).

Halloween is really the ultimate livable streets holiday. Consider: We plan streets to accommodate peak rush-hour traffic, and we pave parking lots
big enough for the oceans of cars that arrive for Black Friday shopping. If we treated infrastructure for walking the same way, we'd plan to accommodate the pedestrian volumes on
Halloween. Our sidewalks would be much bigger.

Because so many people are out walking, Halloween is also a day of horrific traffic violence. Nationally, the incidence of child pedestrian fatalities doubles on this day. In New York, DOT feels compelled to send out safety tips for parents and drivers. On Fifth Avenue, large platoons of trick-or-treaters would gather on corners, spilling into the street while waiting for the walk sign.

Sometimes, they'd get cut off even after the traffic signal gave them the all clear.

I don't think bright costumes and safety awareness campaigns for drivers really do the trick here. How much safer and more enjoyable would Halloween be if kids and families could go trick-or-treating without worrying about getting hit by a car?

Halloween falls on a Sunday next year, so here's an idea. Why not combine this holiday with Summer Streets and make trick-or-treating car-free on neighborhood commercial streets all over New York? Logistically, I'm sure this would be quite the commitment. But DOT already seems intent on expanding car-free events. Hitching Summer Streets to the Halloween wagon could pay off big-time.

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The Weekly Carnage

The Weekly Carnage: "

The Weekly Carnage is a Friday round-up of motor vehicle mayhem
across the metro region. For more on the origins and purpose of this
column, please read About the Weekly Carnage.

Photo: Star-Ledger

Fatal Crashes (12 Killed This Week, 255 This Year*, 25 Drivers Charged**)

• Brooklyn: Memorial Set for Eliseo Martinez, Cyclist Killed in September (Ghost Bikes)


• Greenburgh, NY: Cycling Advocate Killed by Bus; Driver Back on the Job (LoHud 1, 2)
  


• Bohemia, LI: Man Thrown From Back Seat in Crash, Body Not Found for Hours (Newsday)


• Truck Driver in Last Week's LIE Collision Dies From Injuries (Newsday)
  


• Newark: Unidentified Pedestrian Hit, Killed (S-L)
  


• Roselle Park, NJ: Pedestrian Dies in Hit-and-Run; Police Looking for Killer (S-L)


• Old Bridge, NJ: 14-Year-Old Cyclist Killed by 17-Year-Old Driver (S-L)


• East Amwell, NJ: Man Killed Walking Home From Work; No Charges Expected (Hunterdon CD)


• Montvale, NJ: Minivan Driver Strikes 75-Year-Old Pedestrian (S-L)
  


• East Orange, NJ: 2 Men Attending to Stalled Vehicle Hit by Passing Driver; 1 Dead (S-L)
  


• North Brunswick, NJ: SUV Driver Dies After Colliding With School Bus (S-L)


• Hamilton, NJ: Speeding Driver Killed in One-Car Crash (S-L)


• Bethel, CT: 85-Year-Old Dies After Rear-Ending Pickup (CT Post)

A collision with a livery cab sent a pickup truck into a Clinton Hill mosque. Photo: Robin Urban Smith

Injuries, Arrests and Property Damage

• Manhattan: Brake Failure Cited as Concrete Truck Hits Cars, Building; 10 Hurt (Streetsblog, Post)


• Manhattan: City Buses Collide in Midtown; 9 Injured (Gothamist)
  


• Brooklyn: Driver Distracted by Cellphone Crashes Into Truck, Injuring 2 (Post)


• Brooklyn: Unidentified Pedestrian Critically Injured in Ditmas Park (Post)


• Staten Island: One-Car Crash Leaves Minivan on Its Roof (Advance)


• White Plains: Pedestrian Paralyzed From Chest Down; No Charges for Driver (LoHud)
  


• Manorville, LI: 81-Year-Old Driver Seriously Hurt in One-Car Crash (Newsday)


• Nassau Co.: Drunk Driver Clocked at 105 MPH on Meadowbrook Pkwy. (Newsday)


• Carle Place, LI: Man Ticketed for Speeding Harasses Trooper's Mom (Newsday)
  


• Newark: Pedestrian Hit by Dump Truck Driver, in Critical Condition (S-L)


• Newark: Van Driver Is Sixth to Hit Same House in Four Years (S-L)


• Milford, CT: Driver Plows Into Nail Salon, Injuring 8 (CT Post)
  


• Kenilworth, NJ: 6-Year-Old Pedestrian Hospitalized After Collision (NJLN)


• Sayreville, NJ: Seton Hall Basketball Player Charged in DWI Crash (S-L)
  

Following Up

• Institutional Dysfunction Linked to Deadly Behavior at MTA and NYPD (Streetsblog) 


• Related: Raging Bus Driver Who Killed Seth Kahn Ticketed for Failure to Yield (News)


• Related: 170 Bus Drivers Caught Texting-While-Driving This Year (News)


• Related: Unions Cites Shift Structure as Cause of Rampant Drunk Driving by NYPD Detectives (News)


• Albany Reluctant to Protect Kids From Drunk Drivers (Observer, Post, News 1, 2)


• Villager: City Needs Safer Bike Lanes; Legislature Should Pass Leandra's Law


• Smithtown, LI: Cops Looking for Driver Who Ran Over Motorcycle Passenger (Newsday)
  


• Taconic Wrong-Way Tragedy Officially Devolves Into Soap Opera Spectacle (Newsday) 


• Suffolk Co.: Kids of Officer Killed by DWI Driver Receive College Grant (Newsday)


• Milford, CT: Cop in Collision That Killed 2 Teens Charged With Manslaughter (CT Post)

Photo: AP

Out of Town

• Rincon, Puerto Rico: Long Islander Charged With DWI in "Car-Surfing" Death (Newsday)


• Ellenville, NY: Medical Examiner Charged With Driving Drunk to Crash Site (AP)


• Oklahoma City: Elephant Escapes Circus, Hit by SUV (AP)


• La Marque, TX: Man Reaching for Phone Drives $1M Bugatti Into Marsh; Blames Pelican (AP)
  


• San Francisco: Trucker Dies in 200-Foot Plummet From Bay Bridge (AP)


• Miami, FL: Lawrence Taylor Arrested After Hit-and-Run Collision (News)
  

Trends and Other News

• Peds Make Up 1 in 3 NYC Traffic Deaths as State Skimps on Safety (Streetsblog, News, Post, NY1)


• NYCDOT Turns Deaf Ear to Pleas for Safety Improvements on Queens Boulevard (News)


• Staten Island DA Joins Call for Quicker DWI Evidence Collection (Post)


• SIers Left Waiting for City to Replace Stolen Stop Sign (Advance)
  


• Jodie Lane Website Maps Con Ed Sidewalk "Stray Voltage" Hot Spots (Villager, Gothamist)
  


• France: New Radar Detector Broadcasts Speed Enforcement Locations (Wheels)


• When Involved in a Traffic Collision, Whatever You Do, Don't Apologize (LoHud)
  


• Where Are the World's Most Dangerous Roads? (How We Drive)

* Since the week of June 8
** Drivers charged for deaths since the week of June 8, based on latest available reports

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State DOT Channels Spirit of Robert Moses in Major Deegan Expansion Plan

State DOT Channels Spirit of Robert Moses in Major Deegan Expansion Plan: "

These are enlightened times for New York City's local streets. The city is building sidewalk extensions, protected bike lanes, and better busways. But at the state DOT -- the agency that controls the vast majority of New York's federal transportation funding -- much of the playbook still comes straight from the Robert Moses era. At a pair of public meetings yesterday, representatives from the state DOT's Region 11 office presented plans to jam more space for cars through the dense urban fabric of the southwest Bronx, just as the area appears poised to construct new housing, parks, and retail.

The Major Deegan at the 138th Street exit. Does the South Bronx need a bigger barrier to the Harlem River waterfront? Image: AA Roads.

The DOT proposal calls for bigger ramps at the 138th Street exit and the construction of "auxiliary lanes" along a segment of the Major Deegan Expressway parallel to the Harlem River. If built, the project would expand both the capacity of the Deegan and its physical footprint. Construction would necessitate the seizure of 14 properties through eminent domain. Region 11 spokesperson Adam Levine pegged the cost at $200 to $250 million. 

As the Daily News reported earlier this week, local residents fear the highway widening would also stifle redevelopment plans for this area of the Bronx and cut off waterfront access to the Harlem River. As part of the city's South Bronx Initiative, 1,500 units of new housing, 220,000 square feet of retail, and five acres of new parkland are slated for the immediate neighborhood around the state DOT project, said Walter Houston, head of the Local Development Corporation of the West Bronx. The bigger ramp would effectively block off pedestrian access to the redeveloped waterfront.

"It’s a wall between the community and the waterfront, which would only contribute to the deterioration of the waterfront," said Houston. "DOT is proposing a narrow tunnel through this wall, and that's it." A pedestrian tunnel under a highway exit ramp. Sound like an appealing way to walk to the new riverfront park?

The Deegan is an aging structure, and no one disputes that this segment needs a rehab. But according to the DOT, more lanes and wider ramps are needed to "address safety and operational issues" and alleviate traffic jams. "There’s a back-up on the Major Deegan throughout the day that ends up causing a lot of problems with congestion and air quality," said Levine.

Will building more space for cars solve any of these problems? "They’re adding an auxiliary lane and making the ramps two lanes," said Kyle Wiswall of the Tri-State Transportation Campaign, who attended yesterday's meeting. "You're now adding so much capacity for cars to get off the highway, in the long-term it’s going to attract more traffic. I don't see how that’s going to positively affect air quality, congestion, or safety."

DOT is also considering a rehab-only alternative, which would not add any new capacity. As of yesterday, said Wiswall, the agency could not provide a cost estimate for the rehab-only version. At a time when the state of New York is essentially
broke and the state DOT has no funding for its $25.8 billion, 5-year
capital plan, a simpler project with a smaller footprint should be a fiscal no-brainer.

If the state DOT wants to invest in this part of the Bronx, there are plenty of streets which could use some improvements. The Grand Concourse is one of the deadliest streets in the city: From 2006 to 2008, five pedestrians died in traffic collisions along the corridor.

It's not unheard of for the state DOT to funnel money toward pedestrian safety enhancements on local roads. Federal funding, for instance, helped build the Hudson River Greenway. But safety doesn't seem to be a high priority at the state level. As Tri-State analyst Michelle Ernst reminded us, the state DOT recently gave up 85 percent of its 2009 federal funding for ped-bike projects.

For Houston, the Deegan project exemplifies an agency stuck in the past. "This project was first conceived in the late 90s -- no one took into account the new way we look at transportation and mobility these days," he said. "Our redevelopment efforts are geared to the development of people, not the movement of cars."

Update: Elana Schor at Streetsblog Capitol Hill sends word from Congressman José Serrano's office. "I am distressed to hear that in a proposed redesign of exit and entrance ramps to the Major Deegan, the community could suffer a loss of access to their waterfront," Serrano said through a spokesperson. "Cutting access to these precious locations is unacceptable to me, to the community, and should be seen as a non-starter by the DOT."

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