Chinatown

A proposal to add pedestrian and cyclist space to a redesigned Chatham Square in Lower Manhattan will be the subject of a Tuesday public hearing co-hosted by Community Boards 1, 2 and 3.

Residents of the Lower East Side and Chinatown have been fighting for improvements to the Allen and Pike Street pedestrian malls for more than a decade. Now, with the city's Parks Department set to begin a $5.4 million renovation of the malls below East Broadway, their wait for meaningful action might be nearing an end.

Critical street safety measures are on the agenda for a Community Board 3 meeting tonight. Additional sidewalk space, more bike lanes, improved crosswalks and safer signalization are all reported to be on the table. The measures are included in DOT's Safe Streets for Seniors plan and the reconstruction of East Houston Street, which two CB3 committees will discuss.

On Tuesday, Community Board 3 unanimously approved a resolution in support of DOT's plans for improved Manhattan Bridge access, including bike lanes on Chrystie Street.

A Streetsblog tipster snapped this photo yesterday afternoon. Note the Starsky & Hutch-style siren on the dashboard of the SUV hanging off the back of that tow truck. The photographer reports that NYPD tow trucks have been racking up the hours in December clearing the streets of Chinatown, and as you can see in the photo above, they are finally "towing their own".

It looks like the street redesign around the Manhattan entrance of the Manhattan Bridge is nearing completion. Considering that Transportation Alternatives has been pushing for these fixes for years, that was pretty fast. DOT presented its plan to the local Community Board, to unanimous approval, in July; sketched out the lines on the street in August; and here we are.

It looks like 5th Precinct Commanding Officer Gin Yee, the Sheriff of Chinatown, is laying down the law once again. A Streetsblog tipster spotted these tow trucks as they were removing government placard abusers from their illegal parking spots in Chinatown. While it's refreshing to see the police "towing their own," the tipster notes that as soon as the trucks pulled away a new group of placard abusing government employees swooped in to claim the empty parking spaces.

A Chinatown tipster sent along these remarkable pictures yesterday of what seems to be an effort to cut down on placarded vehicles clogging the neighborhood's streets:

With all the talk about high level personnel changes at the DOT, let's take it back to the streets for a minute, shall we? As we have already noted, Chinatown has gotten a buffered bike lane on Grand Street, which is fantastic, and would be even more fantastic if it wasn't treated as a car parking lane. But that is not the only recent change to the Chinatown streetscape.