Speaking objectively, the Parks Department has done a really bad job of informing cyclists on the busiest bike path in North America that the busiest bike path in North America is impassable.
Back in October, we reported that the agency would close the Cherry Walk segment of the bike path between W. 100th and W. 125th streets for two weeks of repairs stemming from Superstorm Sandy. Without warning (until we asked, that is), the Parks Department put off the work until Nov. 2. Well, the "several week" project isn't done, so we checked in again last week only to be told on Monday that "this section of Cherry Walk remains closed as we address some additional safety concerns along the enclosed area."
Apparently, while completing the original work, the agency discovered more cracks and erosion. The new work has begun, the agency said, "and will take a few weeks, weather permitting."
In the meantime, cyclists are stuck with what many have called a shoddy detour from the waterfront bike route up major hills to dangerous Riverside Drive and back again — a tricky route with incomplete signage.
"I entered the Greenway at 92nd Street, saw the detour sign at 100th Street, missed other detour signs, reached the dead end at the tennis courts around 116th Street, backtracked to the uphill path, and saw detour signs leading to Riverside Drive," one Streetsblog reader told us in an email. "The detour signs were limited to the word 'Detour' and did not communicate that the path at the river’s edge was indeed closed with no entrance until 153rd Street. ... I don’t know how to see this kind of management by the city as anything other than willful indifference to the safety of bicyclists on the Greenway."
So for a few more weeks at least, cyclists will be endangered on city streets.
Meanwhile, Monday's incredibly slow news day means that Streetsblog itself was the top story:
- The Post followed up on our question to Mayor de Blasio on Monday asking him to ride the subway to show the world that it's safe — a request that the mayor agreed to. The Post story also included the video of the exchange between our old man editor and our tall man mayor.
- It looks like Clayton Guse's bus ride with Sen. Chuck Schumer paid off: the MTA has delayed its worst service cuts on the grounds that the feds will indeed chip in $4 billion. (NYDN)
- The Daily News provided yet another reminder that every road death causes incomparable pain and suffering.
- See the yellow icon at the top of this page? Click it to make a donation and keep our lights on for another year. Also, all benefactors get a shout-out in the next day's headlines. So without further ado: Thanks, Ryan! Thanks, Doug! Thanks, Christine! Thanks, David! Thanks, Mark! Thanks, Daniel!
- And, finally, from the assignment desk: Tuesday will be busy, what with a major rally by restaurateurs at 11 a.m. at the red steps in Times Square, and a "Save Our Compost" Zoom press conference at 3 p.m. (To get up to speed, read our story from last month about how the Parks Department is evicting Big Reuse from under the Queensboro Bridge ... to make more parking.)
