Downtown Express covers the Chatham Square reconstruction delay

Volume 22, Number 05 | The Newspaper of Lower Manhattan | June 12 - 18, 2009

Chinatown happy as traffic plan is stalled for now

By Julie Shapiro

The city will not begin reconstructing Chatham Square this summer, after the unpopular plan drew months of criticism from the community and elected officials.

The city insisted this week that the delay does not mean the $50 million project is shelved, but officials would not say when the work would start. Several Downtown politicians and community leaders said that the project is unlikely to move forward anytime soon.

“I don’t think they’re going to do anything anymore,” said Justin Yu, chairperson of the Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association. Yu met with D.O.T. Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan and other high-level D.O.T. staff last week to discuss the Chatham Square plan. “Definitely she said they would reconsider it, review it,” Yu said of Sadik-Khan.

Yu is one of many Chinatown leaders who oppose the city’s proposal for the complicated seven-way intersection. The city wants to realign the streets that feed Chatham Square, connecting East Broadway to Worth St. and the Bowery to St. James Place. The plan would cut Park Row out of the intersection, essentially making permanent the post-9/11 decision to close part of the street to protect One Police Plaza.

Chinatown advocates spoke out against the city’s plan immediately when the city began pushing it late last year. The advocates were concerned that the city’s traffic and pedestrian improvements would be outweighed by the negative impact of the three-year construction on local businesses. When the city decided to move ahead with the reconfiguration anyway, residents and business owners banded together, holding rallies and gathering petition signatures.

“I guess D.O.T. got the message,” Yu said.

This week, the city acknowledged the delay in the project, but denied that anything beside the schedule had changed.

“The project is not suspended or shelved,” said Scott Gastel, D.O.T. spokesperson. “We are working on some timing and coordination issues,” he added in an e-mailed statement.

Gastel would not say when construction contracts would go out to bid or when work would begin.

The city previously said it was essential for construction to begin this summer, so that the intersection would be able to handle an increased flow of cars during Brooklyn Bridge work starting next year. Gastel would not say how the Chatham Square delay would impact the bridge work.

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver said in a statement that the reason D.O.T. is delaying the start of Chatham Square work is to coordinate it with the Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation.

“I am pleased that the city has finally heeded our call to slow down this project,” Silver said in the statement. “Undertaking any major construction project in this area at this time would have a devastating effect on dozens of small businesses who are struggling during these difficult economic times.”

Since the bulldozers won’t be arriving in Chatham Square anytime soon, Councilmember Alan Gerson said the community now has time to work with D.O.T. on a plan that makes everyone happy.

“It’s a wonderful victory for the community,” said Gerson, who protested the Chatham Square plan last month with Comptroller Bill Thompson. “This gives us a chance to regroup.”

Jan Lee, a Chinatown activist and owner of an antiques store, also was glad the project is on hold, but said it’s important to remain vigilant. Lee heard from a city official that D.O.T. is only delaying the project to avoid widespread protests during election season.

If Mayor Mike Bloomberg gets re-elected in November, “this project starts the day after,” Lee said, based on what the city official told him.

Lee hopes the delay will give the Civic Center Residents Coalition time to build support for their alternate plan, which would leave the intersection largely as is, reducing the project’s scope, cost and duration. The plan, endorsed by Community Board 3, would add a new one-lane road directly connecting St. James Place to East Broadway but would leave Park Row in its central position, in the hope that it will one day reopen.

In a seven-page letter to C.B. 3 last month, Luis Sanchez, D.O.T.’s Lower Manhattan borough commissioner, said the community alternative plan would provide some relief to the traffic that snarls the intersection, but wouldn’t work as well as the city’s plan. Sanchez also said the city’s plan improves pedestrian safety and expands plaza space, while the community’s plan doesn’t.

C.B. 3’s Chatham Square Task Force, which relied on the expertise of traffic consultant Brian Ketcham, also recommended that the city add a second eastbound lane to Worth St.

In his May 1 letter, Sanchez agreed that widening Worth St. would improve traffic flow, and he said the city’s original plan included that. The city also wanted to add a third southbound lane to Bowery.

But the problem is that widening the streets would cut into park space that has both state and city protections, Sanchez wrote. In late 2007, D.O.T. asked elected officials if they would support removing some park space for traffic improvements, and they did not support it, Sanchez said.

Now, redesigning the intersection would require another five to seven months of work, Sanchez wrote.

“It is simply too late to consider such a fundamental change to the design,” he wrote, although his letter was written over a month before the city delayed the project indefinitely.

Gerson said Chatham Square’s current work delay gives the city more than enough time to get approval to remove a small amount of park space and redesign the intersection. Gerson supports demapping the park areas — which are basically concrete-topped plaza spaces — and he expects that it would take no more than a few months to do so, especially since the city is adding more park space in the design.

Silver, who has a large say on whether the park space is demapped, has not seen any specific proposals and has not taken a position, said Caryn Adams, Silver’s spokesperson. In general, D.O.T. should work with the community to reach a consensus for Chatham Square, Silver said in a statement.

Some Chinatown residents would prefer to leave the intersection as is.

Steven Wong, chairperson of the Lin Zexu Foundation, is concerned the construction will hurt his Chatham Square translation business, and he does not want the work to disrupt the central plaza that features a statue of Lin Zexu, a 19th-century Chinese scholar and official.

Before any work starts, Wong wants to see a detailed study of how the plan will improve pedestrian safety, so people “can walk across the street without fear of getting run over by cars,” Wong said.

Julie@DowntownExpress.com
COMMENTS:
Chris Connolly June 11th, 2009 at 7:06 PM

Congratulations to the Chinatown community's effort in beating back the onslaught of the bully boys at DOT and their handlers in Transportation Alternatives and their lackeys on Streetsblog. No one wanted this stupid proposal except DOT commish Sadik-Khan, the chief bully, and her little hipster friends from Brooklyn who control the show at DOT nowadays. Congrats also to the community board for standing by the neighborhood residents and businesses in beating back this assault. You put Sadik-Khan in her place! Let her go back to Times Square and cater to the needs of the tourists there. She and her minions are not welcome downtown.

smallbusinessadvocate June 12th, 2009 at 12:20 AM

in Dec. of 2008 people who did not live in Chinatown, didn't own businesses in Chinatown, and never attended the numerous meetings with the D.O.T. on this subject decided - after seeing the D.O.T. produced drawings of the proposed Chatham Square reconstruction for less than a week to have a "call to arms" for NYC to go against the Chinatown community with a blog posting entitled : "Oppo Expected to Improvements for Chatham Square, Park Row by Brad Aaron on December 1, 2008" justifying the "call to arms" with nothing more than "Unfortunately, the proposal -- a joint project of Parks, City Planning, Design and Construction, and DOT -- is likely to draw opposition from those who consider auto traffic key to Chinatown's prosperity. As always, turnout by livable streets advocates is key.". It is SO sad that this kind of impulse to REACT against communities who are trying to cope with plans that THEY had to fight to get released for review without the AID of a professional engineer. Pedestrian safety was and always has been paramount to the Chinatown community as well as economic viability. ANY time that new comers to NYC decide to have a "call to arms" against the communities of NYC, acting like soldiers of the D.O.T. who have drunk deep of the "green" koolaid, we must rise up against them and remind the public officials , as was done with Chatham Square in this instance, that WE ARE NEW YORK, not these reactionary newbies.

Breaking News - Chatham Square Reconstruction put on hold for at least a year.

A CCRC tipster reports today that the D.O.T. Commish had a meeting with the Chinatown Consolidated Benevolent Association board of directors Wednesday to announce that the Chatham Square reconstruction will be delayed for a year. It was noted that no media were invited to attend this meeting.
The D.O.T. stated at the meeting that the reason for the delay was that the D.O.T. had not yet sent out the bids to contractors for the reconstruction, even though at numerous public presentations they claimed bids went out in January of 2009. CCRC was told that the contract review process would be finalized in June of 09, with construction started on the first phase of the project, the water main replacement, in July 09.
Sources tell CCRC that no government contracts have been signed for Chatham Square so it is unlikely that the water main project will start, much less the total reconstruction and reconfiguration.
It is no mistake that the bids were never sent out to contractors because this is, after all a Mayoral election year. Mayor Bloomberg floated many balloons in the area during the last several years trying to access the popularity of such a major undertaking designed to permanently close Park Row. He tried unsuccessfully to strong arm the Chinatown community into swallowing a thinly veiled ploy to keep Park Row from reopening to appease the NYPD Commish.
Continued bad press, protests, press conferences, and exposure on the Park Row and Chatham Square issues finally kept the construction bids from ever seeing the light of day.
It's clear that they Mayor was hedging his bets on whether the pressure would last, why else would he hold up the bidding process? Knowing the project would be met with thousands of protesters as the bulldozers moved into Chatham Square he sensed his ever dwindling popularity slipping further into the abyss.
Perhaps it was seeing his rival, Comptroller Thompson, at the LMDC headquarters supporting CCRC in their plea for the LMDC board to stop all funding for Chatham Square that was the final straw. Public Advocate candidate Norman Siegel would prove a formidable force if elected and seeing him supporting Chinatown on this issue probably didn't sit well either.
The only SURE way to keep the D.O.T.'s plans for Chatham Square from moving forward is to vote Mayor Bloomberg OUT OF OFFICE.
CCRC will continue to lobby the LMDC for an opportunity to present the community alternative plans for Chatham Square.
The year long delay will be an opportunity for the rest of NYC and City Council, and D.O.T. to examine the merits of the community plan.

UPDATE: This blog posting has been listed on numerous community blogs throughout lower Manhattan, including www.curbed.com (which receives 2 million hits per month).

Tribeca Trib covers construction woes on Greenwich Street

Greenwich Street Work Brings Pain
By Matt Dunning
UPDATED Jun. 02
Current street work occupies two blocks of Greenwich Street, from Canal to Desbrosses Streets. It will eventually continue onto Hubert Street.
Carl Glassman / Tribeca Trib
Current street work occupies two blocks of Greenwich Street, from Canal to Desbrosses Streets. It will eventually continue down to Hubert Street.
The living is not easy for residents and business owners along a portion of Greenwich Street in Tribeca. Noisy, disruptive street work on just two blocks, between Canal and Desbrosses, has been going on for the past five months.

Worse, it is a sign of what’s in store for many others down the road.

The utility upgrade and street repair work, along the five blocks between Canal and Hubert Streets, is part of a two-year project that also includes sections of Leonard and Harrison Streets. In addition, a separate water main replacement is planned next summer for Hudson Street between Hubert and Laight Streets and including work on Hubert, North Moore, Beach and Franklin Streets.

The Greenwich Street project is slated to continue into the summer of next year. Already it is two months behind schedule due to the removal of the contractor, Felix Construction, for “integrity issues,” according to Matthew Monahan, spokesman for the city’s Department of Design and Construction, the agency in charge of the project.

For those living and working near the street work, the disruption seems to be without end.

As early as 6:30 a.m., the sound of iron plates dropping onto the roadway is a harsh prelude to the cacophony of drills, chainsaws and clanging machinery that fills nearby apartments the rest of the day. Utility shutoffs have left apartments and restaurants without water on four separate days—so far—and without gas during two bone-chilling days in February. Nearby parking has all but vanished, as available spots are occupied with construction equipment during off hours and workers’ vehicles during the day.

“Every neighbor, from here down to Hubert Street, is going to go through this exact same story,” said Jim Conley, as the steady sound of a backhoe’s diesel engine roared beneath his window at 130 Watts St. “If they don’t get a better system in place going forward, it’s going to be a whole lot more of what we’re going through.”

One day last month, residents of Conley’s building discovered their basement flooded with more than a foot of water, damaging or ruining the contents of storage lockers there. Jordan Kurzweil, another resident of the building, rattled off a list of damaged or destroyed possessions now residing in a communal heap in the basement hallway.

“Stereo equipment, artwork, mid-century furniture, my high school yearbook, about 1,000 photos,” he said. “My kids’ toys, my CD collection; there was a lot in there.”

Jim Conley stands beside residents’ belongings ruined when their basement lockers were flooded.
Carl Glassman / Tribeca Trib
Jim Conley stands beside residents’ belongings ruined when their basement lockers were flooded.
Monahan said that a 130-year-old water main had become attached to a slab of underground concrete. As crews contracted by the city were removing the concrete, they accidentally took a piece of the water main with it. He said the city had not determined whether it would take responsibility for the broken pipe and residents are uncertain whether insurance will cover the cleanup.

The basement of a second building, 472 Greenwich Street, was also flooded. Marcy Brafman, the co-op president, said water has been seeping into the basement since the project began. She worries about mold and mildew taking root in the building’s foundation and, like her neighbors, does not know if they will be reimbursed by the city.

“I find it hard to believe that it couldn’t have been avoided or foreseen,” Brafman said. “The city should not be putting us through this. We’re not complainers, but there’s an issue of health and safety here.”

For the past five months, business owners have also contended with dust, debris and shrieking construction equipment. Gary Latawiec, owner of the Spa of Tranquility, said that trying to run a relaxation center near the work site—especially one with “tranquility” in its name—has turned into “a contradiction.” He estimated he has lost more than $45,000 since the project began. After the first few weeks, he stopped asking customers to pay for massages and other services if their sessions were pierced by the racket of jackhammers or chainsaws. When utilities are shut off, his employees cannot give pedicures or facial treatments. Latawiec said his business was hit especially hard during the normally lucrative Tribeca Film Festival.

“People saw all that, they saw the orange fences, and they’d turn around,” he said. “They wouldn’t bother coming up the block.”

“It’s a nightmare,” said Stacey Sosa, owner of Estancia 460, the restaurant next door. “I’m a destination spot, so people come but they see all the barriers and everything, then they decide they’re going to go someplace else.”

On May 21, she and the other business owners on the block were notified that the water would be shut off—for the fourth time—the following day. Her staff would later spend much of the evening filling water jugs and buying bottled water at a nearby grocery in preparation.

“Coupled with the economic downturn,” she said, “it’s another thing I didn’t need.”

Councilman Gerson Delivers over a hundred petitions to LMDC office

At 1:00pm today, NYC Council Member Alan Gerson, NYC Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr., public advocate candidate Norman Siegel and residents, community leaders and business owners from Chinatown, rallied at the offices of the Lower Manhattan Development (LMDC) Corporation to demand that LMDC funds allocated for the NYC Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Redesign of Chatham Square be withheld, based on widespread community disapproval of the plan.





Council member Gerson delivered a petition to the LMDC, signed by the boards of directors of several local residential buildings including Chatham Towers, Chatham Green and Southbridge Towers, representing over 5500 residents. Over 140 local businesses also signed the petition demanding the embargo of the funds. The Chatham Square Redesign has been formally rejected by Community Boards 1 & 3, and is “untested, unpopular and unsafe,” according to community leaders, who have created an alternative plan, which was vetted by a professional traffic engineer, Brian Ketcham.



The planning process for Chatham Square was initiated by the LMDC in 2003 to address issues of traffic congestion, pedestrian safety, increasing public space as well as re-establishing the connections that were cut off when Park Row was closed. Subsequently, a sub-recipient agreement allocated $30,690,000 in LMDC funds to the project, none of which has been invoiced yet.



Gerson, Chair of the Council’s Committee on Lower Manhattan Redevelopment, said “The NYC Department of Transportation must listen to the concerns of the community before it proceeds with major traffic reconfigurations. The Chatham Square area community is united in its opposition to this misguided plan, and we will do everything in our power to stop it from moving forward. The Lower Manhattan Development
Corporation has an excellent track record of stewarding federal funds.

It was demonstrated clearly at a City Council joint hearing that the NYC Department of Transportation is in violation of several community input requirements of the sub-recipient agreement. Therefore, the LMDC has a fiduciary responsibility to demand that the community review process fulfill the contractual agreement before funds are disbursed.”



NYC Council Transportation Committee Chairperson John Liu said, "We convened a joint oversight hearing on February 5 to examine the City's proposed Chatham Square Reconfiguration. Despite substantial objections from area residents and businesses to the plan, including formal resolutions from Manhattan Community Boards 1 and 3 rejecting the plan, the City had indicated the project will move forward. Chairperson Gerson and I had called for a full community review of the DOT's plans, including a six-month breathing-period delay in the plans to commence construction, because little information and opportunity for feedback has been afforded to the community. The City cannot disregard the community objections and outcry formally submitted today by way of petitions."



“I fully support this petition, and hope that the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation will heed the call by the community and elected officials to reconsider its funding of the Chatham Square / Park Row Improvement Program,” said New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. “This ill-conceived plan, developed by the City, has completely failed to take community concerns into consideration. Furthermore, if it moves forward, small businesses in Chinatown will loose significant amount of business at a time when they can least afford it. If the City will not step in and address these concerns, then I urge LMDC to take immediate action and stop this program from moving forward.”



Community leader Jeannie Chin said, “The LMDC must follow their own charter mandate in considering the tremendous effect that the reconfiguration of Chatham Square would have on the lives of thousands of residents and businesses surrounding Chatham Square and on the thousands more who use this critical major cross-town intersection in Chinatown and Lower Manhattan. With three other nearby cross-town streets shuttered either for reconstruction or permanently -- Fulton Street until 2014 and Park Row/Pearl Streets -- one cannot begin to imagine the traffic congestion, air quality and emergency access issues that our community will face in the next 4-5 years. We challenge the DOT to examine the community alternative and the LMDC to look before funding this white elephant.”



Several other community leaders including Danny Chen, Jan Lee and Margaret Chin also spoke passionately against the proposed traffic plan. Gerson then carried the petitions to the LMDC.

Feng Shui - City says to Chinatown "Feng PHOOOEY!"

Last night Community Board 3 hosted a presentation by Stantec, the firm hired by the City of NY and D.O.T. to design the plaza and Park Row promenade for the reconstruction of Chatham Square. Part of the reconstruction plan involves a totally new plaza, 27,000 sq. ft. of space, surrounding the Kim Lau Memorial arch already in the center of the square.
The presentation was accompanied by beautifully rendered computer generated images of what was to come once the Chatham Square reconstruction was complete. The drawings were obviously painstaking in their detail and scope and represented the City's vision for Chatham Square with precise detail.

What was missing is what has always been missing, the sensitivity to the community in which the plaza (remarkably similar to a skateboard park) would reside. Except for the color red, there were no indicators that this plaza, over scaled and expansive in size, was in the middle of the largest Chinese population on the East Coast of America. It could have been in Atlanta, or Boise, or Washington D.C. In fact, in showing the hand outs to a variety of people without telling them this plaza was to reside in Chinatown no one thought it was particularly Asian in any sense. No one has guessed it was designed for Chinatown.

CCRC members asked the folks at Stantec, who went through the trouble of bringing full color large format renderings to hand out with versions in English and in Chinese, why Feng Shui was never considered for this plaza. A culture that is five thousand years old, who has to this day a deep rooted belief system based on energy flow, wind and water and its relationship to prosperity and health, would surely benefit from the CONSIDERATION of this belief system in the design of a 27,000 sq. ft. plaza being plopped in their neighborhood for generations. This consideration was absent from the presentation because it was absent from the minds of all involved. There was no defense to the criticism that this plan was culturally insensitive, just blank stares. It was as though someone just called out the elephant in the room.

At no point in fact, at any presentation on planning, roadways, landscaping, or park space was Feng Shui even mentioned. In all fairness there was a mention of a fountain in the middle of the plaza, whose shape was that of a donut, as being "culturally significant" to the Chinese. Convenient that the one item in the plan that was pointed out as being a "nod" to Chinese culture was also innocuous enough to be insignificant to the non-Chinese who would inherit Chinatown after the Chinese have been displaced entirely.

Given the resources that we have in the 21st century, the internet being one of them, jet travel being another and $8 milion being spent on the plaza yet another, The City could have and should have expressed an "overabundance" (a very favorable Chinese concept) of cultural sensitivity for a plaza that no one approved in the first place.

Sadly, what could be an opportunity for America's best Asian American talent has degraded into a political bulldozer project that ultimately looks like a skate board park in a suburban cul de sac, but then again, didn't Guiliani want all of NYC to look like that - Good Work on the Guiliani-Follow-Through Mike.

City to Chinatown: "Feng PHOOOEY to you!"

CB3 Chatham Square resolutions 1,2 and 3

Brian Lehrer WNYC - Chatham Square Reconstruction

For those of you who missed Brian Lehrer on WNYC radio CCRC has transcribed the interview for your review. Transportation Alternatives Wiley Norville and AAFE's Thomas Yu, Chair of the Chatham Square Task Force of CB3 speak about traffic in and through Chinatown.
Here is the link to hear the interview: Look Both Ways (The Brian Lehrer Show: Monday, 26 January 2009)



Transcript:

Brian Lehrer Show - A.M. 1/26/2009
BL: ... We also saw the tragic accident in Chinatown last week
where a delivery van ran into a group on a sidewalk in
Manhattan's Chinatown, killing 2 children and injuring several
others. The incident was deemed an "accident" but Chinatown
is still the most dangerous neighborhood in Manhattan for
pedestrians. So, we're going to look at pedestrian safety in
Chinatown to understand why it's particularly dangerous there,
and what to do about it, and we'll also look at pedestrian
safety in general as an issue across a heavily trafficked
metropolitan area. Joining me now are Wiley Norvell,
communications director of the group Transportation
Alternatives which advocates for pedestrians and bicyclists,
and, Thomas Yu, director of housing development at Asian
Americans for Equality. He is also the chair of the Chatham
Square Redesign Committee of Community Board 3. Welcome both
of you. Good morning.

WN and TY: Good morning.

BL: There were 25 fatalities and more than 1100 injuries in the
decade from 1995 to 2005 in Chinatown. More fatalities than
any other Manhattan zip code. Thomas Yu - What makes
Chinatown the most [dangerous] neighborhood in Manhattan for
walking?

TY: One, well you have.. it's both a residential and commercial
area, it is a tourist destination, and so you have a lot of
conversions of major arteries that you have - the Manhattan
Bridge and the Brooklyn Bridge feeding into it; people take
Canal Street and other nearby streets to get to the tunnels,
and also, it's just north of the Courts and City Hall, so you
have a convergence of a lot of traffic really overloading the
streets of some of the neighborhood.

BL: Wiley, that's just to say that there's a lot of cars and
trucks. Is it that simple, or is it a matter of how the
streets and the traffic patterns, and so forth, are designed
and managed by the City?

WN: Well, I think you could sum up the conditions in Chinatown
with the phrase "No margin for error" with the amount of
vehicular and truck traffic pouring across Canal Street and
all those neighborhood streets, all the businesses, and
probably the most pedestrian congestion outside of maybe Times
Square. There's really no margin for error in Chinatown.
It's what we saw with this last crash; you know, a double-
parked vehicle that was in reverse, presumably in reverse, not
going very fast, but because of the all the congestion, all
the pedestrians, even something like that is going to lead to
fatality and tragedy. That's really the plague of Chinatown,
that there's just so many demands put on those streets. These
are streets that probably have not changed design-wise since
the 19th Century.

BL: Sure enough. I mean, it's one of the oldest neighborhoods in
the City and it still has a lot of the 18th century or 19th
century pedestrian infrastructure. From a policy perspective,
Thomas Yu, what could improve the pedestrian infrastructure
while still maintaining the commercial use and the business
access that so many in Chinatown depend on?

TY: As you know, we are meeting as a task force regarding one
issue, the Chatham Square redesign. Some of the things that
we have asked the DOT for, we haven't gotten. Things as
simple as a Pedestrian-Vehicular Conflict Analysis, which is
typical for just finding out how these additional cars - when
there is construction work, if it is diverted - how it affects
pedestrians at intersections. We've been asking for that and
have not gotten it.

BL: Would you like this? Manhattan Borough President Scott
Stringer and City Councilman Daniel Squadron have called for
a comprehensive plan for pedestrian safety in Chinatown. It
includes banning commercial traffic on local residential
streets, even though commercial traffic has all been pushed to
the Manhattan Bridge from the Brooklyn Bridge which does not
take commercial traffic anymore. This comprehensive plan
includes banning commercial traffic on local residential
streets, re-opening Park Row - which was closed as a post-9/11
security measure for the NYPD, traffic calming measures - like
bollards and speed bumps, more commercial parking. Let me ask
you, Wiley, I know Transportation Alternatives never likes
more parking, but what do you think about that blueprint from
the Borough President and Councilman Squadron?

WN: There's a lot of good things there, especially on the traffic
calming front. This is a toolbox that's tried and tested.
These are things that worked on Queens Blvd ten years ago -
tamed the Blvd of Death to some extent. In a place like
Chinatown, we can't go without them. We can't go without
things like bollards to protect pedestrians on sidewalks,
better signal timing to give pedestrians added time to cross
these dangerous streets like Canal [Street]. We can't go
without them any longer, and we hope the City moves very
aggressively to roll them out in that neighborhood.

BL: Anyone else from Chinatown or anywhere else in the metro area?
Because we will expand this out from Chinatown in just a
minute. Traffic safety. You know, it's not drivers who get
killed on the streets of New York in driver-pedestrian
accidents, it is pedestrians. So, any suggestions to improve
pedestrian safety? Any place where you particularly unsafe
crossing the street? Call and shout out your intersection and
maybe it will put it on the City Transportation Dept's radar
screen. 212 433 WNYC, and of course anyone from Chinatown.
(repeats) or post to: WNYC.org and click on Brian Lehrer show
for Wiley Norvell from Trans Alt and Thomas Yu from AAFE and
CB3 in Chinatown.

Here's Mike in Manhattan.

MIKE: Yes, hello. I have a comment on the current conversation
and I think one of the people who needs to be thanked for
part of the congestion in Chinatown is former Congressman
Guy Molinari from Staten Island, who put a bill through
Congress that required the Port Authority to have one-way
tolls on the Verrazano Bridge, so what truckers now do in
order to avoid the toll on the Verrazano Bridge is - they
take Canal Street and the Holland Tunnel instead of going
through Staten Island over the Verrazano Bridge. That
causes a good part of the heavy truck congestion on
Staten Island.

BL: Thomas Yu - You think that's right?

TY: That's absolutely correct. A lot of wider regional
transportation decisions affect Chinatown because it is a
regional hub. For example, the tolls on the Verrazano Bridge
is one of them. Even development on the other side of the
bridges in Brooklyn are pouring traffic into Chinatown. These
are the things that the residents have brought up in the Task
Force.

BL: Wiley, if Chinatown is the most dangerous neighborhood for
pedestrians in Manhattan, do you happen to know what the 2nd
and 3rd and 4th most dangerous neighborhoods are, either in
Manhattan per se, or citywide?

WN: We'll they're really going to concentrate where you have the
same problems - intense vehicular traffic, especially truck
traffic converging with a lot of pedestrian density. Those
are going to be places like Washington Heights, places like
midtown, places like Harlem, where you have all those uses
overlapping.

BL: Here is somebody elsewhere in Manhattan who has a pedestrian
problem. Richard, you're on WNYC.

RICHARD: I wanted to speak about the approaches to crossings like
the Queensborough Bridge, where the crossings are -
everybody's sort of in highway mode, and there is this
terrible disregard for the pedestrian crosswalks and
people oftentimes on cell phones coming onto these
crossings, and the danger posed to pedestrians and
myself, especially when I'm wheeling my 20-month son
around, is really upsetting. It seems like some of the
traffic agents do their job, others do not, but I think
in these areas that are right near major crossings,
especially free ones where lots of times drivers are
trying to avoid the tunnels or the paid crossings, it's
a special problem.

BL: Wiley?

WN: This really hits the nail on the head. It's really negligent
and dangerous driving that are posing the hugest risks to New
Yorkers. All these pedestrian deaths that happen - the Number
1 cause isn't things like drunk driving or being on a cell
phone, that we think of in the headlines - it's things like
speeding, it's things like driver inattention, and there is so
little margin for error that it's inevitable that we have this
many crashes when people aren't paying attention. We really
need a new push to do what we did with drunk driving. You
know, 30 years ago drunk driving was not only permitted, it
was almost celebrated if you look at movies from the 70s. In
this day and age, we really need to bring the same aggressive
approach with respect to culture and laws to reckless driving.
There's so little margin for error in New York that we can't
afford to be inattentive, we can't afford not be bringing 100%
of our attention. If you drive 2 tons of steel on New York
City streets, you're responsible for the outcomes of what's
going to happen.

BL: Richard, thank you for your call. Now, Thomas Yu, you're the
chair of the Chatham Square Redesign Committee of CB3 and,
after 9/11 Park Row, as we mentioned earlier, was closed to
vehicle traffic which merchants and residents claim have
worsened gridlock and lowered property values. Now the City
has plans to redesign Chatham Square and transform Park Row
into a landscaped pedestrian and bicycle area. Do you like
that idea?

TY: If we were just to reflect the feelings of the community on
the Task Force, there are public members - they're absolutely
against the idea. But everything we've been told is that we
can't ask for it, that it [Park Row] will be closed. It's
compounding a lot of problems in the area where traffic has
trouble flowing, and with the upcoming Brooklyn Bridge repairs
- that will divert a lot of traffic into Chinatown.
Businesses are worried that the shut down of the streets,
especially on the weekends when Chinatown does most of its
business, will severely affect the economy of the
neighborhood.

BL: And Wiley, you've been reading on Streetsblog, a liveable
streets advocate - side-aligned with Trans Alternatives, that
these more pedestrian-friendly measures are drawing opposition
from the business community which is reliant on auto traffic.
So, there's a conflict about whether the community even wants
more street space allocated to pedestrians?

WN: You know, it's hard to say. I think my colleague on the other
line could probably verify that, you now, over the years
Chinatown has really gotten the short end of the stick from
the City of New York, whether it's NYPD response to 9/11,
whether it's government workers parking with permits
illegally, whether it's all this traffic congestion... There's
so much bad faith on the part of the City over 20 years with
respect to Chinatown, that it's hard to recognize the good
when it's playing out. There is, I think, a lot of good to
this Chatham Square redesign, I think there's a lot in it for
a neighborhood with as many pedestrians and as low car
ownership as Chinatown, but certainly there's more room for
community input on this.

BL: BTW - When we finish this discussion, we're going to have a
happier conversation for Chinatown and other parts of the City
and the region and the world. We're going to celebrate the
Year of the Ox. The Lunar New Year is of course today and
we're collecting posts. Some good stuff is already coming in
on our webpage [with] answers to the question: How are you
celebrating the Year of the Ox?
[followed by discussion on Year of the Ox]

BL: To finish up on transportation - Wiley Norvell from Transp.
Alternatives, your group has been advocating for implementing
what they call "Leading Pedestrian Interval Systems" in our
intersections. What is that?

WN: Well, one of the major causes of crashes in NYC is failure to
yield - cars turning across pedestrians while they're in the
crosswalk with a walking signal. What LPI's do is give
pedestrians time to cross. It's also called "Exclusive
Crossing Time" where a pedestrian has 10 seconds to establish
themselves in the intersection before they have to contend
with traffic turning in front of them.

BL: Megan in Brooklyn has an issue that a few of our callers do
with respect to Chinatown street safety.

MEGAN: Hi, my question about Chinatown is that I know that the
stalls - the vendors have stalls extend[ing] so far onto
the sidewalk, it seems to leave very little space for,
particularly, large numbers of tourists to walk around
in. People tend to walk in the street. I'm wondering if
that is part of the problem of why it's so dangerous in
Chinatown?

TY: You have some instances where the sidewalk has been taken over
by produce and things like that. These are things that we all
can work on, I'm sure, especially the response that small
businesses have in terms of closing the street completely to
traffic. I think maybe there can be some compromise worked
out where maybe certain hours they get their shipments, and
then they in turn police their area of the sidewalk.

BL: Megan, thank you very much. We'll leave it there. [followed
by discussion on Year of the Ox]

Community Board 3 votes to Reject The DOT plan for Chatham Square

On December 16th Community Board 3 voted to reject the Dept. of Transportation's plan for Chatham Square's reconstruction. Community Board 3 represents 164,000 residents of lower Manhattan.
Some elements of the Chinatown community's own resolution were incorporated into
CB3's final version - namely the last FIVE "whereas"'s, the entire community authored version is posted on this blog. It was after much deliberation that the board ultimately decided to include these elements.

Here is the final resolution that was voted on:

WHEREAS, The City has presented a Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign that would reconfigure the intersections in Chatham Square to improve traffic and pedestrian conditions and create a substantial new public open space. Implementation of this redesign would fully implement two mandated mitigation measures identified in the lawsuit regarding the One Police Plaza Security Plan Environmental Impact statement (the EIS) developed during the environmental review process between April 2005 and August 2007:
The reconfiguration of Chatham Square – The existing complicated intersection in Chatham Square would be simplified by creating two smaller, more regular intersections. The planned reconfiguration would realign both the north‐south and east‐west movements through Chatham Square: the Bowery would flow directly into St. James Place while Worth Street would flow directly into East Broadway. The new alignment of the Bowery would create a new public plaza featuring a dedicated space for the existing Kim Lau Memorial Arch as well as programmable space for a variety of passive public uses and community celebrations. The new plaza would be roughly triangular in shape, extending to the southeast from the street wall between Mott St and Doyers St.

The creation of a pedestrian promenade on Park Row – The redesign would realign Park Row with Mott St, forming a right‐angle intersection with Worth St. Park Row would be reduced to one south‐ and one northbound lane, with nearly half of the right‐of‐way for vehicles converted into a landscaped promenade for pedestrians. At the checkpoint at the north end of Park Row the City has added an additional southbound lane to facilitate vehicle movement through the checkpoint and reduce the risk of delays associated with vehicle screening. The Commissioner Lin Ze Xu statue would be moved to a new location at the northern terminus of the promenade near Chatham Square. A 6‐minute walk along this 4/10‐mile long promenade would connect Chinatown with the Civic Center and with existing parks at Brooklyn Bridge Plaza and Drumgoole Plaza. Pedestrians could reach One Police Plaza and the Municipal Building via a ramp, or could continue on the promenade under the One Police Plaza "underpass" to reach the Brooklyn Bridge and the Financial District; and

WHEREAS, The existing Chatham Square intersection was built in 1999, when it was aligned to facilitate the north‐south movement between the Bowery and Park Row. Because of the security plan for One Police Plaza after September 11, 2001, Park Row has been closed to general traffic (excepting local residents, NYPD vehicles, NYCT buses and emergency services). When Park Row was closed, north‐south traffic was shifted to St. James Place, sending motorists along a serpentine path through the Chatham Square and causing significant traffic congestion in surrounding areas. Pedestrians crossing through Chatham Square must contend with long crossings, inadequate sight lines causing safety concerns, and multiple simultaneous turning movements through crosswalks; and
WHEREAS, A series of legal challenges were mounted against the One Police Plaza security plan, which resulted in the preparation of a detailed Environmental Impact Statement by the NYPD. The environmental review process, which lasted from April 2005 to August 2007, recommended implementation of two major mitigation measures in order to address these significant adverse impacts: the reconfiguration of Chatham Square and the creation of a pedestrian promenade on Park Row; and
WHEREAS, The redesign of Chatham Square is intended to alleviate those conditions. Traffic 3
simulation analysis of the reconfiguration was conducted by the City as part of the EIS process, and independently by Brian Ketcham, a traffic consultant retained by CB3. Both of these models showed a marked improvement in traffic movements with the proposed reconfiguration. Mr. Ketcham has also recommended a slight change to the reconfiguration to add one more eastbound lane for the Worth Street approach to Bowery, because his model shows this improvement would improve traffic, cutting travel time in half. The City has already begun review of this option; and
WHEREAS, The reconfiguration of Chatham Square would not preclude the reopening of Park Row at some later date. This is a long‐standing demand of local residents and businesses, and remains the official position of CB3 and local elected officials. The current proposal would not allow Park Row to return to its former role as a major thoroughfare, because it would not be aligned directly with the Bowery. In the event that Park Row were to reopen to general traffic, DOT would conduct any necessary traffic analysis, and could implement modifications such as adjusting signal timings, roadway striping, or the roadway alignment to ensure the intersection functions properly. CB3 has initiated a new analysis with Mr. Ketcham, who will continue to work with city on a plan on how Park Row would function were it to reopen and what steps would be necessary. This would inform final design for the creation of a pedestrian promenade on Park Row; and
WHEREAS, Since the Final EIS was issued in August 2007, City officials have been meeting with local residents, business owners, Community Boards and other stakeholders to explain the plan and gather feedback. The City outreach included at least one meeting with the following groups: Community Boards 1, 2, and 3, City Councilman Alan Gerson, State Senator Martin Connor, State Senator‐Elect Daniel Squadron, Civic Center Residents Coalition NYC, Chatham Green Board, Chatham Tower Board, Lin Ze Xu Foundation, American Legion, PS 124, Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Society, Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Chinatown Partnership LDC, Mariner's Temple, Grace Gratitude Buddhist Temple, Fujianese Association of NY, United Fujianese Association, Smith/Hamilton Houses, Hamilton Houses Senior Center, and NY Chinatown Senior Center. Public comment led to a number of valuable improvements to the plan, including:
Retention of parking lanes on St James Place.
Maintaining the current direction of Oliver Street.
Creation of a lay‐by lane on The Bowery for retail deliveries and night‐time community parking
Reconfiguration of the security checkpoint at the northern end of Park Row to improve throughput, and access to Chatham Green.
Design of open space surrounding Kimlau Memorial Arch on Chatham Square for events by the American Legion.
Location and alignment of Commissioner Lin Ze Xu statue (facing east Broadway), creation of open space around the statue to facilitate annual gatherings.
To improve pedestrian crossings and safety, refuge islands were introduced into the roadway plans where possible; and

WHEREAS, The proposed alignment was reviewed and approved by the New York City Department of Transportation and the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). The FDNY, in its letter of support stated "… there will be more efficient movement of the fire department apparatus in all directions as a result of this new traffic design." Additionally the proposed alignment was reviewed by the New York City Transit Authority which found the new design would be a substantial improvement and would not create any mobility problems for regular or articulated buses; and
WHEREAS, there has already been a 13‐month delay in the approval and implementation of the Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign. A CB3 public hearing on Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign was originally planned for November 2007, a few months after the final EIS was issued, but was delayed due to, among other things, ongoing litigation challenging the final EIS. After that lawsuit was resolved, a subsequent hearing was planned for August 2008. In July 2008, the City's project team realized that because of the delay, the Chatham Square reconstruction was now potentially in conflict with the Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation Project. The public hearing was postponed while DOT and DDC coordinated implementing both projects, which took until October 2008. On December 2, 2008, CB3 was finally able to sponsor its Public Hearing on Chatham Square Traffic/Park Redesign, which was co‐sponsored by CB1 and CB2. At that meeting, the City presented to the public the detailed design plans for the reconfiguration of Chatham Square and the creation of a pedestrian promenade on Park Row; and
WHEREAS, Work on rehabilitation of the approach spans and ramps of the Brooklyn Bridge will begin in the spring of 2010 and will continue in stages through 2014. It is important to coordinate work on Chatham Square and the Brooklyn Bridge, because these two projects are essentially in the same area. A severe traffic problem and a rippling effect could result if work is not staged carefully. 4
During night‐time and week‐end work on the Brooklyn Bridge, its traffic will be detoured. Traffic simulations and prior experience with work on the Brooklyn Bridge suggest that a significant portion of this traffic would be added to the Manhattan Bridge. If work on the subsurface utility work in the central parts of Chatham Square project cannot be completed prior to the spring of 2010, there would only be one lane of moving traffic through Chatham Square during those Brooklyn Bridge detours. Traffic simulations of that scenario show severe traffic congestion in areas surrounding Chatham Square – on the Bowery, on Worth St and Canal St, and across the Manhattan Bridge into Brooklyn; and
WHEREAS, The City is moving forward with implementing the Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign, the major mitigation measures discussed in the One Police Plaza Security Plan EIS. The City needs approval from the Public Design Commission (formerly the Arts Commission) to go forward with certain project components. Any delay increases the risk that the Brooklyn Bridge rehabilitation detours and Chatham Square infrastructure work will overlap; a delay of 2 months greatly increases the risk that the two projects will overlap and lead to an intensification of the negative impacts as described above; and
WHEREAS, The City has proposed the following schedule for components of the Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign project and the nearby Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation project:
The reconfiguration of Chatham Square. Issue construction bid in January 2009. Begin Chatham Square/Park Row construction by June 2009. Complete the utility infrastructure work under The Bowery and Worth St by spring 2010. Utility work under St. James Place and East Broadway would be finished by mid‐2011. The final street alignment and resurfacing, including changes to the alignment and lane configuration along Park Row, would be completed by early 2012.

Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation. Begin deck and ramp construction in spring 2010. Work continued in stages through mid‐2013.

Open Space in Chatham Square and Park Row promenade. The design process would continue until mid‐2009, in consultation with CB3 and the public. Procurement until early 2010. Open space construction until early‐2012; and

WHEREAS, The City has committed to providing a regular set of stakeholder meetings coordinated through the Lower Manhattan Command Center (LMCCC) in the Chatham Square/Brooklyn Bridge area (venue to be located with the help of CB3), that will coordinate work of all involved agencies and will meet regularly with these agencies and community stakeholders to resolve issues, and this stakeholder group or taskforce will start functioning immediately before actual construction work begins; and
WHEREAS, The City has committed to providing a community liaison who will be on‐site during construction hours through the Department of Design and Construction to handle community requests and concerns and interface directly with the contractor, and the city construction managers and community liaisons will be located in a field office located in the Chatham Square/Brooklyn Bridge area, and will have Chinese language services available; and
WHEREAS, The Lower Manhattan Small Firm Assistance Program will be in place for these projects to alleviate adverse effects of publicly‐funded construction projects and contribute to firm's working capital, with grants of up to $25,000 available for small firms. The Program seeks to assist eligible businesses affected by the temporary closure of streets or sidewalks and to address the potential for blight during the Program eligibility period; and
WHEREAS, The City is continuing to work with CB3 and our traffic consultant, Mr. Ketcham, by providing additional information, especially concerning pedestrian safety and future traffic conditions, which may have been very conservative in the EIS, as well as information regarding the cross‐effects with Brooklyn Bridge work, and which includes, but is not limited to, the following information:
We are seeking specific information needed for the technical basis of a pedestrian and vehicular safety evaluation, including pedestrian counts and pedestrian‐vehicle conflict analysis in the Chatham Square area.

We are seeking traffic and pedestrian analyses for both midday and weekends, since we are also concerned about accommodating pedestrian and traffic movements on weekends. The "Chinatown Access and Circulation Study" issued by LMDC in December
5

2004 reported weekend conditions are worse than average weekday conditions. And, in fact, midday weekday pedestrian conditions are typically worse than evening peak hours. We must be sure the true worst case conditions are being analyzed.

We want a full assessment of reasonable traffic conditions in ten and twenty years. We are concerned that the City's traffic analysis is limited to conditions observed three years ago. Mr. Ketcham has demonstrated that counts taken in 2005 are lower than what has occurred in earlier years and they can be expected to return to much higher levels in future years. The City has agreed to perform sensitivity analysis estimating the potential for accommodating any growth in traffic volumes at the 10‐ and 20‐year horizon and will look at midday and weekend traffic patterns.

We also want an assessment as to whether Chatham Square would function acceptably were Park Row to be opened to traffic in the future. We want to assess scenarios with one and with two moving lanes in both directions.

Because Chatham Square is being expedited in anticipation of the rehabilitation of the Brooklyn Bridge, but no work can begin on the Bridge or the Square until maintenance and protection of traffic (M&PT) plans for each are adopted following public review, and because of the obvious need to coordinate the two projects and to integrate the two M&PT plans, DOT has provided and we are reviewing a copy of the draft Bridge M&PT plan along with the following: all traffic data, manual counts and automatic traffic counter counts, used in evaluating diversion routes for the Brooklyn Bridge reconstruction; and all information on any micro‐assignment and traffic simulation modeling to optimize the Bridge construction M&PT plan; and

WHEREAS, The City is being asked to commit to working with CB3 and the impacted community for the next several months to study unresolved design issues, such as, but not limited to,
Adding one more eastbound lane for the Worth Street approach to Bowery.

A plan on how Park Row would function were it to reopen and what steps would be necessary. This would inform final design for the creation of a pedestrian promenade on Park Row, which will undergo a design process that would continue until mid‐2009.

Integration of the M&PT plans including work schedules for the Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign and Brooklyn Bridge Rehabilitation Project.

Improving other aspects of the Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign concerning pedestrian safety and future traffic conditions, as recommendations are developed using the information and analysis from the previous section; and

WHEREAS, Although CB3 agrees that Park Row must be re‐opened for Chinatown and the surrounding communities to experience their full and complete revitalization, the Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign would help mitigate much of the economic impacts caused by the closure of Park Row:
Construction on the present timeline would result in all of the Chatham Square / Park Row Improvement Project being completed by 2012 when the WTC Memorial is complete and there will be many new tourists in Lower Manhattan.

The creation of a Park Row promenade, as well as the introduction of a pedestrian ramp, would create an inviting, pleasant and direct connection for pedestrians and cyclists between Lower Manhattan and the Civic Center to Chinatown. The open space project would incorporate signage to guide people through the area, and direct them to local destinations.

The new alignment of Chatham Square would help traffic, pedestrians and cyclists move more efficiently and safely into and through the Chinatown area.

The upgrade to security devices around the perimeter of the Civic Center Security Zone would greatly improve the aesthetics and urban design of the area, pedestrian mobility and appeal of moving between the Civic Center and Chinatown.
6

The creation of a new 27,000sf public open space in Chatham Square would provide a central gathering place for the Chinatown community, a venue to hold events, and offer opportunities for passive recreation with seating and plantings; and

WHEREAS, public comment at the December 2 public hearing was overwhelmingly against the lack of sufficient public involvement in the design process; and
WHEREAS, the Department of Transportation has not done adequate research regarding the economic impact of three plus years of reconstruction at Chatham Square, nor has the D.O.T. provided a business mitigation plan to the Chinatown community prior to the reconstruction of Chatham Square; and
WHEREAS, Community Board 3 did not give the public the opportunity to view detailed plans of Chatham Square’s reconstruction until 6 days before the public hearing of December 2, 2008; and
WHEREAS, the Chinatown community has not had ample time to caucus and present an alternative plan for the recontruction with alternative construction schedule; and
WHEREAS, the unanimous opposition expressed at the December 2, 2008 public hearing regarding Chatham Square reconfiguration accurately reflects the vast majority of Chinatown groups comprised of residents, businesses and nonprofits
THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that at this time, Community Board 3‐Manhattan rejects the Chatham Square/Park Row Redesign. Because CB3 and the community ultimately want the City to reopen Park Row, we believe it is necessary to plan for this eventuality now. Because of the protracted nature of the proposed reconstruction, we believe it is necessary for the City to provide a detailed business support plan that goes beyond the on‐site community liaison and Small Firm Assistance Program grants outlined above. We ask the City to commit to working with the Community Board 3 Taskforce in a public process to analyze and finalize the outstanding issues of the design along with supplying further information to support the analysis. CB3 also commits to holding another public meeting in February 2009 so that the community can see the proposed final design and make comments to the design, which should incorporate the resolutions to the outstanding issues.
Discussion:
David: CB3 Taskforce will be focusing on the traffic layout. CB3 has a traffic consultant, Brian Kitchen working with the DOT and reporting back to CB.
Susan: there will be a series of public hearings in January and February.
Joel:community does not want to “withhold support” but rather reject the plan.
David: DOT said they were going ahead with the plan. This resolution will offer us some community input. If we don’t pass this we will forgo the opportunity to discuss safety and business plans at all.
Harry: noted other traffic plans that the DOT has not organized well and wants to use the word “thorough” when asking for a safety plan in the resolution.
Bonnie: noted possibly adding language mentioning business plan specifically.
Dominic: many politicians noted the lack of process in CS design. By creating this taskforce we are keeping the lines of communication and input open.
Rocky: also believes we should replace “withholds support” to “rejects”

A few hoops to jump through while streets are under endless construction

The City has created the small firm assistance program in an attempt to aid businesses suffering from construction adjacent to their business.
Here is the description as posted on the CB3 website:

The Small Firm Assistance Program (the "Program") has been established by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), in cooperation with the New York City Department of Small Business Services (SBS) and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC), to promote economic development by assisting small firms that have suffered business disruption as a result of publicly-funded construction projects during the Program eligibility period. The Program seeks to assist eligible businesses affected by the temporary closure of streets or sidewalks and to address the potential for blight during the Program eligibility period. Grant awards will mitigate documented adverse effects and contribute to a firm’s working capital.

There are, however some "hoops" to jump through:
Summary of eligibility

"you have to be on the same street as the construction"

"there has to be a street or sidewalk closure of more than 15-days within a 30-day period"

"less than 50-employess"

"must be a first-floor business"

"show demonstrated impact"

Letter to the Editor - Downtown Express - Chafing at Chatham

To The Editor:
The Dept. of Transportation’s response to the Dec. 2nd Chatham Square reconfiguration hearing (news article, Dec. 5 –11, “Defying the shouts, city says full speed on Chatham Square”) was a sham. The plan that the city proposes to implement is deeply flawed. It is deceptively alluring when they present the plan as a $50 million traffic improvement that would increase pedestrian safety and add greenery.

If they truly wish to green, bring it on! We’ve been asking for trees since the last Chatham Square reconstruction in l999. In reality the improvements are not based on pedestrian safety studies as one traffic engineer admitted at the hearing. One example is t he loss of a crosswalk at the corner of St. James and Oliver St. Many children currently cross there to go to P.S. 1 and St. James School. Forcing school children to cross two streets at a greater distance does not increase pedestrian safety.


Bus traffic would be forced to make additional and difficult turns to Park Row and to Worth St. from a narrowed Bowery, and they would cross two traffic lights, instead of the current one. Making Park Row single-laned, restricts emergency vehicles, compromises safety and its use as an escape route in a true Lower Manhattan catastrophe. The implementation of this expensive elephant ostensibly to improve traffic will destroy the fragile economy at a major intersection that links the city’s east/west/north/south.


Most troubling is Mayor Bloomberg’s handling of the entire Chatham Square reconfiguration plan that attempted, but failed, to pit community groups against each other while bulldozing across Chinatown. Here as in neighborhoods throughout this city from the communities at Washington Square Park, Union Square and Yankee Stadium -- we have all fought the reconfiguration or takeover of public spaces without true community input. From the rezoning struggles impacting poor and minority neighborhoods in Chinatown, Harlem, Willets Point, Red Hook and the Atlantic Yards — the fake veneer of community participation has been painted on by Mayor Bloomberg’s heavy, sometimes hidden hand — not seen since the days of Robert Moses.

Jeanie Chin
Civic Center Residents Coalition

Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on Chatham Square:

Testimony of Assemblyman Sheldon Silver
Community Board 3 Public Hearing
Regarding The Proposed Chatham Square Redesign
Tuesday, December 2, 2008


Good evening, I would like to thank Community Board 3 along with Boards 1 and 2 for sponsoring tonight's hearing.

I have been at the forefront of the fight to re-open Park Row since it was first closed after the tragic events of September 11th. Since then, I have worked with my colleagues in government, local residents and community leaders to re-open Park Row and was one of the lead plaintiffs in the original lawsuit
filed against the City to reverse the decision to close this vital lifeline to the Chinatown community.

After 9/11, Chinatown was one of the hardest hit communities economically in New York City and the closure of Park Row has been a major obstacle in the process of rebuilding and revitalizing the area. Prior to September 11th, Park Row served as a major thoroughfare that connected Chinatown to Lower
Manhattan. Scores of workers and tourists frequented this area throughout the day and especially at lunchtime. The partial re-opening of Park Row to bus and pedestrian traffic was a step in the right direction but is clearly not enough.

Now, the City is proposing to take steps that make the re-opening of Park Row more difficult by narrowing the roadway and investing funds to make this closure into a permanent condition. In light of the vast public outcry opposing the Park Row closure and its clear negative impact upon business and residents of Chinatown and surrounding communities, I oppose the City's Park Row Promenade proposal as well as the expenditure of any public funds for so-called mitigation measures which fail to bring about the full re-opening of Park Row.

I am also deeply concerned about aspects of the Chatham Square Reconfiguration and the timing of any major reconstruction in this area. With so many small Chinatown businesses suffering due to both the economic downturn and the closure of Park Row, they can ill-afford two plus years of construction and roadway closures that would further disrupt their daily business activities. Many groups have indicated that this project is being pushed through far too quickly and without sufficient community input. I urge the City to re-consider their Chatham Square / Park Row plan in light of the concerns raised here and elsewhere regarding this proposal.

The residents of Chinatown and Lower Manhattan continue suffering from increased traffic congestion, decreased air quality and delayed response times for emergency vehicles caused by the closing of Park Row. We need to ask ourselves whether the proposals being put forth by the City tonight adequately address these issues.

I want to make sure the voice of my Lower Manhattan community is heard. While I understand the need to protect our public safety, I believe these measures must be balanced with the needs of residents and businesses in the area.

Park Row must be re-opened for Chinatown and the surrounding communities to experience their full and complete revitalization. I look forward to continuing to work with the local residents, community leaders and my colleagues in government until the day we can announce that Park Row has finally been re-opened.

Blog to Blog

The following is a post from another blog : Politics as Puppetry
The author took the time understand the CCRC point of view, for that we're thankful.
Read on:

"Streetsblog posted its own call to action about today’s hearing on remodeling Chatham Square which, when read in the context of CCRC’s much more detailed analysis, just seems a little flimsy, and flippant at that - Streetsblog groups local response under generic ‘opposition’, and pushes for the present plan as handed down by NYC DoT and friends, despite the fact that the main opposition seems to be from folks who don’t oppose the project, but rather oppose doing it NOW.

This case, and the recent rise of anti-bike lane activism in Brooklyn reveals how certain ‘green’ policies can work as a kind of class warfare, with the New Urbanist trend being only the latest of many architectural salvos for the city delivered from on-high by city administrators to the unwashed/ignorant residents, unable to see the social benefits of a overhaul of their street life. Honestly, I’m not even totally convinced of the utility of green streets - transportation is a sizable but not immense part of CO2 emissions, and the green-streets improvements feel increasingly like a form of social control purpetuated by New York’s ascendent young, mobile and wealthy urban class with its ‘green’ mores (notably different from a serious environmentalism).

Not to say that ‘livable streets’ policies won’t work, but rather to say that they’ll work better if done in collaboration with the residents of those streets. Instead of putting out calls for ‘advocates’ to descend on hearings to support “green here, green now.”

DOT Says Chatham Square Redo needed 'cause it's not safe, oh really??

According to a 2004 article in the Villager newspaper Canal street is one of the most dangerous streets to cross in the City!

Hmm.... cyclists know this, pedestrians know this, CCRC knows this and I'm guessing more than one person in DOT knows about this BY NOW!

In 2008 - 2009 what's on the priority list for DOT fixes? NOT Canal street. That's going to remain as unsafe as ever. Instead $50 million dollars suddenly became available to improve Chatham Square, citing safety concerns. Chinatown leaders and businesses have been complaining about accidents on Canal St., Bowery, Alan St. for years and not much has been done.

So what's the hurry with the Chatham Square's redo if it's not even on the list of the most unsafe intersections in NYC? We keep hearing about how unsafe it is, but surely when it comes to ACTUAL accidents, ACTUAL deaths, actual suffering Canal street, Houston Street, 6th Ave., has this part of the City beat hands down.

Clearly the D.O.T. planner who did the last Chatham Square design had a great sense of humor because he left us with bicyle-ramp planters and a traffic configuration he drew on a napkin five minutes before his meeting with the contractors. I think what Chatham Square needs is a gallows from which to hang the moron who designed it the last time.

I know how dangerous Chatham Square is, I bike through it, drive through it and walk through it every single week. Thanks to the failed design we're left with, and the closing of Park Row Chatham Square can definitely use improvement, no one's arguing that the DOT screwed it up, the fact of the matter is however, that there are more accidents on Canal Street than Chatham Square. See the Villager article here.

D.O.T not acting responsibly, what else is new?

I was at a meeting recently in Chinatown with a presentation on the Chatham Square reconfiguration done by two gentlemen - one rep from the Mayor's office, and another rep from the D.O.T. The Chinese press were at the meeting in full force with video cameras, several reporters, etc., all there to cover this important story about the Reconfiguration of Chatham Square.

After the presentation/meeting, I found out that a local downtown reporter (non-Chinese) was denied access to the meeting by the D.O.T.!!! This leads one to question why the D.O.T. would not want any publicity regarding the Chatham Square reconfiguration in any of the NYC English language newspapers. Aside from the racist connotation of this act committed by the D.O.T. - denying regular English language NYC press, but allowing Chinese language media and press - I want to know: What is the D.O.T. covering up here?

Addendum: Everyone found out what the D.O.T. was covering up - I attended a "public hearing" organized by Community Boards 1, 2 and 3 on Tuesday 12/2/2008 the following week: Luis Sanchez of the D.O.T. stated (to paraphrase) "We're going to start this contruction on schedule." This was not a public hearing but an announcement by the D.O.T. that this horrendous 3-year construction project was ready to start on time - without adequate community notice and feedback or input!!