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November/December 1998, p.7 East River Bikeway is AM Parking Lot
Early this fall the Economic Development Corporation opened the first section of what will hopefully be a bikeway extending the entire length of the East River from the Staten Island Ferry Terminal to Inwood Hill Park. The bi-directional lane parallels the East River Esplanade and South Street between Fulton Street and Canal Street and features attractive and clear signage, stencils in the roadway with arrows indicating proper direction, and caution bars notifying cyclists of upcoming pedestrian crosswalks.
Demand the bikeway be cleared of fish freighting vehicles. Write to: Rodney Slater, USDOT |
Yet there is a major snag.
The new route is on property controlled by the Fulton Fish Market. Customers
buying fish may park in the bike lane until 11 am on weekdays, rendering the
deluxe bikeway useless for morning commuters. It is unacceptable and probably
illegal that a bike lane paid for with federal clean air funds (CMAQ) is a
parking lot during the period of greatest demand. The Feds should slap the
city EDC for this nonsense and demand that either the car parking goes or the
City repay the federal funds used to construct the bikeway.
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