Upper West Side

Even by its own math, the City Planning Commission seems to have approved 430 parking spots too many at Riverside Center, the new development slated to straddle 60th Street on the far West Side.

After a chaotic committee meeting Monday, Manhattan Community Board 7 was able to discuss the implementation of the Columbus Avenue protected bike lane far more productively at its full meeting Tuesday night, according to people who attended. The discussion of the new street design may lead to the creation of a community board task force charged with helping Columbus Avenue merchants work out their delivery issues.

Columbus Avenue merchants on the two blocks between 81st and 83rd Street led a chorus of complaints against that avenue's new protected bike lane at a raucous meeting of Manhattan CB 7's transportation committee last night. The committee co-chairs limited the discussion only to criticism of the bike lane, which runs from 96th to 77th Street, in an attempt to address specific complaints, but opposition quickly flew out of control. About half a dozen merchants spoke at the packed meeting, which at times descended into an anti-bike screaming match.

Now that the City Planning Commission has called for 1,260 parking spaces at the Riverside Center development -- instead of the 1,800 requested by the developer -- the project moves on to the City Council for the final step of the city's land use process. Traditionally, the local Council member representing the district is given a lot of deference by her peers, so we checked in with West Side representative Gale Brewer to see whether she'd be pushing for a further reduction in the number of spaces.

Adjust your calendars: Manhattan CB 7 is pushing back its full board meeting, originally scheduled for tonight, to next Tuesday, the 9th. So you have a few more days to hone your Columbus Avenue bike lane testimony.

We got our hands on a copy of the City Planning Commission's report on the Riverside Center mega-development [PDF], and as we reported last week, the commission is allowing Extell Development to construct 1,260 parking spaces under two Upper West Side blocks. It's possible that the number of parking spaces could drop lower when the public review reaches the City Council, where local representative Gale Brewer has said she favors 1,100 parking spaces.

UPDATE: This meeting has been postponed to next Tuesday.

Upper West Side residents can ride with a new sense of safety and comfort on the recently installed Columbus Avenue protected bike lane, but between 81st and 82nd Streets, the bike lane has been consistently blocked by a minivan owned by Quality Florist, a local business located on that block.