transportation | Cooperatively Yours

Michael Marino of Friends of Corlears Hook announced this weekend that the NYC Department of Transportation will be installing a proper crosswalk on Cherry Street so pedestrians — and, more specifically, people in wheelchairs — can reach Corlears Hook Park safely. A stop sign will also be installed at the crosswalk.

Currently there is no way for people with disabilities to cross Cherry Street to get to and from the park, as there is no cut-through on our side of the street facing the Corlears Hook Park entrance. In addition, residents have complained that the crossing is particularly unsafe for children who may not be taller than the cars parked on the street.

In addition, two “enhanced crossings” will be installed across Jackson Street near the intersection with Cherry. These will not be controlled by a stop sign, but will have signage alerting drivers to pedestrians, and will include cut-throughs for wheelchair access.

Michael Marino, a member of the house committee and the founder of Friends of Corlears Hook, has been instrumental in pushing the DOT for safer access to Corlears Hook Park and, through it, access to the East River. Especially with an East River ferry stop still planned nearby, foot traffic to and from the park is likely to continue to increase.

Last year, Joe Hanania posted a petition to get the MTA to increase bus service to our coop, either by adding M14A buses or by having the M14D make the same loop around Grand Street that the M21 does.

The Lo-Down brings us the MTA’s response, saying the bus service to Grand Street is just fine as it is. The chief of operations planning at the MTA responded that bus service is determined by ridership counts, and their analysis shows that the balance between M14A and M14D buses is consistent with the number of riders.

Joe Hanania argues that because there are so many more M14D buses, that Grand Street residents coming home may get on the D and then walk across Delancey rather than wait for an A, so the ridership counts shouldn’t be the only gauge.

And Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, who lives here on Grand Street himself, has also nudged the MTA to bring more M14A buses to the area.

You can read more from the MTA, Joe Hanania, and Speaker Silver over at the Lo-Down.

Cooperatively Yours

Tag Archives: transportation

Crosswalk coming to Cherry Street

MTA says M14A bus service is good enough