Previous Comments:
I'm pretty sure that daylight deliveries are not permitted to the giant garage for Whole Foods (and other stores?)on 97th St. just west of Columbus Avenue, yet today, around 11:30 am there were 3 trucks there; two parked and one trying to get into the garage. It resulted in 97th St. being completely blocked straight across Columbus, preventing cars from going either west or downtown and making it awkward for people crossing the street. And of course lots of noise as people began honking. Can't something be done?
#11 - S. Stern - 12/11/2009 - 16:35
What is happening is more than a demonstration of lack of respect for the existing community and its stakeholders. What we are seeing is not safe and a disaster waiting to happen. What is sad is that almost nothing that is happening is necessary and could easily have been avoided. Think distribution center, planned daily, in-door parking spaces and outside, public escalators to provide safe egress in case of a fire or other problem.
The next phase of development is yet another example of what happens when no public review is
part of the process.
It also speaks volumes about the coordination of efforts among the developers on this small parcel of land. How does any of this square
with the plans described by the PS 163 team? It appears to me that folk are rushing trying to make whatever it is that they want to do
appear to be the infamous "done deal." That said, it is up to us to make enough noise so that everyone understands the need for a
comprehensive, respectable plan that will enhance and not destroy our community.
I vote for jobs and do not have a NIMBY attitude -- just want folk to think long-term and with a view to the light and air that was part of the promise and value of Park West Village.
One more thing -- much of the remaining land and or air rights are owned by New York City. Should not a bidding process be employed so
that we get the best value for this property? I think so.
Jean Green Dorsey
#10 - Jean Green Dorsey - 12/06/2009 - 19:40
I attended last nights meeting with representatives from DOB and found it helpful. I believe we must be very proactive in our efforts to mitigate the impact of potential development in our community. I believe, as was stated at the meeting, that a thorough review and study by the Department of Traffic as well as a third party is essential. The plan to make a two way street in front of 784, 788 and 792 is so outrageous that it boggles the mind. I recently observed two abulances and a fire truck in front of 788 trying to choregraph their exits. Fortunately for everyone, the emergency was only minor and there was no need for urgent exit or additional equipment. But what if? We need solid information on this situation to present to any forum we attend to make our case.
Thank you for all you do to help maintain this community.
#9 - Lynn Hilaire - 12/03/2009 - 12:02
PWV residents have been bared from the sidewalk on 97th Street at Whole Food's loading dock "For your own safety" they say, when their trucks pull in and occupy part of the sidewalk itself. They are privatizing public space.
I would also note that the vaunted liveliness of Columbus between 97th and 100th is belied by the forbidding hulk of 808's pretentious entrance, and the blank windows of the entrances to basement stores--Michael's and TJMax. This is not a lively shopping street. The fronts are as bare as banks or airline offices!!
#8 - Mary Lee Baranger - 11/21/2009 - 13:47
My husband & I have lived @ 120 W 97th for many years, & garage our car in the bldg.
Coming home Saturday evening (8/29), down Columbus, to make the turn onto 97th St, we had our first encounter with Whole Foods delivery gridlock.
Even though it was 10:30pm on an August Saturday night, about 20 vehicles poised, as we were, to go West on 97th Street, were backed up Columbus avenue and across the intersection of 97th & Columbus, waiting for a GINORMOUS solid white semi to maneuver -within a very limited radius - to descend the ramp into the bowels of the Whole Foods operation.
As we arrived on the scene, the truck was totally blocking 97th St, crosswise - its front end entirely on the northern sidewalk, trying to nose onto the ramp, & its back end, past the cars parked in front of the Ryan Center, on the ramp of one of the residential garages on the south side of 97th. The Street clearly is too narrow to accomodate trucks of that length!
I don't know how long the truck was there before we arrived (it must have taken some time for it to arrive at its awkward position - diagonally south to north - after going due West on 97th St), but we waited at least 3 to 4 minutes for it to get into the proper position to get off the street.
At the time, all I could think of was having this go on on a weekday, in the middle of our already heavily congested block, not just as a pain in the butt to motorists, but as a safety hazard to the disproportionate # of pedestrians on this block who are children walking alone or in groups, elderly residents of apartment buildings on the block, ailing/disabled clients of the Ryan Center, & parents or nannies with infants & toddlers.
#7 - Resident of 120 W. 97th St. - 11/21/2009 - 11:54
Thursday evening I was so frustrated with all the trucks idling outside Whole Foods that I went in (sweaty and in my running clothes no less) and asked to talk to the Manager. The Shift Manager came out to meet me. After explaining the purpose of my visit, I asked him to request that the truck drivers outside immedidately turn off their engines and that he address the matter with the company. Of course, he assured me he would.
#6 - Resident of 370 CPW - 11/21/2009 - 09:57
Even a confident driver takes at least 10-15 minutes to maneuver a truck into a loading berth, during which time 97th St. is effectively closed. Those trucks need so much room to maneuver - even with good driver - anyone who parks a car anywhere near that loading berth is taking a big risk. Whole Foods seems to have given up on garbage collection from the compactor within the loading berth. I've seen them carting their garbage to the street.
#5 - Gerard Corrigan - 11/21/2009 - 00:17
Thank you for giving us the opportunity to speak out about the ongoing noise pollution caused by the Fresh Direct trucks. It is a city wide problem.
This issue was raised at the last Town Meeting and many residents were in agreement about it. Drivers let their diesel truck engines idle in front of 372 before starting their westside runs or making deliveries.
While most agree that Fresh Direct provides a valuable service to city residents, the noise pollution caused by their trucks must stop.
I have composed a letter to the CEO of Fresh Direct, Richard Braddock, advising him of the problem and asking him to instruct drivers to turn off their engines while making deliveries. If you would like to add your name to our letter please email me at
tguadagno@verizon.net.
If you would like to write your own letter the address is as follows:
Richard Braddock, CEO
Fresh Direct
2030 Borden Avenue
Long Island City, New York 11101-5807
#4 - Therese Guadagno - 11/18/2009 - 07:31
Noticed to date:
1. 'Daily' vans. Approximately 1/2 dozen occasions I saw Vans either
double parked, (twice), on Columbus or curbside on Columbus and/or 97th
Street.
Earlier this week between 7:30 and 10:00 PM there was an unusually long
'beeping' signal that attracted our attention. It was a Whole Food
Tractor/Semi-Trailer backing in to the interior loading dock, not
efficiently and definitely not quickly. This vehicle ended up in
position that made it impossible for a waiting garbage/trash truck to
back in next to it. Luckily there was an empty curbside spot available
for the trash truck to wait in front of the as yet not open parking
driveway.
I was called to dinner so I was unable to view the final resolution of
this activity. There were relatively few people on the 97th Street
sidewalk and I would say that the most objectionable feature of this
incident was the excessive 'beeping'.
We will keep our eyes and ears open to the situation.
#3 - Robert Cabrera, Tenant at 65 West 96th Street - 11/12/2009 - 13:29
Topic: Air Quality.
Whether advance consultation and/or communication with the neighborhood would have reduced the lengthy list of concerns that quickly emerged when the Columbus Village excavation and construction got underway, I don't know. Sad to say, the question is irrelevant now as we have faced even the most fundamental of serious of issues, i.e., safety during excavation and construction, without any support from or action on the part of the Buildings Department.
Now, with construction-related vehicles still occupying the easterly sidewalk and moving traffic lane of Columbus Avenue, we are faced with another significant threat to safety and health in our neighborhood: declining air quality due to the idling trucks and cars at Whole Foods (WF) and congestion on Columbus Avenue and 97th Street.
Though there is a two-truck wide loading dock at WF on the north side of 97th Street, there often are trucks idling at the curb. Sometimes they are waiting for access to the dock, at others they are idling and simply unloading at the curb. I have even seen idling trucks unloading at the curb when there is space at the dock. Last week one evening there was a dairy products truck idling outside WF at 11:30 pm, well after closing. Did it idle there all night until opening the next day?
Add to the trucks delivering to WF customer vehicles idling at the curb outside WF (two lanes deep in some places along Columbus Ave. last Saturday) and the resulting traffic congestion and we have a serious threat to air quality in our neighborhood.
I am hoping that Westsiders for Public Participation may bring some leverage to bear on this issue. We are taxpayers afterall and it is our dollars that pay the salaries of every single employee in the Buildings Department, the NYC Department of Environmental Protection, etc. Let's get them to work for us!
#2 - Linda Edgerly - 11/12/2009 - 11:38
Sue Gordon, was injured and received 47 stites on her leg on Thursday, November 5th. She was riding her bicycle to Whole Foods from the Central Park Tennis Courts. Riding down Columbus Avenue, before reaching the corner of West 97th Street, the passenger (a M.D.)in a stopped taxis suddenly opened the door on the roadway side. She bleed profusely. The doctor hurried away. However, an officer in a patrol car saw the incident and obtained the person's identification. I note that Columbus Village is zoned C-1, for Local Retail Shopping, yet newspaper and other flyers map how to travel to it.
#1 - Irving Polsky - 11/11/2009 - 23:17
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