Keep It Light

Condo Boards Question Need for South End Avenue Redesign After Installation of Traffic Signal

A rendering of the BPCA’s plan for changes to the South End Avenue streetscape, with widened sidewalks shown in red, new medians in green, and the new “speed table” in brown.

At the October 2 meeting of the Battery Park City Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1), Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) president B.J. Jones was apprised by the leader of a coalition of condominiums along South End Avenue of that group’s ongoing reservations about the Authority’s plan to revamp the thoroughfare.

Pat Smith, the board president of the Battery Pointe condominium (at South End Avenue and Rector Place) told Mr. Jones, “before you go too far on South End Avenue, please remember that six condo boards, representing more than 1,000 households along South End Avenue, from Albany down to West Thames, don’t want you to do this.”

This was a reference to a series of resolutions, passed in two waves, by the elected boards of multiple condominium buildings. The first of these came in 2016, when the managing boards of a dozen condominium buildings in Battery Park City passed resolutions calling upon the Authority to halt its initiative, begun the previous year, to consider a possible redesign of South End Avenue. The scope of this project was subsequently narrowed, when the BPCA announced that it was no longer considering filling in the pedestrian arcades that line the facades of four buildings along the thoroughfare, in order to create new retail space. (This was the most prominent and controversial aspect of the study, and had attracted widespread criticism.)

But the resolutions enacted by the twelve condominiums also took issue with the broader process of reconceiving South End Avenue, demanding that the Authority specify what problems it aimed to solve with the project, how it intended pay for any new construction, and how long and disruptive such construction might be. The roster of condominiums opposed the project included eleven buildings in the southern half of the community (Battery Pointe, the Cove Club, Liberty Court, Liberty House, Liberty Terrace, Liberty View, Hudson View East, Hudson View West, One Rector Park, the Regatta, and the Soundings), and one building in the northern section of Battery Park City: Riverhouse.

South End Avenue, which functions as the equivalent of Main Street for Battery Park City’s southern neighborhood, has been the focus of a years-long effort to reach consensus on redesigning the thoroughfare.

These measures coincided with a strongly worded resolution from CB1’s Battery Park City Committee, enacted in October, 2016, which called on the BPCA to, “immediately cease and desist their process,” “not to move forward with any capital changes to South End Avenue without approval from the residents living in the southern neighborhood and the existing businesses along South End Avenue,” and “to disclose all goals, objectives and method of funding for such a project in a clear and transparent way.” The resolution also called for the City’s Department of Transportation (DOT) to update a study and proposals from 2013, which were formulated in conjunction with CB1, and focused on traffic safety.

In early 2018, however, CB1 reached a consensus with the BPCA, the City DOT, and City Council Member Margaret Chin on the redesign process for South End Avenue, signing off on a plan that envisions narrowing both South End Avenue and West Thames Street, while widening nearby sidewalks, and relocating several bus stops.

In the meantime, though, a separate development raised questions in the minds of some community leaders about any further need for a redesign of South End Avenue. In mid-2018, after the CB1 resolution approving the BPCA’s plans for South End Avenue, the DOT heeded a decade-long demand by CB1 and pedestrian safety advocates, agreeing to install a traffic light at Rector Place and South End Avenue. (In the event, this decision was not implemented until the summer of this year.) In a stroke, this move addressed the traffic safety concerns raised for years by Mr. Smith and other residents. But the BPCA indicated that it viewed the traffic light as a welcome addition to its plans for South End Avenue, and not a replacement for them.

Traffic light being installed on South End Avenue and Rector Place

In late 2018 and early 2019, six condominium boards (the Soundings, Battery Pointe, Liberty View, Liberty Court, Hudson View East, and One Rector Park) responded by once again enacting resolutions voicing their continuing concerns about the project, noting, “now that DOT has decided to install a traffic light in this intersection, the solution developed by the CB1’s Battery Park City Committee and the BPCA is no longer needed, and is a needless expense ultimately borne by property owners in Battery Park City. Implementing the solution also will result in substantial disruption of the street in front of our homes, negatively impacting our quality of life.”

The resolutions added, “since the Battery Park City Homeowners Coalition currently is negotiating with the BPCA to reduce the burden of ground rents on condo owners, the [boards] feel it is our duty to call attention to such needless expenses by the BPCA.”

The resolutions concluded that the boards of the six buildings, “therefore call upon the Battery Park City Authority to take no further action nor to spend any additional funds to change in any way, except for required routine maintenance, the street or sidewalk along South End Avenue from Rector Place to West Thames Street.”

Among the reasons for their opposition, critics of the plan have noted that narrowing South End Avenue by five feet and narrowing West Thames Street by 14 feet would make these streets almost impassable if trucks, cars or taxis double parked. They also noted that narrowing the street and widening the sidewalk could attract more bicycles, skateboards and scooters to the sidewalks, endangering pedestrians.

At the October 2 meeting, Mr. Smith told Mr. Jones, “with the installation of a traffic light at Rector Place and South End Avenue this summer, the concerns of this community have largely been addressed. There is no need for any further street work in this area. Residents feel that the proposed changes would do more harm than good and would be a needless expenditure of the money we pay to the Battery Park City Authority.”

He added, “these boards all say, ‘we fully support whatever you need to do north of Albany. But for what we have south of Albany, your cure is worse than the disease. It’s our ground rent money. Don’t spend it. Leave it alone.'”

BPCA spokesman Nick Sbordone responded, “with substantial input from Community Board 1, Council Member Margaret Chin, and the City’s Department of Transportation, BPCA developed a conceptual plan for traffic calming measures along South End Avenue and West Thames Street, resulting in a CB1 resolution passed with unanimous support. The next round of community feedback comes with our design phase beginning early next year, as we further refine these pedestrian safety concepts to square with practical matters — like utilities placement, subsurface conditions, optimal sidewalk width, maintenance considerations, etc. — prior to the start of any construction. As always, we look forward to continuing this necessary work in close consultation with the Battery Park City community.”

In this context, the BPCA is poised to proceed with the project, which is expected to cost between $20 and $25 million. The Authority is currently finalizing a request for proposals (RFP), which will invite prospective contractors to submit bids. The estimated timeline is that the RFP will issued this autumn, with a contract awarded to the winning bidder in early next year, and construction commencing in late 2020, with completion expected approximately 18 to 24 months later.

During this interval, yet another development may yet add further complexity to these deliberations. Brookfield Place has announced plans to open an outpost of Convene, a firm that develops and markets meeting rooms, event venues and flexible workspaces (and is partially owned by Brookfield) in the 86,000-square-foot space formerly occupied by Saks Fifth Avenue, at the corner of Liberty Street and South End Avenue. This facility is expected to draws crowds of more than 1,200 people. In the event that even ten percent of participants attending these events arrive or leave by car, that could add in excess of 100 vehicles (in the space of a few minutes) to South End Avenue, which is already seriously congested for many hours each day. How the thoroughfare would accommodate that extra volume if it is narrowed remains an open question.

Justine Cuccia, a co-founder of Democracy for Battery Park City, a grassroots organization that seeks to give residents a greater voice in how the community is governed, says that her group, “shares the concerns raised by Mr. Smith and the six condominiums along South End Avenue and West Thames Street and supports them. This will dramatically change the traffic patterns for both northern and southern Battery Park City, and these changes must be taken into consideration before the DOT signs off on any narrowing of South End Avenue or West Thames Street.”

She concludes that, “traffic calming and safety along South End Avenue need to be addressed. CB1 and the BPCA worked together to come up with what was a reasonable solution along South End Avenue, but circumstances have changed. This necessitates a review and revision of that plan. Democracy4BPC urges the Authority to listen to the 1,000 of condominium owners who have already spoken and do just that.”