Thanks to cooperator Michael Marino and the new Friends of Corlears Hook Park, the Transportation & Safety Committee of Community Board 3 will be discussing the dangerous pedestrian crossing at Cherry Street and the FDR access road on January 8 at 6:30 pm. The meeting will be held at 273 Bowery, the University Settlement at Houston Street Settlement.
The corner right now has no stop sign or crosswalk, meaning cars and buses quickly turn without slowing down. Compounding the safety hazard is that, though parking is prohibited on the east side of the FDR access road, members of NYPD and FDNY often park their personal cars there while on duty. M14A double-length buses have little room to make this turn, and pedestrians have little visibility for what’s coming.
A second possible crossing would be in the middle of Cherry Street, where the entrance to Corlears Hook Park is.
Safely crossing Cherry Street is important not just for access to Corlears Hook Park, but also for people taking the pedestrian bridge over the FDR Drive to get to all the facilities along the East River. Since this is literally our back yard, it would be helpful for cooperators to appear at the meeting to help convince CB3 of the importance of improving this intersection.