The intersection of Ft. Washington Ave. and W. 168th St. may soon be a little calmer for a few hours each week. But don't tell CB 12.Months after Community Board 12 killed plans for a Washington Heights Greenmarket over concerns about parking, a scaled-down market is set to open at a location further south. But not before the board could reiterate its unwavering deference to Upper Manhattan motorists.
The new market is planned for W. 168th Street and Fort Washington Avenue, near New York Presbyterian Hospital. The initial proposal, originated by a Washington Heights resident, would have sited a market on W. 185th Street, adjacent to Bennett Park. CB 12, however, decided that the loss of 19 parking spots for a few hours a week was too great a sacrifice.
The new market will occupy about five street spaces, but in its coverage of a recent committee meeting, the Manhattan Times finds that the board remains preoccupied with motorist convenience.
Committee members and other board members in attendance expressed concern about aggravating the already terrible traffic around the hospital.
"That's something you have to look at very closely," Board Member Emilia Cardona said.
"The north-south traffic is horrible already," added committee member George Preston.
It's true: The hospital area is a traffic sewer. And the best way to ensure it stays that way is to shoot down and nitpick any proposal that would enable pedestrians to repurpose their streets. Lest anyone mistake CB 12's motives with an actual desire for equity among street users, this is the board that overruled the wishes of over 1,000 Greenmarket supporters based on the testimony of three -- three -- who preferred the auto-centric status quo.
In other news, one of the drivers CB 12 members are tripping over themselves to accommodate flipped his car last night near the pedestrian-heavy intersection of W. 207th Street and Broadway in Inwood. Fortunately, no parking spaces were harmed.
