Upper West Side

In what has become an all-too-familiar scene, NYPD is denying reports that a police chase led to the death of a pedestrian after an incident of petty theft on Manhattan's Upper West Side.

Manhattan Community Board 7 voted last night in favor of converting 240 parking meters to bike racks on 40 blocks of the Upper West Side. The 23-12 vote (with one abstention) was the CB's closest of the evening, but the outcome was never really in doubt. Debate focused on board control over the placement of individual racks more than the broader merits of bike racks. Thanks in part to the strong support of the Columbus Avenue BID, momentum for bicycle infrastructure continues to grow on the Upper West Side. 

Manhattan Community Board 7 approved a resolution Tuesday in support of protected bike lanes for the Upper West Side. According to Streetsblog readers who attended and the Westside Independent web site, a mostly positive discussion on the merits of such improvements -- in front of a packed house of residents wearing "Protected Bike Lanes Protect Everyone" stickers -- preceded a 28-7 vote. Here's the reso in full:

Tonight Manhattan Community Board 7 will vote on a resolution supporting the installation of protected bike lanes on the Upper West Side. Having cleared the board's transportation committee last week, the reso would align the full board behind the concept of protected bike lanes on Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues from 59th to 110th Streets.

At a lengthy meeting Wednesday night, the transportation committee of Community Board 7 passed a resolution in support of the "concept" of protected bike lanes on Columbus and Amsterdam Avenues from 59th to 110th Streets. The 6-2 committee vote came after testimony from area residents, business people, and community board members from Hell's Kitchen and midtown, who noted the safety benefits and other improvements separated lanes have brought to their districts.

Community boards in districts east and west of Central Park will hold sessions tonight on cycling infrastructure and safety.

Streets designed for safe, accessible, and equitable use. That is the vision of the "Blueprint for the Upper West Side: A Roadmap for Truly Livable Streets," to be unveiled tonight by the Upper West Side Streets Renaissance Campaign. The product of one year of community-driven planning, in consultation with urbanist legends Jan Gehl and Donald Shoup, the 51-page Blueprint [PDF] is an expansive neighborhood-wide plan that would employ many livable streets concepts already in use by NYC DOT. 

The Observer reported last week that Extell Development wants to lease an underground chunk of its huge West Side project to big box retailer Costco. Included in the plan: 2,300 parking spaces. To put that in perspective, the Red Hook Ikea, projected to yield 17,000 car trips on peak days, makes do with a 1,400-car parking lot. The building where Extell wants to put the Costco and the garage will be mostly residential. No matter how many spaces are set aside for residents or shoppers, the inclusion of so much parking flies in the face of the city's stated goal to reduce traffic.