Welcome to a sample of what the roads are like here in Queens. OK, maybe not that bad but what our potholes here lack in “quality” is more than made up for in quantity.

I might recommend a barrier with flashing lights until the hole can be fixed. It looks like the street lighting there is poor. At night a cyclist might not see that hole until they’re nearly on top of it.

What this photo doesn’t show is that a few weeks ago this hole was a first just off to the side — it started on the edge of the grassy median. It recently opened up. Parks really needs to take address this ASAP. What’s preventing the rest of the path from giving way anytime? I’m sure DOT would be out there in no time if the hole was spreading toward the highway instead of the greenway. Also, the 311 system is not set up to report this, as my bf learned when he tried, because it doesn’t recognize the greenway as a street.

And yes, they need lights on it — that section of the greenway is seeing more and more use, including evenings.

Well at least the hole fixes the car problem.

I’ve never run into cars this far up. This area is not accessible to cars because of narrow ramps/stairs/steep hills.

This hole would be a nightmare if it weren’t Summer.

I once called 311 about a hole this size just south of 181st street. I told them a child could fall in and never been seen again, and it was fixed the following day.
Using the word “child” seems to make a difference!

I once called 311 about a hole this size just south of 181st street. I told them a child could fall in and never been seen again, and it was fixed the following day.
Using the word “child” seems to make a difference!

Should DOT take over Parks’ Bike Paths?

Parks has serious
problems with the major Bike Path Greenways. Parks has a tiny capital
repair budget, and when problems like this cave in “pop up” Parks can
only throw in a band-aid repair. Second, Parks formally treats these
Greenways as recreation trails and not as critical 24/7 transportation
corridors. The results are that cyclists are banned and/or ticketed for
riding at night, because ALL parks are closed at night, and that Parks
feels there is no problems from closing or blocking any part of any
Greenway path for their construction convenience with no viable detour.

A solution to these problems would be to transfer the bike path
Greenways from Parks to DOT control and responsibility. These paths
are designated on the NYC DOT Bicycle Map as Protected Bicycle Paths
that run to and through various parks, often right alongside motor
parkways under DOT control. Further, DOT manages the non-freeway park
drives in Central and Prospect Park, providing pavement, signals and
signs.

The bike path alongside Henry Hudson Parkway northbound
lanes was originally the sidewalk of Riverside Drive to Dykman St. When
a wall collapsed on the inland side of the parkway a few years ago, the
HHP was reopened in short order, and kept open while
repair/reconstruction work was completed. DOT, with rare exceptions,
finds ways to keep most of the highway lanes open to car traffic during
construction. They find ways to stage the trucks and equipment not to
block the roadways. Parks, on the other hand, doesn’t seem to care if a
“recreation” bike path is closed, so contractors are given no orders or
incentives for safely moving bike traffic alongside the work areas.

If
the goal of the these designated bicycle path Greenways is to move
non-motorized traffic, safely and yes, in very pleasant surroundings,
but to move people, then the paths cannot be arbitrarily severed, nor
can they be closed at night, nor can they be allowed to decay into
seriously unsafe condition.

I therefore propose that Parks allows
DOT incorporate the designated transportation bike paths through the
city parks, to manage and maintain, just as DOT manages the motor
parkways, as a critical part of the city’s non-motorized arterial
transportation system.

The sinkhole was filled in with some dirt last week, and the barriers moved slightly to allow more room to pass, but this morning I noticed a new hole developing, and some new cracks in the pavement. With a strong rain storm coming tonight, who knows whether the remaining bit of passable asphalt will survive.

Summer is over and this hole is still unchanged. I ride by it every day. I have written the DOT and Parks department more than once with zero action taken. The past few weeks have been pitch dark yet still very busy in these warm evenings. An accident is sure to happen at this dangerous bottle neck. Two bikes cannot fit comfortably in the open gap at the same time. The other issue I have pointed out three years in a row is how many of the street lights are burned out here. 17 two years ago, 24 last winter and I will count again soon. Anybody, Everybody, please help draw attention to this hazardous stretch of this valuable transportation route. Let’s take advantage of election time and get it done.

…and it continues collapsing by the hour. Be careful here!!! I can’t wait until the stone retaining wall collapses and we loose the greenway and the highway. I wrote the DOT, Community board 12 and the Parks again this week. I finally got a short reply from CB12 yesterday saying they will look into it.

Please try writing these people:

Mercado, Daniel – Daniel.Mercado@parks.nyc.gov – North Manhattan Parks Manager
Hoppa, Jennifer – Jennifer.Hoppa@parks.nyc.gov – Parks Administrator
Blow, Debra – DBlow@cb.nyc.gov – CB12 member
Garcia, Paola – pgarcia01@cb.nyc.gov – CB12 member
Smith, Ebenezer – ebsmith@cb.nyc.gov – CB12 member (responded to me)
Mitchell, Donna – dmitchell@dot.nyc.gov – NY DOT Administrator for Margaret

Hoppa supervises Mercado, Smith supervises Blow and Garcia (and they are not board members, they are staff). Suggest calling 3-1-1 to report, then call CB 12 with the confirmation number.

On the highway? Nil. Somewhere like the iron triangle in willet’s point? Sure.