DOT putting stickers on their parking signs

Two Department of Transportation employees have a pretty repetitive job right now.

They were seen today outside our office putting stickers on parking signs, changing 'HR METER PARKING' to 'HR MUNI-METER PARKING.'

Stickers!

Thank goodness they hopped right on this, because I for one would have been even more confused than the signs already make me.

To the DOT's credit, at least they're saving money by not replacing the entire sign.

R.I.P.

The DOT is replacing every single-space meter in the city right now, saying the muni-meter's are better because they offer more parking spaces (Unless they don't know how to pull up to the car in front of them!), you can pay for parking with a credit card or dollar bills and not just quarters, they break less and are less expensive to maintain.

'Slow Zones' latest DOT measure to curb speeders

Here's the story from this week's Bronx Press that explains the new 'slow zone' that will be coming to more neighborhoods throughout the city. A Riverdale elected official has already said that he wants to bring the zone to part of his district, which you can read about here.

By Brendan McHugh 

Those with a lead foot are about to find it much more difficult to drive through the city. 

Slow zones create 20 mph
speed limits throughout a neighborhood.

The Department of Transportation began the city’s first-ever Neighborhood Slow Zone on Monday, reducing the local speed limit in Claremont from 30 mph to 20 mph and adding certain traffic calming measures.

Chosen because of the neighborhoods high accident and fatality rate, Claremont is getting nine new speed bumps in addition to the five already present, and other traffic calming measures such as signage and street markings are being added to the roads. 

Signs posting the 20 mph speed limit are at 14 entranceways to the quarter-square mile zone. Also, 14 more speed limit signs are post throughout the neighborhood and stencil speed limits on the street itself are in 45 different places.

Jump below for the full story.

New answer for school traffic woes?

A story from this week's Riverdale Review. There is a similar story in a separate post that fully explains the 'slow zone' practice that debuted in Claremont this week.

By Brendan McHugh 

Last month, elected officials requested slower speed limits, new signage and speed bumps for the area around PS 24 and MS/HS 141. 

Turns out, the City has a new program that can do just that. 

On Monday, the Department of Transportation announced its first-ever Neighborhood Slow Zone in Claremont. The slow zone reduces the speed limit in the quarter-square mile neighborhood from 30 mph to 20 mph, adds nine new speed bumps and over 50 new signs—both on poles and stenciled onto the street—to the area alerting drivers of the speed limit. 

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, one of three legislators who wrote to DOT in October, says Independence Avenue is a model candidate for the new traffic safety program. 

“Given the area’s proximity to several schools, a public library, and houses of worship, I believe this stretch of Independence Avenue would be an ideal location for a Neighborhood Slow Zone,” he wrote in a letter to DOT commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan earlier this week. 

Jump below for the full story.

Pols back permits for local parking

Here's a piece from this week's Riverdale Review.

By Brendan McHugh 

For many Bronx residents, using the car after sunset means one thing: parking is going to be very difficult when they return home. 

It’s possible that help is on the way, however. Last week, the City Council approved a Home Rule Resolution, requesting the New York State Legislature to pass a bill authorizing New York City to adopt a residential parking permit system. 

A public hearing on the bill, held by the Council Committee on State and Federal Legislation on Wednesday, Nov. 2, generated enormous support for the plan, according to City Councilman G. Oliver Koppell, who supported the bill. 

Jump below for the full story.

New TV series filming at Riverdale Temple (UPDATE)

The 2012 series Smash (IMDb) is currently filming at 246th Street and Independence Avenue.

Here's the official synopsis:

At the heart of the show are the musical's composer Tom (Christian Borle), who is gay, and the lyricist Julia (Debra Messing), who is somewhat against the idea of a Marilyn Monroe-themed musical. The plot will follow follow an out-of-town tryout of a Broadway musical, and centers around a songwriting team who write a musical about Marilyn Monroe based on an offhanded remark from an assistant. They post a showstopping number on YouTube. When it's a viral hit, a producer (Anjelica Huston) who's looking to recapture success long past decides to produce the musical. There are two choices to play Marilyn - Karen (Katharine McPhee), a talented young newcomer, and Ivy (Megan Hilty), a theater veteran.

I have no idea who any of these people are, but I'm on my way over right now to check it out and snap some photos.

UPDATE: They wouldn't let me go into the Temple to see the set or anything (no one ever does), but they are taking up blocks of parking with their cars, trucks and equipment. I imagine the local residents are going to be livid about this tonight, when parking in that area becomes a premium.

Walking around Riverdale is safe

And not just because of the low crime numbers.

From 1995 to 2009, there were 8,604 motor-vehicle crashes involving pedestrians in the 42 blocks that make up Manhattan Community District 5. In Bronx District 8 (Riverdale, Fieldston, Marble Hill, Van Cortlandt Village, Kingsbridge) during the same period, only 788 crashes occurred; less than 10 percent of Manhattan's District 5, which is Midtown.

The data comes from Transportation Alternatives new interactive map, CrashStat.

The only area that is considered safer than Riverdale is the South Shore of Staten Island (Community District 3) with 653 crashes.

 

The city's Department of Transportation disputes these findings, however (even the good ones). A spokesman points out to Crains New York that reporting the 15-year neighborhood-by-neighborhood totals misses an important point—the decline in injuries and fatalities over the period:

"Safety has actually increased and nowhere is this more evident than in places like Manhattan Community District 5, where fatalities and serious injuries were down 54% from 1995 to 2009; and in Brooklyn Community District 14, where fatalities and injuries down 65% from 1995 to 2009."

Citywide, pedestrian traffic fatalities have dropped 37% from 1995 to 2009.

Transportation Alternatives has called for stricter enforcement of traffic laws by the New York City Police Department, saying that the department should pursue harsher punishments, deploy more traffic cops and more rigorously enforce the 30 mph speed limit.

Jump below for the rest of the story.

Tappan Zee Bridge reconstruction fast-tracked

The Tappan Zee Bridge has been tapped for a speedy review and approval process, which will allow reconstruction of the bridge to begin much sooner than previously thought.

President Barack Obama has green-lighted New York State's request, and with the expedited federal review of the Environmental Impact Statement and the processing of certain permits, the Tappan Zee project could begin as early as next year.

“This is a shot in the arm for the project and a major step forward to restoring this key piece of our infrastructure and putting tens of thousands of New Yorkers back to work,” Gov. Andrew Cuomo said.

According to the Presidential memorandum, “improved coordination among multiple federal agencies will reduce the time needed to proceed from a Draft Environmental Impact Statement to a Record of Decision, potentially reducing the project timeline by multiple years.”

Rep. Eliot Engel, who applauded the president for his actions, says that serious damage to the bridge would be horrendous for the tri-state area.

Jump below for the full story, including information as to when public meetings will be held to discuss the $5.2 billion project's details.

Parking meters dressing up as Muni-meters for Halloween, then never changing back

It's already happened in Manhattan: there are no more old, single-space parking meters. And now it's beginning to happen in the Bronx. Yes, many corridors have already made the transformation, but now the city is coming in to finish the kill.

RIP single-space parking meters

Beginning Oct. 28, the DOT will be in the Fordham area replacing the single-space meters with munis. Whether you like them or not, the city doesn't care. Not only do they raise more revenue (you can't piggyback off someone's leftover minutes anymore), but also they cost less to maintain and operate. And if one is broken, you're suppose to find the next closest one to get your receipt from. No more free rides.

I'll update this blog with new posts every time I hear about a new area being converted.

Here are the areas being updated Oct. 28:

• West and East Fordham Road from King Boulevard to Hoffman Street
• Grand Concourse from East 180th Street to East Kingsbridge Road
• Jerome Avenue from East 184th Street to East 193rd Street
• Webster Avenue from East 187th Street to Bedford Park Boulevard
• Sections of Marion, Bainbridge, Tiebout, Briggs, Valentine, Creston, Morris, Walton, Davidson and Grand Avenues, and East 188th Street

Elected officials tackle school traffic crisis

I said I would hold off until tomorrow, but I thought I'd leak one story from the Riverdale Review today. Jump below for the full story, plus a document drop of the letter sent to the DOT.

By Brendan McHugh and Miawling Lam 

Stop signs, a lower speed limit and another change in arrival times are among the proposals flagged to solve the traffic snarls and gridlock outside two of Riverdale’s public schools. 

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz joined Councilman G. Oliver Koppell and State Senator Adriano Espaillat and submitted a list of five traffic-calming measures to the city last Tuesday.

The recommendations were drawn up amid growing safety and traffic concerns of the streets surrounding P.S. 24 and M.S/H.S 141, particularly along Independence Avenue. 

In the joint letter sent to Bronx DOT Commissioner Constance Moran, the trio calls for stop signs to be placed at West 235th Street and Independence Avenue, as well as new pavement markings for both northbound and southbound traffic. 

The elected officials also propose the creation of a 20-mile per hour zone for the entire corridor from West 232nd Street to West 246th Street.

Jump below for the full story and the letter.

Speeders beware, Bloomy wants traffic cams everywhere

I eluded to this two posts ago, but it deserves its own post.

NYCDriving.com has put together a Google Map of known locations of red-light cameras throughout the city. You'll see 27 locations in the Bronx, none of which appear to be confirmed (I'll drive around Riverdale tonight, check them out and get back to you tomorrow). Actually, one that I can confirm, but isn't on the map (so make it 28), is the intersection of Jerome Ave. and Gun Hill Road. There is a sign, similar to the photo here, that points out a camera.

According to the Daily News, more than $52 million was collected in fines last year from motorists who blew through red lights while the cameras were rolling. Over 1 million fines were given.

There are now 150 red-light cameras scattered throughout the city, and Mayor Bloomberg has put the pressure on Albany to add 40 new overhead contraptions that are also capable of measuring a driver's speed. The electronic info is then used to issue tickets - all without a cop. Bloomberg has also said he would be willing to have a camera on every intersection in the city if it could save lives and raise money at the same time.

Each red-light summons sets you back $50, and what's worse is that it's mailed to the registered owner of the vehicle, along with a photo of the license plate and snapshots of the car as it passes through the intersection. So you make the violation, and then days later your day is ruined. However, no points are put on a driver's license; it's the same as if you got a parking ticket.

Even though studies show that red light cameras save lives, many people oppose them, saying that they represent a Big Brother invasion of privacy and that the motivation behind them is driven by revenue, not safety concerns.

In order to add more cameras--ones that will give drivers a violation for running a light--a law would have to be passed in the State Legislature. From what I've been told, the biggest obstacle is Rochester Assemblyman David Gantt, who is the chair of the transportation committee.

Bronx Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, however, thinks they would be a good thing for the city. 

"I’m not opposed to increasing the number of red light cameras; it’s likely to have a positive impact on people’s lives," Dinowitz said, but added that he isn't sure if putting them at every intersection would be a good thing. "It’s pretty hard to argue against red light cameras."

He also said he'd be willing to support them more if the Department of Transportation would speed up the process of putting a traffic signal where the community requests one.

"They’ve been requested and it’s a roundabout bureaucracy," he said. "Bloomberg gets something at the snap of a finger, but the community gets a long, drawn out process." DOT can typically take weeks to study an area, and then the community must wait at least 18 months before the same area can be studied again.

Jump below for a transcript of Bloomberg's back and forth with reporters during a press conference the other day.