Streetsblogger Jacob-uptown: "You can see many of the street lamps on Henry Hudson Parkway are burned out. This makes the greenway completely unlit, except for oncoming car headlights."

Last December, Washington Heights resident Lars Klove alerted us to night-time conditions on a segment of the Hudson River Greenway known as Cherry Walk, which lies roughly between W. 102 and W. 125 Streets. Wrote Lars:

It is unlit and, if riding northbound, into the blinding headlights of southbound traffic, it is impossible to see the bicycle path even with a bike headlamp. The Greenway itself has one semi-reflective line marking the pedestrian lane from the bicycle lane. There is not a line marking the outside edges of the lane or a couple of grassy islands along the way. Its easy to find yourself suddenly off the roadway and in the grass or trees.

As illustrated by these photos from Streetsblog photo contributor Jacob-uptown, captioned with his comments, Greenway users are still in the dark nearly a year later. A press officer with Parks said the department is "aware of this issue," and told us that DOT should be in the process of addressing it. We have a message in with DOT and are awaiting word.

"This is the same view as [the photo above], except with the flash turned on. If you look closely, you can see that the path splits right ahead of you, and if you go straight, you will run into a tree."

More photos after the jump.

"If you look very very closely, you can see the faint green line painted on the ground that shows the path turning left. That is what my eyes are fixed on when I ride through this section of the path."

"This is the same view as [above], except with the flash turned on. Now you can clearly see that the path turns left."

During an epic bike tour of the city yesterday that stretched from the Bronx to Brooklyn, StreetFilms' Clarence Eckerson, Jr. took these shots of the future site of Brooklyn Bridge Park. The Brooklyn Greenway, which received a vote of confidence from Community Board 1 on Tuesday, will run through the park along the edge of the pier. The demolished structures on the right were still standing when Clarence shot this video last year, documenting a tour of the Greenway's path.

Says Clarence: "Made me realize with all the sadness of congestion pricing failing, there IS plenty of great stuff going on in the city."

A tighter shot comes after the jump.

Governors Island is a car-free, New York City paradise and now it's open to the public on weekends from June thru Sept 2nd. Find all the details on the Governors Island Alliance website.

To get there, enjoy a short free ferry ride from lower Manhattan or use new service provided by New York Water Taxi. There are concerts every Saturday throughout the summer, so bring your bike, enjoy a picnic, take historical tours by tram or by foot, and see spectacular views of the city.

This is a guest post by Susan Murray, author of the Urban Naturalist.

The High Bridge, a graceful stone and steel bridge, reminiscent of the great Roman aqueducts, spans the Harlem River between parks in Washington Heights and the Highbridge neighborhood in the Bronx. Erected in 1848, decades before the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridges, it is Manhattan's oldest bridge, designed not just for transportation but to carry water as well. The water stopped flowing a long time ago, and the bridge was closed to people in the 1960s. Though it is no longer in use, there are plans to bring it back to life, a project that is expected to cost $60 million. The planned reopening of this crossing, built in a pre-automotive era, presents a great opportunity for Livable Streets advocates to help shape what could be a unique pedestrian and bicycle link between Manhattan and the Bronx.

In fact, the Parks Dept. is hosting a public meeting to discuss the High Bridge tomorrow evening:

Come talk about Your Vision for the High Bridge
Wednesday, June 20, 2007 - 6:30 pm
Highbridge Recreation Center
2301 Amsterdam Avenue at 173rd Street, Manhattan
212-927-5864

A little background:

In the late 1960s, High Bridge Park in Washington Heights fell into disrepair. It became a dumping ground for abandoned cars, a haven for drug dealers and gangs and a dangerous place for local residents.

During this period, the city, strapped for funds and lacking interest in rehabilitating a park so far uptown, decided to close the bridge to prevent vandals from dumping junk off of it into the Harlem River. Massive steel gates laced with barbed wire were erected to prevent people from accessing the bridge. Far from calming the chaos, closing the bridge only made High Bridge Park more desolate and less watched.

The park became a dangerous, anarchic cul de sac and fell further into disrepair and anarchy. But over the past 10 years or so, neighborhood organizations, caring individuals and the New York Restoration Project have worked hard to clean up High Bridge Park. These days you're more likely to see kids playing baseball than dealers selling drugs. A recent announcement from Mayor Bloomberg has the neighborhood excited: Thanks to a $5 million allocation from Congressman José E. Serrano, work on the High Bridge has begun. After decades of dreaming, it sounds like it's really going to happen.

The reopened bridge will revitalize the park, making it accessible to both the Bronx and Manhattan. It will restore a vital transportation link for bikers and pedestrians in the area and it will preserve one of the city's finest historical monuments.

As the Parks Department moves to the planning stages, Livable Streets and bicycling advocates should make their voices heard. We need to make it clear that this bridge can be more than just a scenic vista and tourist attraction. It can be a vital part of New York City's growing bicycle transportation network.

With a significant slope from the top of High Bridge down to the bridge entrance there is a risk that Parks Dept. officials will choose to install stairways without bike ramps leading to the entrance of the bridge. I am hoping some of you can join me at tomorrow's meeting to help make the case for convenient bike access to the bridge. Likewise, it would be a tragedy if the money allocated to rehabilitate the bridge was mostly spent on "security measures" such as unnecessarily high fences that would block the breathtaking view and cumbersome gates. As a vital transportation link, the High Bridge ought to remain open 24-hours a day.

The Municipal Art Society of New York, City Council member Dan Garodnick, and Manhattan's Community Board 6 ran an intensive day-long workshop last Wednesday to develop a new vision for Midtown's inaccessible East River waterfront. On Sunday, MAS unveiled some of the results. From the MAS press release:

"By realigning and lowering the 42nd Street exit ramp off FDR Drive, the architects hit upon the concept of elevating the people, not the traffic," said Frank E. Sanchis, III, MAS senior vice president. "They proposed a grand urban terrace above the FDR overlooking the river from 38th Street to 42nd Street. They also proposed a 'forested hill' surrounding a existing ventilation shaft at 42nd Street and proposed creating a glowing six-story 'pylon' which would anchor a ferry terminal, restaurant and vertical public space, and provide a means to descend to the river."

The charrette was organized because Manhattan has a rare opportunity to open up public access to Midtown's East River waterfront, create a new park and complete a greenway connecting the Battery to Harlem. The state is planning to rebuild the midtown section of FDR Drive, the former Con Ed power plant site is being redeveloped, and the city is planning to facilitate the expansion of the United Nations campus and create an adjacent waterfront esplanade. The charrette explored how the projects could be planned together and result in an open waterfront from 34th Street to 63rd Street.

Across the Park, a blog dedicated to Brooklyn's Prospect Lefferts Gardens neighborhood, notes the striping of new bike lanes on Lincoln Road and Maple Street, just to the east of Prospect Park. We assume that this is meant to be read with an ironic tone, though, you really never know in Brooklyn these days:

Someone drew a new bike lane on Lincoln Road We assume that DOT did it, but it could just as easily have been some bicycling hoodlums seeking to inconvenience us. Yes - inconvenience. Lincoln Road is prime for double-parking, stereo-blasting and general nefarious loitering. With the bike lane taking up 25% of the street's width, it will be impossible for us to leave enough room to the left of our Escalade for through traffic. Why?

The new Lincoln-Maple bike lanes connect Central Brooklyn to Prospect Park and then on to the Red Hook waterfront via Park Slope's "controversial" 9th Street bike lane, which is slated to be striped next month over some residents' objections. Ultimately, DOT plans for the Lincoln and Maple bike lanes to be part of a waterfront-to-waterfront bike route, linking Jamaica Bay to Red Hook.

It was a dreamy spring day on the Brooklyn waterfront as more than 100 bikers set out to trace the proposed route of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway.

Starting at the end of Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint, cyclists were treated to views of the soon-to-open East River State Park as well as an unprecedented spin around the piers that will be part of the future Brooklyn Bridge Park. Watch a StreetFilm showing these rarely seen views here. 

Milton Puryear (right), vice chair and director for planning of the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative (BGI), led the ride and did a great job of explaining the group's vision for the future of Brooklyn's waterfront. A key part of that vision is the provision for separate lanes for bikers and pedestrians, so that, as Puryear explained, "Cyclists can keep their heart rate up and pedestrians can lower their blood pressure."

The challenge facing the greenway's advocates is considerable. Considering the multitude of owners and interests at work along these now prime pieces of real estate, coordinating the planning and construction of a world-class greenway is an extraordinarily complex undertaking. Community Board 1 will be holding a planning workshop on May 24th at 6pm where residents of Greenpoint and Williamsburg will be able to brainstorm about planning options for that section of the greenway.

Several riders commented on how quickly we got from Greenpoint, where condo towers are sprouting right and left, down to the foot of the Brooklyn Bridge. It's easy to imagine how the construction of the greenway would provide a vital physical and psychological connection between the rapidly developing neighborhoods of Williamsburg and Greenpoint and the more established residential neighborhoods to the south -- Dumbo, Brooklyn Heights, Cobble Hill, Carroll Gardens and Red Hook. Right now, these neighborhoods feel very distant from each other, in part because the only way to travel between them is by the G train or by car on the massively overcrowded BQE. But on a bike, cruising along the East River, you can become aware of how close together they all really are -- and how integrated the waterfront's recreational opportunities could become with smart development.

The BGI has a spiffy new map showing the proposed route as well as the current preliminary route along the waterfront. Contact them and get a copy at info [at] brooklyngreenway [dot] org. Then go out and ride it yourself.

Photos: Sarah Goodyear 

On Wednesday, Community Board 8 in Manhattan unanimously approved a proposal for conducting a feasibility study to physically connect Roosevelt Island to the Queensboro Bridge pedestrian and bike path. The proposal was put forth by Ellen Polivy of the Roosevelt Island Residents Association (RIRA) and the Roosevelt Island Community Emergency Response Team (CERT).  She made a compelling presentation to Community Board 8's transportation committee, citing the numerous benefits of the link from a public health, environmental and emergency preparedness perspective.

This is not a new concept. There used to be electric trolleys going over the Queensboro bridge and there was a stop at Roosevelt Island halfway across the bridge. People would then walk across to a building (see above photo of the Roosevelt Island elevator building) that had a number of elevators. These elevators were so big that they could fit the trucks and automobiles that supplied the island.

As recently as August 2004, Roosevelt Island residents faced what they refer to as "the perfect storm" of transportation problems (from a recent NY Times article - Times Select only)

...for a brief time, Roosevelt Island was cut off from the city that surrounds it.

All the means of access to the sliver-shaped island were out of service for about an hour that day, Aug. 12. The tram was down for a periodic tune-up. The Roosevelt Island Bridge, which lifts to allow boat traffic to pass through, was stuck in the open position. Electrical problems temporarily halted service on the F train.

However, the Department of Transportation is not considering the pedestrian-access proposal at this time. They cite security risks, the landmark status of the bridge and the need to maximize the flow of vehicles into Manhattan.

Kay Sarlin, a spokeswoman for the city Department of Transportation, raised doubts about a passageway that would have to be nearly 135 feet high.

''It's not feasible,'' she said. ''They'd have to remove a lane of traffic to put in an elevator.''

With an average of about 180,000 vehicle crossings a day, the Queensboro is one of the city's busiest bridges, and according to Ms. Sarlin, eliminating a lane for an elevator would hamper traffic. A stairway could not be installed because people with disabilities could not use it, she added, noting that such a change would also cause security problems. Further, she said, since the facade of the bridge has landmark status, altering it would present a problem.

Let's take each of these criticisms and see if they make any sense.

Security Risk: Here's an island with a projected population of 15,000-20,000 in the next few years, on an island that lacks a permanent pedestrian link to the rest of the city. In fact, the main emergency route of escape for residents, the lift bridge to Queens, is often closed in light of security risks to the UN when that body is in session or hosts major events and shipping traffic is routed to the eastern side of Roosevelt Island. In the case of a Category 3 hurricane hitting NYC, the whole island would need to be evacuated, and officials have not provided details of the escape plan to the CERT or the RIRA. It's a security risk for there to be no permanent link to the rest of the city.

Landmark Status: While it's great that the Queensboro Bridge has achieved landmark status, this status should not override legitimate security and public health priorities. Rather it should ensure that any alteration harmonizes with the structure's aesthetics -- you know, the way the building that connected the island to the bridge for four decades did.

Removing a Lane of the QBB Would be Bad: This assumes that maximum flow of automobiles into Manhattan would be a good thing, when in fact we know that the current design generates dangerous conditions for pedestrians and cyclists on the Manhattan side of the bridge. Even specific requests for action from the local City Councilmember Jessica Lappin have so far not resulted any safety improvements by the DOT. Never mind that we might just want fewer cars to be able to enter the Central Business District for environmental and public health reasons.

When asked about why the Community Board supported the proposal, David Liston, CB8 Chair wrote via email:

"We passed a resolution asking the City to look into the feasibility of providing another means of access to and from the Island by pedestrians and the physically challenged."

"The feasibility study we're asking the city to undertake would identify a variety of means of egress/ingress between Roosevelt Island and Manhattan and Queens. One suggestion was to look into a method utilizing the Queensboro Bridge -- making Manhattan accessible to Roosevelt Islanders on foot and those using mobility assistance devices."

"Making all parts of the borough accessible to all is a worthy goal and one the Community Board fully supports."



With the Community Board now unanimously supporting a feasibility study, it will be up to the new DOT Commissioner to reconsider this proposal.

Apparently, you have to read British newspapers to catch news about innovative environmental developments in New York City. The Guardian looks at Verdant Power, a small company that is working with the State to develop hydro-electric power right here in the East River.

The state is teaming up with a Virginia company to use the East River for a unique experiment in renewable energy: Six giant turbines are being placed underwater in a $7 million project to harness the energy of the tides and produce electricity. One of the 16-foot-diameter, windmill-like turbines is already operating, supplying power to a grocery store and a garage on Roosevelt Island. The other turbines are being installed over the next two weeks.

Hydroelectric and wind power operate on similar principles, with water or air turning turbines. But those projects require dams or windmills, which can be costly, intrusive and objectionable to environmentalists.

Project organizers say this is the first time the underwater-turbine concept has been used in the U.S.

Beth Fertig also did a story as part of WNYC's Feeling the Heat series, a couple of weeks ago. 

Some excellent news just came across the transom in a press release from the Downtown Brooklyn Waterfront Local Development Corporation. The are announcing "the launch of a transportation study that will examine potential future means of providing access to Brooklyn Bridge Park, with an aim to reduce reliance on personal vehicles."

The study is being made possible through a $1 million grant from the US Department of Transportation secured by Congresswoman Nydia M. Velazquez. (Velazquez is becoming a real hero for Downtown Brooklyn. She also recently secured funding for the development of the Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway Initiative). The press release goes on to say:

The study will kick off with an open public meeting to be held at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday, October 4 at the auditorium at St. Francis College. The meeting will be the first in a series of open public meetings to discuss access issues concerning the new park.

Sam Schwartz PLLC will be leading a multi-disciplinary team of traffic engineers, transportation planners and architects studying various transportation and access alternatives. The study will focus solely on an examination of how to improve transportation and access to-and-from the park. The study will explore a variety of topics including potential vertical connections from Brooklyn Heights, subway access, bike lanes, greenway connections, jitney buses, waterborne transportation and improved pedestrian accommodations on Old Fulton Street and Atlantic Avenue.

Though currently dominated by old industrial buildings, the thriving neighborhoods adjacent to the waterfront seem poised to reclaim and reinvent this last urban frontier. Unfortunately, many of the city's current redevelopment plans threaten to bring deadening, one-dimensional uses to the City's valuable waterfront.

The car-oriented entrance to Schaefer Landing, a new waterfront condo tower in Greenpoint-Williamsburg.

Much of the new waterfront development is being defined by large car drop-off areas, vast amounts of parking, passive walls and expansive "open space" -- designs that deter public use and distance the new buildings from their neighbors. We are, essentially, suburbanizing our waterfront.

Similar luxury high-rise developments and elaborate design schemes are degrading urban waterfronts like Barcelona's Diagonal Mar development and Toronto's new highrise waterfront.

Here in New York, the new residential towers are being sold as bringing a built-in constituency to the waterfront, but they will inevitably house a small, well-heeled population intent on keeping any other constituencies out of the surrounding public spaces. The towers themselves and the large open spaces that surround them will also reinforce exclusionary goals.

Teardrop Park is a $17 Million public park that serves primarily as a private courtyard arboretum to the surrounding high-rise development.

Even the celebrated Battery Park City does not really work for the public in the areas around the residential developments and there is really not that much to do there. The public spaces that work better there like Rockefeller Park and the plazas of the World Financial Center were put in before the high-rise residential and are extremely well managed and programmed for public outcomes. The newest part to be developed around Teardrop Park reveals that this lesson has not yet been learned.

The most recently completed suburban, "tower-in-the-park" developments include Schaefer Landing in Williamsburg and Queens West. More "luxury" residential is sure to follow with the advent of the Williamsburg-Greenpoint rezoning. The most egregious planned development is approaching finalization on what could be Brooklyn's and perhaps NYC's most promising waterfront stretch.

The current plan for Brooklyn Bridge Park lacks the entrances, connections and destinations of successful parks and seems designed more for the private needs of the residents of Brooklyn Heights and the planned luxury towers.

Brooklyn Bridge Park, is a development project masquerading as a park. I have recently written a more in-depth critique of this plan and the park design. Most of these efforts seem to be driven by the Empire State Development Corporation but are also supported by the city. They all are threatening to preclude public access and ownership of our waterfront while bringing more traffic and private control of public space.

The fact that the buildings are placed at the entrances to the waterfronts and the parks and are surrounded by highly-trafficked roads, car-dominated entrances and large swaths of passive green space ensures that these crucial areas will clearly belong to the high-rise residents and not the people of Brooklyn.

It does not have to be this way. Before these narrow development interests dominate the public process and public right-of-way any more than they have already been allowed to, there are copious opportunities to stake claim for more public uses and public access.

It is not too late, the face of Brooklyn can still be its front porch showcasing the character and diversity of brooklyn rather than a suburban backyard.

Looking at the best waterfronts around the world, few have high-rise residential at the waters edge and many have been able to keep some existing light industrial uses and integrate other more public uses while maintaining a financially self-sustaining model.

Will our new waterfronts become the face of our great neighborhoods, bringing more public access and public benefit, or will they resemble more suburban values with private control of land use and more car traffic?

The scale of buildings bordering a waterfront should not be towers but a continuous line of 4- to 8-story buildings that actively engage the public spaces. Towers, where appropriate, can be back from the first line of buildings. Otherwise, towers can dominate and "control" waterfront destinations. Likewise, contrary to popular belief, parks do not usually work as major waterfront destinations but can be used to connect more defined urban waterfront destinations. Many places outside of NYC offer strong models for alternative waterfront development that could easily be applied to many locations in NYC.

Vancouver's Granville Island has many revenue-generating uses that also serve as great public space and cultural destinations, while providing very limited parking and the lowest possible level-of-service on its streets.

Vancouver's Granville Island - This difficult to access island industrial site has become Canada's most successful development. Run publicly and breaking even financially, the development has a full range of publicly focused uses, from artist live/work spaces that spill out on to streets, to a community center, shops and the world's highest performing public market per square foot -- and a negligible amount of housing.

Circular Quay, Sydney, Australia - a world famous urban mixed-use waterfront with many destinations, throughout, the public spaces come first.

Rhine River Promenade, Düsseldorf, Germany - A shrinking budget ended up creating a better waterfront

Porto, Portugal - A historic model of an urban waterfront as the soul and center of a city.

Miami's Design District - This brand new district was quickly transformed from an inaccessible industrial area. It was a near immediate economic success, building itself around a pedestrian scale, with widened sidewalks, curb extensions, low residential density, and a strong 24-hour artist community.

The Water Taxi Beach was of course the highlight of the trip and turned out to be a refreshingly good example of a more entrepreneurial approach to waterfront planning while maintaining a broader public purpose. It is brought to you by the same person who created Peir 63 and was involved in many of the successful parts of Hudson River Park.

The new Water Taxi Beach is open to the public and draws people from all over while costing the city nothing.

I recently took this boat, a water taxi, from Red Hook to South Street Seaport. Landing at the Seaport after having just been in Red Hook about five minutes earlier gives one an odd supernatural sense of having been teleported.