The Broadsheet – Lower Manhattan’s Local Newspaper
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Valorizing Velocipedes
Borough President Proposes Turning One Lane of West Street Over to Bicycles
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The bike lane alongside West Street is heavily used.
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Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine has proposed to remove the westernmost traffic lane of West Street, from Chambers to West 57th Street (and, eventually, beyond), to create a new, two-way bike lane.
In an August 1 letter to the City and State Departments of Transportation (DOT), Mr. Levine asked both to study “the feasibility of creating a two-way protected bike lane on Route 9A (known also as the West Side Highway) by removing a vehicle lane.” A state highway, Route 9A (also known as West Street) is under the jurisdiction of the State DOT.
He suggested “immediately developing plans for implementation between Chambers Street and 57th Street (Phase I) and developing plans north of 57th Street shortly thereafter (Phase II). Additionally, the City should study how best to connect the Hudson River Greenway to the Brooklyn Bridge so that inter-borough travel is safe and convenient.” The bike lane that begins at Battery Park and runs along the West Side is part of the Hudson River Greenway, which, in turn is part of the 750-mile long Empire State Trail.
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A rendering of the bike plan proposed for West Street by Borough President Mark Levine.
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Mr. Levine noted that “in recent years, congestion on the Greenway, both between cyclists but also between cyclists and pedestrians, has worsened significantly. Cycling has grown in popularity, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Compounding this issue is an additional increase in electric bicycles use. While recent state legislation banned electric bicycles from the Hudson River Greenway, enforcement is challenging and regulations are confusing for cyclists simply trying to get around.”
He added, “installing a protected bike lane on Route 9A would solve both issues by easing congestion on the current path while creating a legal space for cyclists using electric bicycles, many of whom are immigrant, delivery workers who should not be ticketed for trying to work and travel.”
Lower Manhattan City Council Member Christopher Marte supports the plan, as do advocacy groups such as StreetsPAC and Bike New York.
This plan would reprise the approach pioneered by the administration of former Mayor Bill de Blasio, who closed a lane of the Brooklyn Bridge to traffic and set it aside for cyclists. This initiative has proved enormously popular.
As with the Brooklyn Bridge plan, Mr. Levine’s vision for West Street calls for a green-surfaced path, physically partitioned from vehicular traffic by barriers such as planters, a raised pavement, and curbs.
Matthew Fenton
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Better Than Mops and Buckets
The $52 Billion Plan to Protect New York from Flooding
The Army Corps of Engineers has released a draft feasibility study and environmental impact statement for its plan to protect the New York area from future flooding, as a result of extreme weather events. This plan selects from half a dozen options that were under consideration, and settles on one that envisions large flood gates at 18 communities facing direct exposure to catastrophic storm surges. Read more…
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‘No Way This Could Have Been Predicted’
Doorman and Woman Assaulted on Rector Place
Amid rising concerns about violent street crime in Lower Manhattan, the overnight doorman at the Liberty House condominium (377 Rector Place) and a pedestrian nearby were assaulted in the early hours of Monday morning. Read more…
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FiDi Food Hall Burgled
Thieves Break into UrbanSpace Market, Abscond with Cash
The Financial District’s newest food hall—UrbanSpace market at 100 Pearl Street—was broken into around 3:30am last Tuesday, by two men who shattered a glass door, according to surveillance video captured by the facility’s security system. Read more…
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On Common Ground
BPCA Asks for Ideas about Upgrades to the Promenade
The Battery Park City Authority is seeking ideas from residents about how to bring recreational uses to the granite promenade that parallels the West Street and the Hudson River Greenway, between Battery Place and Third Place. This initiative is envisioned as a tradeoff to countervail the deficit of open space that will be created for several years, when nearby Wagner Park is closed for reconstruction of resiliency measures. That project is slated to begin soon. Read more…
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Eyes to the Sky, October 3 – 16 , 2022
Planet Jupiter brightest in 59 years
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Currently, Jupiter is second only to the moon in radiance and traverses the sky all night. The most dramatic times to see the great gas planet are when it is rising and setting. Look to the east on Sunday, October 9, when the Full Hunter’s Moon rises at 6:34pm. Jupiter rises at 5:51pm that same evening, preceding the moon. The two travel the night sky in tandem.
Judy Isacoff, naturesturn.org
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Thursday, October 6
12pm
WTC’s North Oculus Plaza
Saxophonist, singer and composer Aurora Nealand has assembled a crack NYC-based version of The Royal Roses, the band that serves as her homage to the bluesy swagger of New Orleans pioneers like Sidney Bechet. Free.
1pm
Tour of the urban vegetable farm and perennial forest farm, led by park staff. RSVP required. Intended for ages 13+. Free.
3pm
Brookfield Place Waterfront Plaza
Creative writing workshop using writing as a tool for survival. Part of the Fandango Skip, a temporary installation offering ice cream and mental health support. Free.
3pm-4pm
Battery Urban Farm
Kid-friendly tour of this urban vegetable farm. RSVP required. Free.
4:30pm
Battery Urban Farm
Learn about the crops and practices that can help keep your garden producing all winter long. Free.
4:45pm-6pm
Brookfield Place Waterfront Plaza
Part of the Fandango Skip. Talk that centers around the role community-driven mural making plays in eliminating the stigma around mental illness. Free.
5:30pm-6:30pm
Belvedere Plaza
Ladies of Hip-Hop is a nonprofit organization that provides artistic opportunities for girls & women in Hip-Hop culture. Free.
6:30pm-7:30pm
Fraunces Tavern Museum, 54 Pearl Street
In this lecture, Nancy Rubin Stuart reveals the voices of the women Ben Franklin loved and lost during his lifelong struggle between passion and prudence. $5.
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Friday, October 7
12pm-1:45pm
Brookfield Place Waterfront Plaza
Gentle and empowering yoga session. Part of the Fandango Skip, a temporary installation offering ice cream and mental health support.
4pm-5:30pm
Brookfield Place Waterfront Plaza
Participants will use the city’s shapes, patterns, and colors as inspiration to make a series of postcards reflecting the overlooked corners of Battery City Park and Brookfield Place. Part of the Fandango Skip. Free.
5:30pm-7pm
Brookfield Place Waterfront Plaza
Caribbean Dance Fitness is a high energy, fun, and liberating experience that promotes community and culture. Part of the Fandango Skip.
7pm
McNally Jackson, 4 Fulton Street
Poet Sharon Olds in conversation with Sarah Ruhl.
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Lower Manhattan Greenmarkets
Tribeca Greenmarket
Greenwich Street & Chambers Street
Wednesdays and Saturdays, 8am-3pm (compost program: Saturdays, 8am-1pm)
Bowling Green Greenmarket
Broadway & Whitehall St
Tuesdays and Thursdays, 8am-5pm (compost program: 8am-11am)
World Trade Center Oculus Greenmarket
Tuesdays, 8am-5pm
The Outdoor Fulton Stall Market
91 South Street, between Fulton & John Streets
Indoor market: Monday through Saturday,11:30am-5pm
CSA pick-up: Thursday, 4pm-6pm; Friday, 11:30-5pm
Outdoor market: Saturdays, 11:30am-5pm
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Today in History
October 6
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This is the pedal boat Moksha, seen on the River Thames in London. Inside, Jason Lewis is pedaling. On this day in 2007, he completed the first human-powered circumnavigation of the Earth, partly in this boat. Photo via Wikipedia.
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1539 – Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto and his army enter the Apalachee capital of Anhaica (present-day Tallahassee, Florida) by force.
1600 – Jacopo Peri’s Euridice, the earliest surviving opera, receives its première performance in Florence.
1723 – Benjamin Franklin arrives in Philadelphia at the age of 17.
1889 – Thomas Edison shows his first motion picture.
1927 – Opening of The Jazz Singer, the first prominent “talkie” movie.
1952 – Agatha Christie’s play The Mousetrap opens in London. After closing for one year during the Covid pandemic, The Mousetrap resumed performances in 2021 and continues to this day.
1981 – Egyptian President Anwar Sadat is murdered by Islamic extremists.
2007 – Jason Lewis completes the first human-powered (no motors or sails) circumnavigation of the globe—by bicycle, by wooden pedal boat and kayak, and by roller-blading and hiking. It took him 13 years. Read this ESPN interview. 2010 – Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger launch Instagram
Births
1744 – James McGill, Scottish-Canadian businessman and philanthropist, founded McGill University (d. 1813)
1820 – Jenny Lind, Swedish soprano and actress (d. 1887)
1887 – Le Corbusier, architect and painter (d. 1965)
1914 – Thor Heyerdahl, ethnographer and explorer (d. 2002)
1973 – Rebecca Lobo, WNBA basketball center
Deaths
836 – Nicetas the Patrician, Byzantine general, monk, and saint (b. 761)
1892 – Alfred, Lord Tennyson, poet (b. 1809)
1989 – Bette Davis, actress and singer (b. 1908)
2020 – Eddie Van Halen, rock guitarist, dies of throat cancer at 65
2020 – Johnny Nash, pop-reggae-soul singer-songwriter, dies at 80
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The Broadsheet Inc. eBroadsheet.com editor @ ebroadsheet.com ©2022 All Rights Reserved All photos © Robert Simko 2022 unless otherwise credited
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