DOT and BPCA will be presenting at the BPC Community Board meeting on May 1st to review the prior approved plans to redesign South End Avenue and the new ideas from BPCA which includes South End Avenue and all of the intersecting streets in BPC.

This is not only about improved pedestrian safety but of particular interest to Gateway residents is the potential relocation of the taxi stand and bus stops as well as redesigns to the street and sidewalk landscaping.

It is a public meeting and will be held at 6:00pm at Asphalt Green.

Please attend if you can, so we can present a unified front and strength in numbers!

Following are notes taken by GPTA Board Member Sarah Cassell at the CB1 BPC Committee meeting on Feb. 6, 2018: Kowsky Plaza was the first topic and the Port Authority representative and the contractor both spoke and took questions. The existing concrete edged pumps are to be protected from flood surge as well as the access to the water intake tunnels to the WTC (Hudson River water with which they run the entire site’s cooling towers). That is under Kowsky Plaza.

Phase 1 is installation of flood barriers which in part are stanchions that will rise from below when activated.  Then a material is attached (by hand) which will act as the barrier to keep the rising waters out. This system should be completed before Memorial Day and the Plaza will be open, in shifting configurations, as a walkway for the duration of the work. Access to playground, Kids’ Club and dog run will not be impaired.

The Phase 1 work to be done on the plaza, we were assured, was “hand work” not involving heavy machinery.  While it is possible that weekend work will occur, it is not likely to interfere with our sleep if it does…so they say. If you are bothered by the noise or are impeded in your use of the foregoing, the project manager for the contractor, J-Track, LLC, gave out his card and said to call him with any issues day or night: Tom Cambone, 914.804.4668 is his cell.

Tom also mentioned that his worksite is “always open” if we want to stop by and take a look and ask questions.  He also suggested that schools have field trips to see the work and would be open to calls regarding those. At the end of the installation of the barrier it will be tested, he would be open to making that test a public event.

Phase 2 is not so user friendly – the intake tunnels for the WTC complex need to be cleaned.  For a 2 week period this summer we will most certainly hear the vacuum trucks as they suck out that sludgy nastiness.   We won’t learn exactly when this will take place until it’s scheduled. Tom will not be involved with that – so do not reach out to him with issues at that point. If there are problems during Phase 2, it will be 311 calls, the more the merrier, if there is noise or are other issues. Similar to Phase 1, the plaza is slated to remain open as a walkway during Phase 2.

Also discussed at this meeting was the Sunday April 22nd 9/11 Memorial Museum’s 5k Walk/Run, which did not meet a warm welcome at the meeting. They gave out a flyer regarding Esplanade closure during the event and an overview of the event provided by the Museum. On the flyer regarding closure, the path is said to be closed that Sunday from Albany Street to Vesey Street from 7AM until 9AM.  5,000 walk/runners are expected and they will begin to congregate at 7AM at the Brookfield Plaza. “Load In” for the event is the previous afternoon, and, as they were not clear on exactly what “Load In” entails, we can assume that the plaza will have a path for pedestrians open during this process on Saturday. Sunday “Load Out” will be finished by 6PM.

Yes, they will have a “sound system”, No, they don’t know/won’t say at what decibel level that will sound system will operate. Yes, announcers will be sending the runners, then the walkers, off in waves of 100 or so…at 5,000 participants that’s a lot of “waves”. There will be no bands, no shouted-by-mic encouragement, again, so they said…a Star Spangled Banner performance was mentioned, if the first wave starts at 8AM, say 7:50AM for the anthem. During the public question period, I emphasized the echo effect that amplified sound has in this cove, and they nodded seriously and looked away. Runners will depart in waves first, followed by the walkers, so about 50 announcements and the Run/Walk is supposed to be over by 9:15.

This event will start in Brookfield, with the crowd of runners walkers extending possibly as far as Albany Street – thus wrapping Gateway in the event from 7:30AM say until 8AM – and finishes on Greenwich and Carlisle Streets, where there is a street party. Several of the CB1 members, who live in Gateway, asked “why here this year?” and were answered with: this is our 6th year, we benefit a museum dedicated to first responders and this run is about them, we used to start at Pier 26 but there is construction there and we will not be able to use that as a starting place anymore, we explored many routes over the last 6 months and together with the NYPD came up with this route which closes the fewest streets and inconveniences the fewest people. Several other CB1 members spoke in favor of the event as it benefits an educational resource and is a community outreach…mention was made of the First Responder community. The CB1 BPC Committee Chair told them they had to come back after the event and hear response from the neighborhood. They agreed to come as asked.

The concern on the part of the Committee is that, with Pier 26 no longer available as a starting point, Brookfield will be the starting point for many more events of this nature. I was able to ask the BPCA rep, Nick, if the number of permits for this sort of event could be limited but did not receive an answer. It is likely that in addition to the runs, walks, etc. that BPC currently hosts, if there is not a cap of some sort, we will be inundated. Nick was as charming as ever and the BPC CB1 Committee Chair was as tough as she could be given the fait accompli of the event.