Community Board Passes Resolution to Oppose E-bike Charging Station

This past Tuesday evening March 7, 2023 at the Full Community Board 7 meeting, the Full Board voted  in favor of supporting the resolution to oppose the e-bike charging station on the South Subway Plaza at 72nd Street and Broadway!

Read details in the West Side Rag: https://www.westsiderag.com/2023/03/08/cb7-rejects-city-plan-for-deliverista-hub-at-72nd-parks-says-it-will-have-an-impact

Thanks to the combined efforts of the 71st, 72nd and 73rd Street Block Associations, which included sending a letter to CB7, letters YOU sent, and speaking to our Elected Officials and the press (among other activities to support our position), we were able to make a positive impact.  

This does not mean the proposal is definitely stopped, so we need to continue our advocacy efforts.  Please let your elected officials know you do not support this dangerous idea!

To Friends & Neighbors of the West 72^nd Street Area

 

Did you know that an e-bike-charging station is being planned for the southern part of the West 72^nd Street subway island?

 

Most of us feel this will negatively impact our neighborhood with an increase in garbage, possible bike accidents and dangerous over-crowding at this already dangerous intersection.

 

While our community board just voted to oppose this project, we need to keep the pressure on until we know this site is no longer being considered for this plan. 

Please call or email our City Councilmember Gale Brewer to urge her to stop this:

 

Email her at: gbrewer@council.nyc.gov  or call her office at:

 (212) 873-0282

 

Your feedback is necessary in order to build the neighborhood and city we want to see! Please share this with friends and family members.

Please join us!

 

                    West 71^st Street Block Association ~ http://w71stba.blogspot.com

 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.  

                                     Happy 97^th Birthday, Theo!

With all our love,

The West 71^st Street Block Association

August 2022

 Hello Friends & Neighbors,

We held our first in-person West 71sty Street Block Association meeting on Sunday June 26th at 4pm at our usual meeting place, Grace & St. Paul's Chruch at 123 West 71st Street. Thank you to Pastor Martin and the church for working with us and welcoming us for all these years.

We are continuing to focus on beautifying and cleaning our block and we welcome your donations to buy mulch, signs, etc.  Please let us know of your concerns and ideas!

Please let us know if any of your concerns and we will keep you posted as to our next meeting.

Meantime, continue to enjoy the Summer, including free activities at Lincoln Center, in our Parks, and other nearby spots.

                                                    Lincoln Center Plaza on a Summer evening

The West Side Rag has a consistently great weekly events listing here. 

Lincoln Center’s Summer for the City programming continues; check this link for calendar. Every Wednesday from 8 – 10pm on Jaffe Drive, Comedy Underground presents new standup comedians. Film at Lincoln Center screens several movies outdoors each week. 

NYC Parks and the Riverside Park Conservancy sponsor hundreds of free events in the park all summer (PDF). Follow them on Twitter, especially for cancellations due to weather: @summeronhudson.

Hudson River Park events can be found here; sign up at the top of their webpage to receive their weekly newsletter with dozens of free events listed. 

Sunday Open Streets on Columbus Avenue! 

https://www.columbusavenuebid.org/openstreets

 

Parks

For weekly emails on events in our parks: manage your NYC Parks newsletter subscriptions.

Kind wishes,

Katina and Neighbors

Theo "Mayor of West 71st Street" celebrates his 96th birthday with friends and neighbors!

 

                                       Happy Birthday Theo!

                    Your sunny disposition cheers us all.  We love you!

2021 Certificate of Appreciation from our City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal!

 

    We thank Helen and her staff for working with us on our efforts to improve our neighborhood!

                                                        Outreach Day:  Meet & Greet!

                            Some of our Work and Traditions: 

1.    Pedestrian Safety:  Worked with our local elected officials to improve pedestrian safety at the “bow-tie” intersection at 71^st and Broadway. Thank you, Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal and Erica Overton. This is an ongoing project as the area continues to need traffic light adjustments, etc. 

 2.     Scaffolding & Dumpsters: Worked to have scaffolding and dumpsters removed when they lingered too long!

 3.     Rats: Organized walk-throughs of our block with the head scientist from the Health Department along with Sanitation to assess the rat problem and solutions. We are grateful to Linda Rosenthal's office and Erica Overton for help in arranging this critical step. 

 4.     We hold Spring Spruce-Ups every year to tidy the block, clean out treewells, and put fresh mulch and daffodil bulbs in.

 5.     Reached out to neighbors during the COVID crisis to offer help with errands and provide info on tests, vaccines, and more. 

 6.     Homelessness: Held meetings on homelessness to find solutions to provide housing for all.  We communicate with Goddard Riverside when someone is experiencing homelessness to be sure they are already reaching out to the person.  

7.  Open Streets: Successfully advocated to NOT allow our street to be closed to traffic daily to allow school children to play in the street.  We have a senior center and senior housing on the block and want vehicles to be able to come and go easily, including for emergencies. 

 8.     Tenant’s Rights: We provide information & resources to tenants with concerns, both in rentals and co-ops. 

 9.     Had illegal electric neon signage removed, as it violates city code. 

 10.  \Noise Control: Advocated along with others to close very loud nightclub which overflowed with drunken loud patrons shouting and fighting on the street in the middle of the night.  

 11.  Regularly bring our concerns to the monthly Police Community Council Meetings, including bicycles on the sidewalks, dangerous crosswalk (bow tie intersection), and more.

 12.  A chance to meet and socialize with neighbors:  we have had gatherings and potluck celebrations with live jazz – thank you, Pastor Martin and Grace & Saint Paul’s Church!

 13.  Work with our businesses who have provided food and snacks for our gatherings and meetings!  Thank you, Tallulah, Oxbow, Metro and Tasty restaurants and Magnolia Cupcake!

 14.  We have an ongoing relationship with both churches on our block ~ we help each other!

                                                        Michael is our chief gardener!