Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito rallies for the completion of the First and Second Avenue bike lanes in November, with Sen. José Serrano to her left and Assm. Brian Kavanagh to her right. The lanes will only extend to 57th Street this year, not 125th Street. Photo: Noah Kazis.

Is there any neighborhood in New York City that has asked for more and received less, in terms of safe street improvements, than East Harlem?

In 2010, days after it was announced that the First and Second Avenue protected bike lanes were on hold between 34th Street and 125th Street, Community Board 11 members blasted DOT for seeming to put a low priority on their neighborhood.

A few months later, East Harlem residents wrote to Mayor Bloomberg, asking him to ensure that they’d be able to ride safely.

And in November, City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito and Sen. José Serrano stood on the steps of City Hall demanding that the city make good on its promises and finish the East Side bike lanes in 2011.

It’s no wonder why the neighborhood feels strongly. East Harlem boasts more cyclists than any neighborhood outside Lower Manhattan and northwestern Brooklyn, even though it hasn’t received any new bike infrastructure in years. That means its cyclists — like Marcus Ewing, who was fatally doored last October — are in particular danger, while its would-be cyclists don’t ride. With the highest rate of childhood asthma hospitalizations in the city, the community is also clamoring for more safe and accessible ways to get exercise.

After it was announced last night that DOT would only be installing bike lanes on First and Second up to 57th Street this year — suggesting that it may be years before improvements come to East Harlem — representatives again called for their neighbors to get a fair share of the safety-enhancing infrastructure being built further downtown.

Said Mark-Viverito:

I am very disappointed to learn that protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues are not being extended to my community in El Barrio/East Harlem. We should be encouraging greener and healthier modes of transit in all parts of our city, particularly in a community like mine that suffers from disproportionate rates of asthma and obesity. I urge DOT to re-consider its decision and to afford the residents of my community the same opportunities for safe bike travel that are being offered to other neighborhoods on the East Side.

And Serrano:

I am extremely disappointed that, once again, the next phase of the Select Bus Service plan will not extend protected bike lanes Uptown to East Harlem and Yorkville. Last night at the SBS Advisory Committee meeting, the project team announced that that transit signals will also be installed starting at the south end of the corridor, moving northbound to Houston. I understand that this is due to the street network in that area. However, Uptown residents always seem to get shortchanged when it comes to these large scale transit projects. It’s time to break this pattern, and ensure that upgrades begin on 125th Street and work their way down, so that the residents of East Harlem and Yorkville are not the last to benefit from transit improvements.

Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito holds 2,500 handwritten letters to Mayor Bloomberg, urging him to complete the First and Second Avenue bike lanes. Behind her are State Senator José Serrano, left, and Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh, right. Photo: Noah Kazis

After rallying on the steps of City Hall this afternoon, Transportation Alternatives delivered 2,500 handwritten letters urging Mayor Bloomberg to complete the protected bike lanes on First and Second Avenues. Joined by elected officials and more than forty supporters, T.A. called on Bloomberg to fulfill the promise of safe walking and cycling on Manhattan’s East Side and to complete the bike and pedestrian improvements up to 125th Street.

T.A. Executive Director Paul Steely White said he’s urging the city to complete the corridor by the end of next year. To meet that goal, he said, an announcement from the city needs to come in the next six weeks or so.

A completed corridor has received strong support from the East Side. Before designs for First and Second were announced, 19 electeds signed a letter calling for protected bike and bus lanes for the length of the route. After the plan was first released with protected lanes from Houston to 125th, every community board along the corridor supported the design, said White.

The fight to complete the unfinished lanes has earned the endorsement of 39 organizations, including transportation and planning groups, environmental advocates, and public health organizations like the New York Academy of Medicine and the East Harlem Aging Improvement District.

Today, elected officials continued to press for safer cycling and walking. Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh said he was “calling on the city to finish what they started.” The city had already budgeted funds for the full corridor’s construction and received community approval for the full plans, said Kavanagh. “We don’t want bike lanes to nowhere,” he argued.

State Senator José Serrano argued that shifting street space from the automobile to biking and walking would improve health in his neighborhoods. “If we reduce carbon emissions along these stretches of First and Second,” he said, “we can reduce asthma in East Harlem.”

City Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito highlighted the inequity of the city’s approach to installing bike infrastructure. “Why should Midtown get the benefits of these bike lanes and pedestrian islands?” she asked.

Between 1998 and 2008, nearly 4,900 pedestrians and cyclists were injured or killed on First and Second Avenues between Houston and 125th Streets, according to data compiled by the state Department of Transportation. Most of those injuries and fatalities — 72 percent — took place on the unfinished stretch between 34th and 125th streets.

Rally participants spoke for those whose lives have been harmed or taken away on streets with very long crossing distances and no provision for safer cycling. Sabrina Bishop recalled coming home to New York City on August 19 excited to find the new bike lanes in front of her home downtown. Only one week later, however, she found herself waiting for her friend Bob Bowen to arrive. “He didn’t show up,” said Bishop. “He had been hit by a flatbed truck.” That crash occurred at Second and 59th, where the promised bike infrastructure was not built. Bowen died on August 30.

Mt. Sinai pediatrician Kevin Chatham-Stevens highlighted the effect of East Harlem’s street design on the community’s children, who suffer the highest rates of asthma hospitalization in the city, as well as elevated obesity rates. “When I talk to them about cycling,” he said, “they often say that they don’t feel safe cycling in East Harlem due to speeding traffic and the lack of protected space.” With protected lanes, he argued, it might be possible to increase physical activity in the neighborhood.

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.

• New York City Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
• Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer
• New York State Senator Liz Krueger (District 26)
• New York State Senator Eric T. Schneiderman (District 31)
• New York State Senator Jose Serrano Jr. (District 28)
• New York State Assembly Member Karim Camara (District 43)
• New York State Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat (District 72)
• New York State Assembly Member Richard N. Gottfried (District 75)
• New York State Assembly Member Brian Kavanagh (District 74)
• New York City Council Member Gale A. Brewer (District 6)
• New York City Council Member Simcha Felder (District 44)
• New York City Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick (District 4)
• New York City Council Member James Sanders Jr. (District 31)
• New York City Council Member Larry B. Seabrook (District 12)
• New York City Council Member James Vacca (District 13)
• New York City Council Member Melissa Mark Viverito (District 8 )
• New York City Council Member David Yassky (District 33)

And here are some quotes from the Campaign's press release: 

State Senator Jose M. Serrano said, "I proudly endorse the many great proposals in Mayor Bloomberg's PlaNYC, including his call for congestion pricing. I believe congestion pricing is one of the keys to reducing automobile traffic and carbon emissions throughout the city. As an elected official representing parts of Upper Manhattan and The Bronx, my support is based upon assurances of a robust commitment to enhancing mass transit, and addressing the localized concerns of neighborhoods outside of the Central Business District. I applaud the Mayor for his great vision, and I look forward to working with him to make sure that vision becomes a reality."

State Senator Liz Krueger said, "Traffic congestion is much more than just an annoyance for drivers who get stuck in their vehicles - it has far-reaching negative consequences to New Yorkers' health and quality of life. There are senior citizens, the mobility-impaired, and families with young children who are regularly afraid to even leave the block they live on. Traffic 'blocking the box' places pedestrian safety at risk, allows less personal time for people to spend with their families, and leads to auto emissions that increase pollution and the asthma rate. A system of congestion pricing, implemented after improving access to, and the reliability of, mass transit in all 5 boroughs, will greatly benefit the every-day lives of all New Yorkers."

State Senator Schneiderman said, "The genius and breath of vision embodied in the PlaNYC proposal reminds us that government can act as an engine for bold social and transformative progress. It's like a twenty-first century, kinder and gentler Robert Moses."

New York State Assembly Member Karim Camara said, "New York City is experiencing amazing growth, and we are anticipating even further population expansion in the coming years. We must act now if we are to have any hope of accommodating such growth while also ensuring a clean, healthy environment for all New Yorkers."

New York Assembly Member Richard Gottfried said, "As Chairman of the Assembly Health Committee, I have witnessed firsthand the devastating effects of pollution and harmful emissions on New York's residents, especially those in our most vulnerable communities. It is a moral imperative, as well as an economic necessity, that we get serious about safeguarding our environment and providing all New Yorkers with cleaner air and more open spaces. For this reason, I enthusiastically endorse PlaNYC."

Said Council Member Gale A. Brewer of Manhattan, "I fully support Mayor Bloomberg's efforts as well as the concept of charging commuters who enter Manhattan. I agree we should put significant resources into improvements for mass transit before congestion pricing is implemented, including Bus Rapid Transit, regular buses, faster subways and more comfortable stations. My office has been committed to improving public transportation for all New Yorkers and I look forward to working with the MTA and DOT in implementing more change."

Council Member Simcha Felder said, "I applaud Mayor Bloomberg for his initiative with PlaNYC and I thank the Campaign for New York's Future for holding this event. While I believe it is essential to improve public transportation in the outer boroughs before implementing any form of congestion pricing - the Mayor deserves tremendous credit for bringing the issues of long-term planning and sustainability to the forefront of his agenda and opening a necessary dialogue about the future of New York City and large cities throughout the world."

Said Council Member Dan Garodnick, "We must not stick our head in the sand about the future of this City. We need to think boldly about the many housing, transportation and infrastructure concerns that lay before us. That's what PlaNYC does, and I am pleased to support its principles."

City Councilman James Vacca said, "In the years ahead, we can expect New Yorkers to live longer. We must plan now for what I call 'senior friendly' communities, which include open green space, air quality improvement and traffic mitigation. Traffic congestion and parking issues are becoming more profound each day. Improving mass transit access and reducing car usage to Manhattan, in my community and across the city, will address the all-day back-ups we now witness on highways and service roads spilling into local outer-borough communities."