You guys might want to consider a kind of Grand Army Plaza Coalition model for Inwood. Create a project with its own impetus, stakeholders and political concensus. Invite the local Community Board to join up and become one of many stakeholders involve in your group. Make the CB play on your turf or let them simply exclude themselves from the process altogether. Remember — community boards only have advisory power when it comes to City Hall. Guess what? You have advisory power too! By creating a group that is focused on a specific project and truly representative of the community, your organization can be much more politically potent than a Community Board.

“Livable Streets Scorecard”

Ooooh I like this idea. What sort of subjects could we grade them on?

Parking policy is a big one, of course. Streetsblog has categories of Community Boards and Community Board Reform.

Ooooh I like this idea. What sort of subjects could we grade them on?

Brad, I agree that area is totally walkable, and safe. I remember seeing a lot of illegal parking at the marina, though– the worst part of walking there was wading through all of the cars parked up on the sidewalk and such. Is that still going on?

While it has its problems, statistically speaking Inwood is on par with, for instance, Midtown South, Gramercy and the East Village when it comes to violent crime, and had fewer murders last year than many “safe” neighborhoods in Manhattan. I doubt you’d find many people who live here who would consider it dangerous to walk from the Dyckman Street A station to the marina.

So I would not consider the marina transit inaccessible. That said, it would be great if there were a bus stop nearby.

The marina has been closed for two years, and while I think most everyone wants to see it re-open, neither the city nor the developers nor CB12 seems interested in trying to keep additional traffic to a minimum.

I see, so the point is really that people are developing an attraction that’s not all that transit-accessible and planning only for car access – in and through a fairly dense urban neighborhood. I’ve never been to this marina, but from the maps it looks like it’s about seven blocks from the A train, which is a pretty long walk in a place that doesn’t have the best reputation for safety.

More importantly, there are no buses west of Broadway there (or east, for that matter). You would think that the only waterfront access north of 181st Street would be reason enough for the MTA to run a bus there, but apparently not. So it would be nice if the MTA could extend the Bx20 or the M3 to the marina.

It would also be nice if the developers could sponsor some buses, Ikea-style. If they’re paying for car services (and also paying garage bills?), it wouldn’t cost much more. Am I correct in understanding that they would pay for a car to pick customers up at a garage, but not at the train station? That alone seems, um, ooo….

What can you say? Yes there are over 40 other greenmarkets citywide that are cherished by their neighborhoods, but if they really don’t want one because they think it will be too much of a negative impact, so be it. Nevermind that the same board has previously approved two other greenmarkets in their district, including one that takes place in a street where there could be parking and one other that operates on Sundays.

I didn’t bring it up again in this story, but the CB12 transpo committee originally wanted DOT to tear up sidewalks and remove existing bike lanes to make room for more Dyckman parking. That language was removed only after a DOT staffer said it probably would not fly.

It’s also worth mentioning that, under its former management, the marina was a hub for (among other things) impromptu tailgate parties lasting well into the night. That is still fresh on the minds of many.

By a small number of people, all of whom drive everywhere.

In addition, plans to revive the now-shuttered Dyckman Marina, including three food venues with combined seating for 300, have not taken into account the potential subsequent increase in car traffic. At a recent hearing, according to neighborhood newspaper Manhattan Times, would-be marina developers said it is up to the police and DOT to handle congestion caused by their project. For their part, they plan to use car services to ferry customers to and from area garages.

I don’t understand what the point of this section is. Is Streetsblog accepting the assumption that all of the marina customers would arrive by car?