East River board president Gary Altman thinks a redesigned pedestrian bridge across the FDR Drive would imperil the lives of cooperators, and he wants you to know that he’s burning through his City Hall rolodex to kill the bridge before it kills you.
In a 1000-word essay to cooperators distributed yesterday, Altman says the concepts presented by the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project this summer — including improved access to East River Park from Grand Street — would bring high-speed bicyclists directly into the path of unsuspecting cooperators and block first responders from reaching building 4 in an emergency.
His fears are unwarranted. The proposed approach to Grand Street included stairs to make sure bicyclists use a safer route. And the idea that every inch of the FDR service road is needed for an ambulance to reach building 4 is just silly.
More to the point, the designs presented in July were concepts intended to evoke constructive reactions and criticism from residents. The conversation about the Delancey crossing included ample suggestions about safety, which project planners were eager to hear and incorporate into future plans.
The designers working on protecting our homes from another storm surge are intent on enhancing our relationship to the waterfront at the same time. They are searching deeply for creative solutions to that challenge, and we should be open to finding one with them.
Altman did not attend the ESCRP presentation in July when the concept designs for four FDR Drive pedestrian crossings were shared with interested LES residents, so his mistaken impression of these design options is excusable — but his overreaction to them is not. Why stoke fear among East River’s elderly cooperators? Why issue a Just-Say-No edict to his friends in city government while a productive design process is underway?
The concepts presented this summer were well-intentioned, thought-provoking, and imperfect. Project planners deserve to know the full range of opinion from cooperators — not just Altman’s. Come to next Thursday’s workshop to see the designs for yourself and help shape this important neighborhood project:
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Henry Street Settlement
301 Henry Street
Doors open at 6:30
Presentation begins at 7:00
It is important that we make the same calls to our representatives so that they understand that Gary Altman does not speak for the majority of the cooperators only himself at this point. He has done nothing to solicit feedback from the community on their opinions to the LES Berm and instead has chosen to stoke the fire and fill it with fear of change. For us to make an impact, it is imperative that we make our voices heard and ensure that the mayor hears from all of us.
Neel, would you be able to draft a letter? I could post it to get signatures. Maybe wait until after Thursday’s meeting.
Maybe after Thursday’s meeting. I am not a huge advocate of the plan that snakes up the service road but then again it is so early in the design process, why rule out all options. The biggest worry I have is that a majority of the Board more than likely has no idea about the LES Berm, what it is meant to protect, etc. Gary’s comments around better drainage as an answer seems trivial when considering the bigger issues being considered by the design to help provide flood protection. Instead of embracing the design process and advocating the ER Coop to be a positive influence on the process, he has chosen to circle the wagons and stoke fear. This would have been more understandable had he attended any of the design meetings that have been held since last year. Let’s see how many board members actually choose to attend this week.
That’s right, Neel. You and your own cronies have all the answers. All your group wants to do is wrest power away from one group and give it to yourselves. Whatever you think of them – the people who made these buildings what they are – they have given a lot to the neighborhood. Your group can’t wait to swim in the money that Essex Crossings will bring here. Take your real estate broker/board candidates and shove them. We can smell their motives from SoHo.
Don’t you folks have jobs? Oh that’s right – your main “job” is taking away the power of those of us who lived here before you moved in. You own your apartment – you don’t own us. Fidel.
Thanks for this response to Gary Altman’s alarmist letter. The design idea looks terrific to me–an extension of Grand Street to the park would make this neighborhood even better. Don’t use the few reckless bike riders as an excuse to cut up the plan.
First of all, the city is full of reckless bike riders, so don’t reduce them to “a few” to suit your purposes. CY, which refuses to identify itself, gets pretty “alarmist” and seems to bob and weave whenever anyone wants facts.
The word “hysterical” came to mind when I read the notice. I look forward to Thursday’s meeting at the Henry Street Settlement to hear a balanced discussion.
While the methods may be drastic, I’m fine with it as long as it gets the job done of keeping that god awful and totally unnecessary ramp from being dumped in front of the building. The ramp at Delancey works just fine and only needs to be refurbished. There’s enough foot traffic going on around here without adding more access on Grand St. Not to mention how having the FDR outside the front of the building already makes the view questionable from lower floors. Now some ramp that will no doubt be covered in litter and graffiti in a matter of days with people constantly passing by tenants’ windows can add to the fun. I’m sad I cannot attend tonight’s meeting but hope more people want nothing to do with another ramp by the building.
First I am happy the board is finally getting involved with issues basically in our front yard. I think Gary’s concerns are legitimate ones. Will this impact the property values of building 4? Are there safety concerns with bikes and emergency vehicles? All that being said, the money on the table to improve the area is probably not going to come back anytime soon and it would be wise to take advantage of it. Personally I don’t think the current access points are that far away. The Corlears hook bridge is in need or repairs as is. I imagine they need to redo the bridge at Delancey to make way for the berm.