We oppose the e-bike charging station slated for 71st and Broadway!

We are working on stopping a proposed e-bike charging station at 71st and Broadway on the southern subway island. This will only make an already dangerous bow-tie intersection more crowded and dangerous.  We testified against this plan at Community Board 7, sent multiple letters to our elected officials and have spoken to the press.  This is a terrible location for such a project and we will continue to oppose it. 

Read our official statement here:   

February 10, 2023: A letter in opposition to the proposed e-bike charging station on the West 72nd Street subway island.
Contact: Caroline Contiguglia (917) 693-2045 or Katina Ellison (917) 796-7350
The West 71st Street Block Association represents hundreds of residents who live right next to this area and strongly oppose this unsafe plan for the reasons below:

Locating an e-bike charging station on the south pedestrian island at West 72nd Street, Broadway and Amsterdam Ave, would make an already dangerous situation for pedestrians even worse. This island serves as the critical stepping-stone for pedestrians to transverse the complicated "bowtie" intersections created by the configuration of these three major roads. Despite an attempt to re-engineer these intersections that was performed to improve pedestrian safety, the conditions surrounding the island remain dangerous given the heavy volumes of cars, large trucks and buses and the high level of pedestrian traffic. There are only three narrow entrances to the island, all of which are located at the critical points of the island that link crosswalks and provide safety zones for pedestrians; these entry points to the island are already extremely congested, so adding traffic to the island in the form of e-bikes and their riders would be disastrous. Ingress and egress through these “bottlenecks” would slow even further, dangerously backing up pedestrian flow into high volume vehicular traffic.

The pedestrian island that houses the West 72nd Street 1,2,3 subway station has unique characteristics, all of which create challenging conditions for safety:

• The island lies on the nexus of three major streets, Broadway, Amsterdam Ave, and West 72nd Street, each of which falls in the top 2.5% of city streets based on volume of pedestrian traffic as calculated by NYC's DOT.

• The 1, 2, 3 subway station located on the island is among the top 5% of the subway stations in New York City in terms of riders, with approximately 40,000 passengers entering and exiting on a daily basis.

• The island lies in an area designated a Senior Pedestrian Zone by NYC's DOT.

• Broadway and Amsterdam Ave are Vision Zero Priority Corridors.

• The island is flanked by two of the three truck routes on the Upper Westside.

While maintaining a safe environment for all pedestrians is paramount, it is especially important for our community's senior citizens. The area surrounding the island that houses the West 72nd Street 1,2,3 subway station has one of the highest senior population densities in New York City. Senior pedestrians are at especially high risk; according to NYC's DOT, 45% of pedestrian fatalities in Manhattan involve senior citizens despite the fact that this demographic segment makes up less than 15% of the borough's population. Our neighborhood's seniors rely on the pedestrian island to provide safe passage in order to walk to the nearby senior centers, pharmacies, supermarkets, and access points to public transportation.

The introduction of motorized bicycles to an island designed for pedestrians in an already overly congested area is a recipe for disaster. The hundreds of residents who make up the West 71st Street Block Association are intimately familiar with the challenges of this pedestrian island. We strongly oppose the creation of an e-bike charging station at this location as it would jeopardize the safety of all New Yorkers.

                                        

Katina spoke to CBS and ABC about this along with members of Community Board 7.