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July/August 1996, p.4-5 Pressure Points Taxi Tough Guy To Be New DOT Chief As we went to press, Mayor Giuliani announced that taxi chief Christopher Lynn will replace Elliot Sander as the Commissioner of the Department of Transportation. Lynn brings a reputation as a reformer who has brought order to a formerly chaotic taxi agency. T.A. hopes that Lynn will bring his innovative spirit to DOT's do-nothing bureaucracy. Write and urge Lynn to
support cycling, walking and traffic calming. Send in the enclosed postcard.
Prospect Park Board For More Car-Free Hours Brooklyn Community Board 6, representing Park Slope and Carroll Gardens, voted in June to support a DOT plan extending car-free hours in Prospect Park. The plan would keep the park free of cars at all times during April to October except for weekday rush hours ( 7am-9am and 5pm-7pm.) The 27-6 vote came after an impressive outpouring of community support at two April CB 6 meetings. Borough President Howard Golden has hesitated to back the plan, pending the results of the DOT's Prospect Park traffic count study, due out in late June. T.A. has encouraged the Borough President's office to recognize community needs rather than place motor vehicle flow first. Fax or Write Borough
President Howard Golden:
In a display of greed and bad faith, the Chelsea Piers Company wants to narrow the planned Hudson River bikeway/walkway for more auto and truck access to their property. The bikeway will extend along the Hudson from Battery Park to 60th Street and will likely be one of the heaviest used cycle paths in the United States. That Chelsea Piers has even dared its thievery is dismaying given the years of wrangling that went into producing the greenway plan. Write Mayor Giuliani and
ask him to preserve the community-approved bike and pedestrian path.
Cops Crack Down on Speeders in Central Park The NYPD Traffic Division says it is handing out 300 speeding tickets a month in Central Park. The cops stepped in April after T.A. and the Parks Department asked the Department of Transportation to perform speed counts in the park. The counts showed motorists achieving an average speed of 38 mph overall and consistent speeds of 50 plus on straightaways, The speed limit on city streets is 30 mph. Park users are applauding the police effort, but it is clear that cops can't be everywhere, and that the best way to end speeding in the park is to keep cars out. Write: Parks Commissioner
Henry Stern. Tell him that the park is safer without cars.
Four years ago, T.A. proposed tearing down the elevated Gowanus Expressway instead of rebuilding it. At that time, the tear-down plan seemed far-fetched to many. Since then, Gowanus area community leaders have endorsed the idea. Now, the Regional Plan Association, a group dedicated to sound land use, has introduced its own plan to replace the elevated highway with a tunnel. The genius of the RPA plan is that the tunnel could be built while the highway still stands, thus avoiding years of misery and devastation in west Brooklyn. Though the tunnel could cost as much as $2.5 billion compared to $800 million for the rebuilding, in the long run it would be a tremendous bargain. Why? Tunnels last indefinitely, while elevated highways must be rebuilt every 40 or 50 years. Rebuilding the elevated Gowanus will take at least seven years and the cost to west Brooklyn in damages could amount to $800 million a year. Thus, the total cost of rebuilding the elevated would be in the realm of $6 billion ?a cost incurred every 40 years. The tunnel could be financed by bonds that would be paid off over 30 years with a $2 car toll. T.A. and Gowanus area civic leaders strongly support further study of the RPA plan. The question is, do NYC and Brooklyn political leaders have the foresight to endorse an idea of such vision and magnitude? Write Mayor Giuliani and
ask him to step in and demand that the State DOT conduct a full environmental
review and study the RPA tunnel plan before destroying west Brooklyn and
squandering $800 million in tax dollars.
More than 300 residents of Douglaston, Queens rallied on Sunday June 7 to stop the State Department of Transportation from widening the Long Island Expressway. At a cost of $550 million, the state plans to add two new "High Occupancy Vehicle Lanes" and additional entrances to the highway. The local community has found powerful allies, including Mayor Giuliani, Borough President Schulman, and State Senator Frank Padavan, and together they are suing the State DOT to stop the project.
New Yorkers agree that the subway seems dirtier, less reliable, and more crowded since last year's massive budget cuts. Now, T.A.'s friends at the Straphangers Campaign plan to conduct a thorough survey of transit service to restore full transit funding. Straphangers needs your help--you can survey on your morning commute. Call Mauricia Baca at Straphangers to help: 212-349-6460.
D'Amato Key To National Transit Funding Along with devastating city and state cuts, Federal support for transit has also taken a big hit. Last year, Congress slashed transit while increasing highway spending. This year, New Yorkers can do something about it by writing influential Republican Senator Al D'Amato and asking him to ensure that transit systems receive at least $500 million in Federal operating assistance. Send in the enclosed
postcard or write. |
Queens Neighbors Fight LIE
Widening
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