Officers Guzman, Mota, Ambro, & Rosario (l. to r.) conduct a Vision Zero education campaign at 86th Street and Broadway. Photo via 24th precinct.
By Jessica Brockington
Regulating car and bicycle traffic was a lively topic at the 24th Precinct Community Council meeting Wednesday night, as the community gets ready for a possible new bike lane on Amsterdam Avenue (expected to be proposed by the city next month). The 24th precinct covers the Upper West Side from 86th to 110th street.
Robert Josman, treasurer of the community council and a frequent bike critic, says he thinks traffic congestion has gotten worse because of the Columbus Avenue lane and the decision to ban cars from much of Central Park. He said that the congestion has spread as far West as West End Avenue, and so has an increase in frustration and fear for pedestrians as bicyclists misuse the lanes.
Captain Marlon Larin, the commanding officer of the 24th, said the bike lane has been a hot button issue; he had even received a photo from the community via Twitter of a police car driving in the protected bike lane.
The precinct says it has responded specifically by ticketing cars double parked along the lane to keep traffic free-flowing, as well as ticketing cyclists running red lights. The captain also recommended the community enlist the help of bicycling and pedestrian safety organizations like Transportation Alternatives.
****
The meeting opened on a solemn note as Tom Burnett, president of the Council, asked those gathered for a moment to remember the sacrifice of Police Officer Randall Holder who was shot and killed in the line of duty on Tuesday on East 124th Street.
“It wasn’t in our precinct, but it wasn’t far,” he added.
Larin praised the tenacity of the officer and his partner.
“They stayed on the heels of a criminal for over 20 blocks, determined to take a violent person off the streets. Our officers put their lives on the line every day.”
Larin reported a 4.6% Year to Date reduction in crime including Transit and Housing. He also introduced the two newest officers to the Precinct, and illuminated changes to NYPD training protocols that introduce officers to their eventual precincts earlier in their Police Academy training.
Police Officers Matthew Morales and Matthew Peragrine were the first officers in the 24th to benefit from the new decentralized training module.
“Being given their guns and shields after only three months is a great responsibility. They are being asked to adapt quickly to this lifestyle,” said Captain Larin.
The officers graduated from the NY Police Academy in July and have since been mentoring with seasoned officers.
“Rotating every two months to different shifts exposes them to different styles of policing and gives them an opportunity to be greeted by the entire precinct. We had been operating in silos,” he added.
Some calendar items of note:
October 27 – Noon at 96th and Broadway, Meet Domestic Violence Officers from the 24th Precinct. Capt. Larin will be in costume at 96th and Broadway at noon — he doesn’t know the costume yet, as it’s currently being constructed by the female officers.
October 31 – Deadline for idea submissions for Participatory Budgeting (PB) from the office of Council Member Mark Levine. Call 212-928-6814 or submit ideas online at https://ideas.pbnyc.org/page/
October 28 – 6:00 – 8:00 pm Community Resource Fair for Immigrant Families at the 115th Street NYPL featuring representatives from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, United State Citizenship and Immigration Services, Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs, NYC Small Business Services, New York Immigration Coalition. For information call 212-666-9393
October 24 – 12:00 – 4:00 pm Healthy Family Healthy Community at Wadleigh High School (Gym), 215 West 114th Street, Face Painting, Coloring, Balloons, ID for Kids, Puppet Show, Noble Touch/Massage, Domestic Violence & Breast Cancer Awareness, HIV & HEP C Testing, Mental Health Services, Cert & Youth Services, Financial Education, Social Media Awareness & Immigration Services, ID NYC, All Services are free and confidential. For more information contact the 28th PCT Community Affairs PO Hooks at 212-678-1622
October 28th, 6:30 – 9:00 pm Park West Policy Forum – A Public Affairs Forum dedicated to informing citizens about political issues and encouraging participation in the political process, Red Oak Apartments, 135 West 106th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues. Forums are held on the 4th Wednesday of each month. For further information call 917-338-6415 or email pwpolicyforum@gmail.com
First Fall 2015 Forum: Is Progress Being Made in Our State – A Report on the Legislative Achievements of the 2015 State Assembly with State Senator and ranking Dem. State Senate Housing Committee, Adriano Espaillat
Preserving Community Health Care Systems in Manhattan: An Assessment on the Progress Made by Presbyterian Hospital with Community Leaders, with State Senator Adriano Espaillat and City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez.
November 21st, 9:00 am – 3:00 pm – Warrant Amnesty Event “Clean Slate” sponsored by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office, Office of Court Administration and the Legal Aid Society.
Soul Saving Station Church, 302 West 124th Street at Frederick Douglass Boulevard
Following on the success of Brooklyn District Attorney’s second Warrant Amnesty event in September, the Manhattan District Attorney is pleased to announce “Clean Slate”. Resolve outstanding summons warrants on-site without fear of arrest for: Disorderly Conduct, Consumption of Alcohol in Public, Trespass (Violation), Littering, Unlawful Possession of Marijuana, Public Urination, and more.
Safety Tips for Halloween
* Adults should always examine Halloween treats before children eat them. Never eat open or unwrapped Halloween foods
* Costumes should be flame-retardant and should allow children to walk freely without tripping. Children’s ability to see, hear and move should not be impaired by unwieldy masks
* Make certain that any face paint or make-up used on skin or costumes is non-toxic
* Extra care should be taken on streets and at crossings, especially at dusk and after dark
* Children should carry a flashlight and wear reflective or bright colored clothing at night
* Emergency identification information should be placed discreetly inside clothing of small children, in case of accidental separation.
* Avoid having children wear their names outwardly on clothing or jewelry which may allow a stranger to call them by name and appear to know them
* As always, children should be cautioned to avoid strangers, as well as poorly-lit areas and homes of people they do not know
Poison Control Center, 24 hrs/day, 212-POISONS or 212 VENENOS for Spanish language speakers, or 212-689-9014 for TDD users. The National toll free number, 1-800-222-1222, connects to the nearest poison control center.
The 24th Precinct community council meets the third Wednesday of each month at 7:00 P.M. at the 24th Precinct.
Reading the “Safety Tips for Halloween” saddened me.
This may be an incredibly unpopular thing to say, but sometimes when I walk around the City I wonder why the Speed Limit on local streets isn’t closer to 10 or 15 mph (including the avenues). There are times I see a cab zooming down Columbus, for example, and just think that 25 is just too fast for an area full of restaurants and street activity. These avenues are throughfares but they are also within the neighborhood, they should be treated as travelling ‘in’ the neighborhood and not through to downtown. Manhattan isn’t that big of a place; travelling uptown or downtown at 15 mph won’t take much longer than 25mph; if you need to go faster you head to the highways on either side of the island.
Also, has there ever been discussion of better ways to regulate truck traffic on Columbus? Has there ever been talk of quiet hours or delivery times for vehicles above a certain size or weight? It seems strange to have 18-wheelers honking their way through the neighborhood every morning and afternoon at rush-hour when pedestrian traffic is the greatest. There are days where traffic down to the Lincoln Tunnel is backed up all the way to the UWS above Lincoln Center, and walking down the street feels like sucking in the fumes directly from an exhaust pipe; not charming!
James, you must not be a driver 🙂 Terrible idea. 10-15 mph would be crawling, and cause huge backups, like a never ending stream of cars we see now on WEA during busy periods. 25 mph is barely enough to get out of 2nd gear in a car. Plus those slow speeds will only encourage more people to jaywalk. The real answer to preventing speeding, besides active policing/ticketing, is to 1) create speed bumps and 2) install red light cameras all along Amsterdam and Columbus and Broadway. PLUS HANG LARGE SIGNS TO THAT EFFECT. The only way to make it safe for Pedestrians is to start actively ticketing those who jaywalk. Or do what they did at Rockefeller Center: they installed fencing on the corners so that it’s impossible to cross at the intersection – you have to walk 20-30 feet to get to an opening to cross. Believe me: A few $100 tickets is a tremendous incentive to people/drivers to change their behavior.
The DOT’s street design guidelines say that speed bumps cannot be installed on arterial roads (AKA any of our avenues).
I believe that the speed limit should be reduced. This is a densely populated residential area. It is inappropriate to have speeding vehicles in this area.
I have to disagree with anyone who believes Columbus Ave traffic is worse due to the bike lane. As someone who commutes to work via bike, the only thing forcing me into traffic other than double-parked cars in the bike lanes are pedestrians using it as an extended side-walk. Its places risk & danger on the cyclist.
I agree. I think that the Columbus Ave bike lane is a nice improvement to the liveability of the area.
Jas, I bike through the city too and understand it can be frustrating when pedestrians are waddling in the bike lane while texting with their headphones on.
However, I would like to point out that for protected lanes the curb in the middle of the roadway is there for pedestrian safety, to shorten the crossing distance of the road. Pedestrians do have a right to walk from the curb to the island in the crosswalk.
I think most cyclists don’t realize that if the light is red they should be stopping before the crosswalk, and waiting for the right of way. They should not expect to sit in the crosswalk while waiting for the green.
Even the well-meaning cyclists (those who aren’t furiously breaking every traffic law) seem not to do this. DOT should make this more obvious with signage and placing a ‘box’ on the road for cyclists.
The main reason southbound congestion has gotten worse on the Upper West Side is that they have closed one lane each on Broadway, West End Ave and Riverside Drive. The traffic jam on West End Ave each morning, often backed up all the way to 106th street, is a direct result of these new traffic lanes. This is also true in the afternoon in northbound lanes with cars trying to find alternate routes to the George Washington Bridge when the West Side Highway is congested. While, I assume, the intent was a knee-jerk reaction to slow down traffic (pedestrian safety), we Upper West Siders are suffering the effects of thousands of cars idling in traffic. We are choking in fumes. Help!
A “knee jerk reaction” to save lives! Oh no!
(It appears to be working, btw, no fatalities in the 24th Precinct since the redesigns were implemented.)
I have to agree – the West side of Broadway, north of 95th Street is a mess during rush hour times. As to Columbus, I can state as a driver and bike commuter, that the traffic has not changed much due to the bike lane. Traffic moves no differently through the 90s, 80s and 70s, flowing at a decent pace, backing up once you hit 72nd Street entering Lincoln Center area — and its been that way before the bike lanes as well. Traffic adjusts to street changes. I will say that since Citibike was extended up to 86th street, I see the bike lanes getting a great deal more usage.
Is there an update on the hit-and-run collision by a driver last month at 106th and Amsterdam?
https://www.westsiderag.com/2015/09/23/man-injured-in-hit-and-run-by-taxi-commission-driver-on-amsterdam
Or the rape at 110th and Morningside?
Deep gratitude for the service and bravery of Officer Holder. Heartfelt condolences for the loss.