Holes and crumbling rocks have made the stairway in Riverside Park at 102nd street treacherous, and the parks department now says it will fix the issue. Noah S. Rothstein sent in the photos above and below, and says he didn’t get any response after he initially pointed out the problems two months ago.
“As anyone should be able to see, this condition is nothing short of appalling. It is worse than I had even realized yet. Pretty-much the entire stairway is deteriorating. In addition to the crumbling and the many scattered pieces of chipped-off stone, there are conspicuous gaps, at least one of which a person’s foot could easily fall into.
To review the timeline:
March 21st: First noticed that one of the steps felt loose underfoot. Do not recall noticing any more than that.
March 23rd: Reported loose step to Parks Dept. via nyc.gov web site. Received email confirming receipt of my submission but nothing further.
May 2nd: Noticed area in photo where orange cone is; hazardous condition at spot considerably worse than when I had last seen it back on March 21st.
May 19th: Condition certainly no better and quite possibly even worse; took attached photos.”
The parks department now says it will address the problem soon.
“We are aware of the condition of the stairs and appreciate our park users notifying us and being our eyes and ears. We will be making temporary repairs to the steps within the next few weeks and once funding is confirmed we hope to begin a larger repair project to make a permanent correction.”
It’s worth noting that these stairs are heavily used by kids (and their parents) who play in the West Side Little League and AYSO and take advantage of the other sport facilities near their base.
It’s a disgrace and dangerous, as well as opening the City up to considerable potential liability.
It’s about time. Pretty treacherous there but it does make for a good obstacle course!
Oh the basketball court where we used to set up fights. Fun part of the park, reminds me of the old days.
When donkeys fly !
Have you noticed the pothole on 84/Riverside that has been slowly expanding for months so that the orange cone now sits INSIDE it!? It will soon be big enough to swallow a car! In the time it takes them to come out an drop the cone, couldnt they fill it in? I wish the Parks Dept would share a little more of their love with Riverside!
You would think that with the massive taxes that we pay, that we wouldn’t need to worry about public walkways being properly maintained. I can’t imagine that it is expensive make these repairs before they get to this point.
I would like to fix some of these repairs …as a volunteer..please let me know
Hamid, you should volunteer with the Riverside Park Conservancy, which does a terrific job at coordinating volunteers in the park and raising money for things that the City can’t/wont do. http://www.riversideparknyc.org/
Another example of the City’s lack of interest in basic maintenance. Its just a lot more interesting to fly around the country and hobnob with developers. I’m sure the people the Mayor really cares about won’t be walking down these stairs anytime soon.
I hope they are fixed soon. Maybe we can stage events at these locations, invite local politicians for the photo op and make them traverse these dangerous crossings. We can watch them trying to crawl out of hole….so to speak. The elderly & children need safe crossings…we all do. There are so many spots like this around the city in parks and on the streets.
Maintenance of our streets & sidewalks has been too slow. Cars are getting damaged, pedestrians fall and are injured and there are many crossings you can’t get a walker or wheel chair over to cross.
There are also holes at street level between 101st and 102nd on Riverside, surrounded by safety stantions and yellow tape. More of the same at around 108th. The Mayor is right about the excessive attention given to Central Park. Let’s test his resolve by seeing to it that Riverside and other parks like it get some TLC.
totally agree with Bill. i’ve lived on 102 for 8 years and spend time in both Central and Riverside parks. the condition of Riverside has really deteriorated over the last few years. it’s kept clean but there is no evidence of physical upkeep at all. weedy and overgrown, the paths are worn, steps are shifting and crumbling, railings broken. is there no money from the city for this park?
I would like to thank the West Side Rag for being so responsive to my emails on this matter and doing this story.
In the timeline quoted from my email, I omitted my call to 311 on May 17th. I last saw the stairway just over a week ago, on May 20th, which was the day after I took the photos that are posted here. The condition appeared the same then. At that time I noticed and photographed the stantions that Bill (#10) mentioned at the top-level of the park as well as potholes on the asphalt slope that goes from the bottom of the stairway at 103rd street, to the main level of the park (at the spot where the “Taste of Ecuador” food-vending cart is stationed). I have posted the photos I took of the potholes and the stantions, along with the ones of the stairs, at my web site at https://noahrothstein.com/Riverside_Park_Hazards/ .
On Monday (May 25th; Memorial Day) I walked between 100th and 103rd streets on the top of the park, along the ledge. I almost tripped due to how badly broken-up and uneven the pavement there is.
I am glad to see the comments here from others.
@ Bruce:
“is there no money from the city for this park?”
Apparently there’s “$75,00 to 100,000” to renovate the “field house” at this very location. As reported right here almost exactly one month ago:
https://www.westsiderag.fom/2015/04/27/city-to-renovate-old-field-house-in-riverside-park
Where are the priorities?
What about the “New Master Plan” for Riverside Park?
https://www.westsiderag.com/2015/05/20/parks-department-preparing-new-master-plan-for-riverside-park
Any comments on that?
———————–
Aunt Renie wrote,
“The elderly & children need safe crossings…we all do.”
Let me take this opportunity to note that this also includes, for children, adults who will lead them across the street safely, with the light and in the cross-walk. I can’t tell you how many times I have seen adults (presumably parents) with children, crossing against the light, jaywalking, even through traffic. I haven’t got any photos of such an incident yet but if and when I do, I hope WSR will publish them.
I just received an email informing me that my 311 service request has been closed.
I suppose I will see soon enough…
Did anyone else report this condition at any point?
I would like the fix this issues and also the signs that appears awfull there I am very experienced about signs and though I have some of tiling and pavement so this is my email to river side I live in 104 and river side is too my back yard hamid@nycmail.com
I had a chance to view the stairs again yesterday (Saturday, May 30th). The only improvement I noticed was that at the area where the single orange cone is in the photo that leads this story, there were now several orange cones with tape or something of the like wrapped around them. Looking at the photos again now, the possibility occurs to me that those largest, gaping holes that can be seen might have been closed-up. I don’t recall noticing them but I obviously had not remembered to look for them, so it could be that they were still there after all. Likewise for the chipped-off pieces of slate scattered about.
On this same outing, while walking-up the stairway that lies just beyond the underpass where the 95th street exit on the Henry Hudson Parkway runs, I discovered a number of steps that felt unambiguously loose underfoot.
After making my way to the top of the park at street level, I walked north until just past 103rd street. In so doing, I saw that the badly broken-up and uneven condition of the pavement along the ledge that I mentioned in my initial post to this thread on May 28th was by no means limited to the area between 100th and 103rd streets but extended well beyond, almost certainly both to the north as well as to the south.
As I noted in my initial post, I was happy to see the comments here. But I must say that I am also disappointed and discouraged that I did not find in any of them a single mention of having actually reported any of the conditions in question. I would think it would be obvious that the more people that report something, the more likely that something will get done about it.
The experiences I had with the people who passed the stairs as I was surveying and photographing them has been even more discouraging. People walked right past the glaringly conspicuous appalling conditions with apparent complete apathy and indifference. None of the passersby said a word to me. At least some of them gave me odd looks. Some appeared annoyed at me for not getting out of their way quickly enough.
Let us imagine, though, that any of these very same people who had exhibited such indifference to these hazards were to trip on one of them and injure themselves. (Just to be clear, I absolutely do not wish that upon anyone.) Would they not sue the City for as much as they thought they could? (And, as everyone should know, whenever “The City” is sued, we, the collective taxpayers, are the ones who all pay.)