SI Crosswalks in Need of Improvement

As a new planning student, it’s easy to get caught up in the idea of grand comprehensive plans and massive land use overhauls. Staten Island, with its jumble of uses and development patterns, is especially easy to view as a blank canvas for innovative design. Heck, Freshkills Park is an example of this in action. Yet when looking at something like Staten Island’s transportation network it’s probably best to start small. So today, let’s have a look at a few different types of crosswalks on Staten Island and propose some modifications, improvements and alternatives to make them safer for pedestrians.

Crosswalks and intersections are the primary places for car/pedestrian interaction. Drivers, on the lookout for other cars, often glide through or stop in the crosswalk. Pedestrians often find themselves either hidden behind a row of parked cars, or rushing across the street with an impatient driver bearing down on them. It’s a stressful, dangerous, and unfair environment for the pedestrian, and one that could be remedied with better design, better maintenance, and better enforcement.

Residential Street

This type of crosswalk is ubiquitous on Staten Island’s residential streets. A couple of white painted lines, often fading (or invisible altogether) denote the “safe” space for pedestrians to cross. As a long time driver and pedestrian, these lines are often ignored unless there is a pedestrian already in the crosswalk. Drivers yield only at the very last line and glide into the intersection, peak for other cars (while still moving), and when it is safe for them, continue on. Without better enforcement and a higher proportion of pedestrians on our streets, I doubt this will change. But clearly marked crosswalks (with a ladder design or different color paint) could go a long way in distinguishing these spaces as shared, rather than as just part of the road.

Major Intersections

The above crosswalk is at New Dorp Lane and Hylan Boulevard, Staten Island’s most dangerous intersection. In the space of a month, I’ve seen several near misses between drivers and pedestrians. I saw a driver nearly run a woman and a baby carriage down in front of a traffic cop. I saw a driver, impatient behind a waiting car, swerve out of his lane and make a right turn in front of the waiting car and inches from a crossing pedestrian. I saw two cars, both making simultaneous left turns, waiting less than a foot away from a crossing bus commuter, and speeding away once she was just barely clear. This crosswalk is banged up from use, and all but ignored by many drivers. Yet the major problem here comes down to enforcement. Each afternoon rush hour, two traffic enforcement officers manage car traffic and ignore pedestrians at this intersection. It’s a recipe for disaster, and makes for a tremendously stressful and intimidating experience for both drivers and pedestrians.

Parking Adjacent Crosswalks

This crosswalk is adjacent to parked cars, which often obscure the pedestrian from approaching drivers. Many pedestrians  (from casual observation) simply wait for all cars to pass through before attempting the crossing rather than stepping out into the street in order to become visible. A curb extension or “bulb out” could be a huge help here, extending the sidewalk into the street and within site of oncoming cars. In this case, pedestrians have a chance to assume a place in the street from a safe location and have a good view of oncoming automobile traffic.

This bulb out extends past the row of parked cars and makes pedestrians far more visible to drivers.

Crosswalks Near Transit

SIR stations tend to be located in the densest and most pedestrian oriented places in suburban Staten Island. Yet over the years, street culture has diminished, and with it has gone the maintenance of pedestrian infrastructure. This crosswalk sees a high volume of foot traffic with each arriving and departing SIR train, but is in terrible shape. Yet here at least there is a traffic light. Just a block down, an ornamental stop sign is effective in only getting drivers to yield to other drivers. Pedestrians, again, find themselves behind parked cars and invisible to approaching and oblivious car traffic. Bulb outs and hanging yield lights could do a world of good here.

The above are only a small sample of crosswalks in my area, though I would say they are quite typical by island-wide standards. That is to say, they are far below what should be considered acceptable for the primary spaces of driver and pedestrian interaction. The next time you are out and about, either in your car or on foot, have a look at the crosswalks nearby. Are they safe for the unprotected pedestrian, or do they favor the shielded driver? The answer goes a long way in determining the abysmal state of Staten Island transportation planning.

Pedestrian Dead, Sentient Vehicle Responsible: A Rant on Staten Island’s Sorry Transportation Network

On Friday, 5:30 pm a living, breathing human being was struck and killed by what may possibly have been a sentient, driver-less vehicle at the intersection of Richmond Road and Lincoln Avenue.

To reasonable and justice minded Staten Islanders, it is likely the vehicle was not self-aware. It is more likely that there may even have been a driver piloting the vehicle. Though his or her existence cannot be verified by the original source article, the conclusion that there was in fact a person driving the vehicle seems far more likely than the sudden and spontaneous appearance of vehicular artificial intelligence. But why, in the course of this brief, common, and terribly tragic article was there no mention of a driver? Why, when we get behind the wheel, do we cease being people and become remorse-less computers encased in a ton of steel and electronics? Why does that absolve us from common sense, responsibility, and basic human decency?

I have no answer. All I know is that someone who was once alive is now dead. Someone who was defenseless on the unenforced speedways of Staten Island was suddenly and brutally ripped from this world by a driver almost impervious to harm from within the safety of his or her vehicle.

Perhaps I am being too hard on the driver. Perhaps the absolute joke of Staten Island transportation planning and management is to blame. After all, this is an island overrun with vehicular traffic, legal “rights on red”, a multitude of left turn signals, crappy and nonexistent sidewalks, strip malls, parking lots, copious curb cuts, crater-sized potholes, road splitting guardrails, invisible crosswalks, and egregiously apathetic enforcement agencies. No, apathetic is too conciliatory. After years of careful observation and experience, I’m confident in saying that Staten Island traffic enforcement agencies are partners in the regular abuse, dehumanization and humiliation of non-drivers, pedestrians, cyclists, and transit users.

Case in point: It’s 5:30 pm, the heart of rush hour at New Dorp Lane and Hylan Boulevard. Traffic is snarled back to Midland Avenue. Staten Island traffic authorities, seeing this affront to our driving sensibilities, order traffic cops to the intersection to direct traffic and get things flowing. The solution? Ignore existing signals. Disregard the presence of pedestrians. Blind the eyes to walk signals. Get traffic moving at all costs. Away with these silly walking people and just wave the cars on through. Wave them on through the crosswalk. Wave them on through the red turn signal. Just wave them on through. Forget the mom with the stroller waiting at the corner. She doesn’t matter. Forget the commuter disembarking the express bus stranded in the center of the intersection. He can wait. Traffic must move.

I see this happen every single weekday, without fail, and it is a disaster waiting to happen. What is a driver to do? They have the approval of the authorities present and the pedestrian doesn’t. If the driver hits a person, it’s not on them. They had the right of way, even when they didn’t. The cop said it was fine, and so it was fine. No criminality suspected. Just an ok from the guys in charge and a shoulder shrugging acknowledgement of the tragedy of accidents.

If this sounds a bit like a rant, well that’s because it is. Staten Island’s transportation issues are so tied up in confused causes, effects, and correlation paradoxes, that it’s impossible to point to one specific reason for the embarrassing state of our transportation network. Narrowing things down just a bit, I believe the sorry excuse for transportation here is born out of a carefully honed mentality passed down for two generations of eminently entitled Staten Islanders knowing nothing but freely available one-use roadways. This mentality is enforced by restrictive zoning, mandatory parking minimums, a complete lack of commitment to pedestrian infrastructure, and a population of density-detesting, change-averse NIMBYs. The destruction of a local economy centered on neighborhood small business located within concentrated, parking lite town centers followed this abysmal post-Verrazanno urban plan. We became a borough of need it now car commuters and easy parking shoppers, and this island is far worse off for it.

This post has been brewing in me for a while. The brief story of a dead pedestrian killed by a “vehicle” only set it off. We can’t even summon the requisite perspective to demand more than just a couple hundred words on yet another person killed while simply crossing the street. Just a few dozen comments expressing condolences on a message board and not a peep from the NYPD, Borough President’s Office, DOT, or DMV about raising driver standards or instituting mandatory jail-time for reckless driving resulting in the death of a human being. No, not a word on 20 mph zones in residential neighborhoods, or stricter standards for license suspensions. We instinctively put ourselves in the shoes of that poor driver, and routinely ignore the dead pedestrian. Because on Staten Island, the driver belongs and the pedestrian doesn’t.

After all, it’s only an accident.

Sources: http://www.silive.com/eastshore/index.ssf/2012/01/pedestrian_cut_down_on_staten.html

SI Towns: New Dorp

There is more to Staten Island than a bridge, a ferry terminal, and an endless sea of single family homes. SI Towns is an ongoing series featuring Staten Island’s many historic towns that predated the construction of the Verrazano Bridge. It’s a look at the urban design, economic viability, housing stock, and overall state of the traditional urban enclaves that have (sometimes) resisted the trend toward shopping centers and parking lots.

New Dorp is a good subject for the first in this series if only for its relative success in the shopping center era. New Dorp is home to two high schools, a massive former airfield turned recreation area, a stop on the Staten Island Railway, many attractive mid-century single family homes, and a large assortment of locally owned businesses. It’s also a valuable example in demonstrating just how much public space Staten Island has given over to cars and drivers in recent decades.

I start my walk across from Miller Field, a massive expanse of soccer posts, football fields and baseball diamonds. This used to be an airfield, but is now a part of the Gateway National Recreation Area, a network of urban national parks stretching from New Jersey to Brooklyn. Gateway was born out of the mid-century call for open spaces in the urban landscape. Today, the park covers a large section of lower New Dorp Lane and is a favorite of organized sports leagues in the warmer months. With the right weather, Miller Field is a vibrant mix of kids, adults, beach chairs, blowing whistles and enough halftime orange slices to stop a bull. Yet in the winter months the space becomes mostly desolate, a problem underscored by the limited uses for the park. This is symptomatic of many public spaces on Staten Island.

Miller Field is a former airfield turned recreational open space

A short walk past New Dorp High School brings us to New Dorp Lane and Hylan Boulevard, the most dangerous intersection on Staten Island. Here, New Dorp Lane becomes a jumble of turning lanes, timed signals, faded crosswalks and inadequate medians. Cars are king here, even if this is also a major intersection for buses and pedestrians. The morning rush hour becomes especially hairy. Pedestrians with the walk signal and the right of way are often stranded in the middle of the crosswalk as a long string of turning cars proceed blindly. In the afternoon rush, traffic cops often wave drivers through reds, easing the crush of vehicles but ignoring pedestrians attempting to cross legally. The standoff ends usually with the pedestrian rushing against a blinking or solid red, risking oncoming traffic to make it to the other side. It makes for a tense, messy, and dangerous scene that should be remedied with better crosswalks, better medians, better law enforcement, and better protection for the most vulnerable road users.

Pictured here on a late Sunday morning, the intersection at New Dorp and Hylan is especially dangerous during rush hours

We’ve made it across Hylan Boulevard unscathed. We are greeted with a stretch of New Dorp Lane roughly a mile long. New Dorp is home to a wide assortment of restaurants (French, Mexican, Middle Eastern, Chinese, Japanese, American, Italian), clothing stores, jewelry stores, furniture stores, hair salons, a cafe, a barber shop, gift shops, a bakery, at least two banks, a shoe repair shop, a comic book store, a church, one of Staten Island’s best libraries, and many, many bridal shops. Nearly all of these (besides the library and a smattering of fast food places) are locally owned. Parking is often a problem, which is why the area could benefit from added density. Few of these building are mixed use, turning this into more of a commercial and retail destination for people to shuttle to and from rather than a living, breathing town. Parking is mostly on-street, though there is a modestly sized municipal lot further up the lane.

Much of New Dorp Lane is single story and dominated by on street parking.

Vacancies in New Dorp are unfortunately common. It’s tough to pin down why some stores here struggle and others seem to be so successful. I would point to the lack of a significant sidewalk culture in New Dorp, a major problem for many of Staten Island’s towns. It’s easier for people to drive to a shopping center and park in a lot than it is to hunt for parking on a busy two lane street.  Were there more people living on New Dorp Lane, perhaps we would see the development of more attractive streetscape.

There are many vacancies along New Dorp Lane and in the surrounding area

It’s a cliché by now, but there is a reason the walkable town is once again popular. I enjoy seeing others on the street. I like a well designed storefront, an inviting window, and a sidewalk eating space. I suspect others like these things too. They are designed to attract the eye of the pedestrian. With most customers arriving by car, the purpose of the attractive sidewalk is mostly lost. I don’t say this to draw a line between drivers and pedestrians. On Staten Island, they are often one and the same. The goal however should be to attract a critical mass of people that value pedestrian friendly environments.

We’ve made our way up New Dorp Lane and have arrived at the SIR stop. There are no photos here of the state of this specific stop, but it, like many others on Staten Island is in dire need of remodeling. SIR stops often receive a new coat of paint every few months or so, but this doesn’t go far enough. The stations serve their purpose well enough, but I can’t shake the feeling that standards for station upkeep should be improved. The SIR is part of the MTA and on paper is fully integrated into the city’s subway system. Yet it would be interesting to see some classic styling integrated into each station, echoing the glory days of the SIRT (Staten Island Rapid Transit), a pre-Verrazano system with three fully functioning railway lines. It’s a vain hope for the future, but an attractive station could go a long way in improving the lives of commuters and other users.

A view from the outside of New Dorp's SIR stop

Like many other towns on Staten Island, density increases in the areas immediately surrounding the train stations. People lived near stops because it made sense for transportation to be accessible. It seems quaint in a car-dependent borough, but it is still the norm throughout much of New York City. Yet here, just like the rest of New Dorp, is often a frustrating experience for the pedestrian. I stood at a crosswalk while three cars slowed at the stop sign, briefly checked for oncoming cars and then glided on through oblivious to my existence. Eventually, I made my way into the street, exposed but visible and the long string of cars yielded (but never fully stopped). Again, this is the norm here, not the exception. I am guilty of it, as are most drivers on Staten Island (and likely elsewhere as well). There are some practical improvements that can be made. At select, heavily trafficked corners with a crosswalk, the city should consider allowing the sidewalk to just out into the intersection . This will make the pedestrian far more visible to drivers and cyclists by placing him or her safely in full view and out from behind parked cars along the curb. These were installed in Newark, Delaware while I was a student there, and they immeasurably improved the pedestrian experience. Also, more clearly marked crosswalks, perhaps of an altogether different color or material could help to distinguish between the roadway and shared space.

Pedestrians are often hidden behind parked cars along the curb at crosswalks like these. Drivers rarely come to a complete stop.

At this point I began to head back, though not the way I came. Along New Dorp’s sidestreets are many attractive single family homes. They are of an older, less mass produced vintage than many other Staten Island homes, and it shows. I have nothing against single family homes. In the right places they work well. New Dorp is one of those places. Contrary to much of what I write here, I prefer the town experience to that of the big city. A street like this harkens back to a time on Staten Island before large scale subdivisions and identical rows of semi-attached, poorly made duplexes. I genuinely enjoy this part of town and the many others like it all throughout Staten Island.

And yet at its end is Hylan Boulevard, an impassable median, and heading north and south, shopping center after shopping center. It’s dismaying to see what was once a place for people turned over so willingly to chain stores and cars. This is true of much of the island. As the rest of the city (and country) reevaluates the affect of sprawl and the dubious benefits of shopping complexes, Staten Island seems stuck in a middle ground. Stubbornly pushing on with the impersonal, embracing the status quo, while simultaneously dismissing attempts to embrace a more vibrant future for people and places. Yet if there is to be some kind of local renaissance, it is towns like New Dorp that stand to benefit most.

Back From Hiatus/A Few Comments on New Development

Apologies for the too long absence. I was in the midst of getting married and applying for Hunter College’s Master of Urban Planning program. Thankfully, both were a success.

Now that things have slowed down a bit, I can once again start focusing on some posts.

In my downtime I came upon the existence of a great Staten Island blog called the North Shore Shiller. They recently put together a great feature on the long awaited construction at the Stapleton Homeport. The project is suitably ambitious and I’ve been trying to keep abreast over the last few years. But, as these things go, no news usually means bad news, especially in the current real estate-averse economic climate. My cynicism sated, I was surprised to learn that just two weeks ago the city completed the sale of the seven acre site to Ironstate Development. Construction, after much waiting, has already begun.

So what is to come?

900 mixed use housing units with retail and commercial space, well integrated into the existing community.

This sort of development is a good thing. This is good density. This is not single family homes plopped down on former wetlands. This is an abandoned and almost entirely unused naval base being town down to make way for real people and real jobs. The downturn hit Staten Island real estate hard, especially at some of the higher profile projects up on the north shore. To see something happening, and on this scale, is a dose of good news at the right time.

With construction proceeding at Freshkills Park, the ferry terminal, the new St. George Courthouse, Bay St. Landing, and now at the long dormant Homeport, it’s difficult to not feel as if something is happening. Is it the faux revival trumpeted by skeptical New York Times articles every six months? I don’t think so. A dozen hipsters does not make a community. But perhaps these developments will allow Staten Island a bit of space to breath, outside of six lane speedways,  weekend trips to Target, and oceans of parking. Perhaps younger people will consider an apartment near Stapleton before searching in Hoboken. Or maybe a recent immigrant will open another new restaurant near the ferry because there are finally enough people in the area for a legitimate sidewalk culture to develop.

So to hell with skepticism. Exciting things are happening here. Something newer than 70′s era subdivisions. Something better than another layer of paint on an SIR stop. This is forward progress toward something different, and dare I say, better. It’s about time.

If You’re In the Neighborhood, Walk

It’s not often that I get inspiration for a post from the Food and Dining section of the Staten Island Advance.

On Friday, while reading up on the Richmond County Craft Beer Fest, I stumbled upon an article about the newly opened Randall Manor restaurant in West Brighton. In a seemingly throw away line in the article’s sidebar, food editor Pamela Silvestri wrote “Metered parking during the day; copious street parking. Suggestion: If you’re in the neighborhood, walk.”

Indeed.

There is an instinct among many Staten Islanders that if a car is available, then it must always be used. The experience of others may be different, but suffice to say, after 22 years of living here this has been the prevailing mentality. There is usually no accounting for distance in the equation. The Target six miles away is seemingly no different than the pharmacy around the corner. Hop in the car, hunt for parking, pick up your prescription, and then book it for home. Why do we do this? A vibrant and viable sidewalk culture is often the difference between small business success and failure. If we are just shuttling in and out as quickly as possible, what hope is there for the declining fortunes of parking-lite mixed-use districts?

Ironically, the town centers of places like Great Kills and Eltingville were far more successful when the island’s population was substantially smaller. The next time you are near a SIR station along the east shore, take a look at the housing stock. It’s generally older, more architecturally interesting, and built quite close to transportation and commerce. These places are more dense because they were built for people to both live and work in. They are similar to the transit villages of New Jersey: densely arranged centers of commerce with ample housing, and built around public transportation. A trip to central Montclair is a walkable and pleasant experience. Why not Tottenville?

This brings me back to my original point. Staten Island is often criticized (by me) for devolving into a sprawly, car choked mess. Yet it is still far more dense than most other suburban spaces in the country. There is significant potential to grow our existing towns if we decide to finally spend some time in them. The single best way to do this is to walk. I grew up just under one mile from the town in Great Kills. I grew up half a mile from my elementary school. Why was I driven to school every day? We had sidewalks, crosswalks, stop signs and stop lights. Much of the infrastructure is there. Yet the prevailing mentality was still to drive. With so many Staten Islanders driving such trivial distances, we have created an artificial demand for free parking that our town centers couldn’t possibly hope to provide. So we stay away, shuttling in for an especially good restaurant and then quickly shuttling home.

Imagine what a sidewalk culture could do for our small businesses. Perhaps there will be a few less delis selling long expired cold cuts, and a few more clothing stores. Perhaps there would be sidewalk space for outdoor eating and a bench or two to enjoy a moment of rest. Imagine the prospect of people milling about in front of stores and restaurants, rather than zipping by in a car without a second glance. The people are there. Staten Island does not lack for population. The trouble is in encouraging this population to decide that sidewalks matter just as much as parking spaces. They connect us to our neighbors and local businesses far more intimately than high speed roads and pockmarked municipal lots.

Of course, changing minds goes hand in hand with proper infrastructure. While the bones of an effective pedestrian network does exist in many of these towns, the will to improve on them simply does not exist. This is the germ for a future post, in which I will evaluate what affect the design of our towns and public spaces has on the development of a vibrant local culture.

But for now, it’s a proper message that could go a long way in improving our towns. Parking may or may not be available. If you only live a mile or so away, you might want to just walk instead.

{Special note: Check out Pamela Silvestri’s Food & Dining section in the Staten Island Advance. Food culture can lead the way in the development of local economies.}

SI Cycling Infrastructure is Built for Recreation, Not Transportation

I work for the Gateway National Recreation Area, a network of urban national parks located in Staten Island, New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Queens. The park headquarters is located at Fort Wadsworth, a very cool place offering some spectacular views from just under the Staten Island side of the Verrazano Bridge. My apartment is off of New Dorp Lane, adjacent to Miller Field.   Thanks to this very convenient arrangement of home and workplace, I bike commute almost every day along the FDR boardwalk.

The trip is about 4.5 miles, and usually takes me about 20-25 minutes depending on the heat. The colder weather is making the commute much more pleasant, considering I can cycle in whatever clothes I’m wearing for work. I have a rear rack on my bike as well as a small backpack that carries my lunch, wallet, keys, phone, and u-lock. I strap the bag on the rack with an elastic net that cost about $10. It’s an expedient, cheap, efficient, and generally enjoyable way of getting to and from work. It’s a far better alternative than driving on Hylan Boulevard,  Midland Avenue, and Father Capodanno, an unholy trinity of speeding drivers, copious potholes, and sporadic unpredictable congestion.

Yet, if I had one criticism of the greenway/boardwalk, it’s that it doesn’t really go anywhere. For the vast majority of users, the boardwalk is a purely recreational resource, not a legitimate linkage for alternative modes of transportation like cycling.  Yet reasonable alternatives to driving are exactly what Staten Island needs.

It's a great ride, but the FDR Boardwalk is more about recreation and scenery than actual transportation.

Many of Staten Island’s neighborhoods are broadly centered around traditional community centers featuring mixed used housing and  retail clustered near public transportation hubs.  Many of these town centers predate the development that followed the construction of the Verrazano Bridge. One step that could help expand cycling as a legitimate form of transportation would be the addition of local cycling networks extending from the residential areas into these town centers. Parking is already tight, a reason many residents avoid these areas in the first place. Given the general emptiness and wideness of local residential streets, bike lanes would be largely unnecessary. Bike lanes would however be put to good use in the town centers themselves.  Perhaps secure bike parking at train stations would encourage more multi-modal commutes, with residents taking a bike to the train and having the option of parking it securely for the day.

Many, many Staten Islanders already use bikes as transportation. Check out the loading areas of the island’s many restaurants and grocery store. There are often multiple bike lashed onto railings and fences. An early morning walk is sure to reveal more cyclists, often first generation immigrants, biking to and from work well before the car traffic sets in. Surely, they would put on street cycling infrastructure to good use.

Staten Island is highly car dependent. There is no denying this. Most residents won’t be avoiding the express bus on the corner to cycle eight miles one way to the ferry. They won’t take the bike to grandma’s Fourth of July barbecue in Tottenville if they live in New Dorp. Building an off street, long distance bike network which goes nowhere in particular, is not going to expand cycling mode share. But a bike lane that goes to the drug store 3/4 of a mile away might. And maybe a network of lanes leading to Great Kills proper from the single family blocks surrounding the town will draw a decent number of early morning train commuters.

The point is not increasing cycling infrastructure for its own sake. The point is to give people alternatives to compulsory driving . Bike lanes that stay local, actually go places, and secure parking would be a step in the right direction.

A Sneak Peak at Freshkills Park

It’s difficult to overstate the damage done to Staten Island by the Fresh Kills Landfill. At one time, Fresh Kills was the largest man-made structure on the planet, comprising 2,200 acres of what was once mostly wetlands and natural areas. Besides the severe ecological damage caused over its 54 year reign, the landfill was something of a mark on the integrity of the island. With the ascent of the Dump (as it is still affectionately known throughout the borough), came the decay of Staten Island’s towns, wild areas, and road network. The borough, a pioneer of suburban post-war development, came to be synonymous with its most notorious resident. Staten Island was the Dump. The Dump was Staten Island. Yet all of this is changing. Fresh Kills Landfill is well on its way to becoming Freshkills Park. And it will utterly transform Staten Island.

At Freshkills Park it's easy to forget you're not only on Staten Island, but also at the site what was once the largest landfill in the world.

I visited Freshkills Park during its most recent public exhibition, Freshkills Sneak Peak 2011. Over 2,000 others were also in attendance from both Staten Island and throughout the city. For a day, visitors got a chance to see art installations, stop for a bite to eat, take a tour of a relatively small portion of the park, kayak (yes, kayak), learn to compost, build a birdhouse, or complete any number of other activities that would have been inconceivable on the property just 10 years ago. This was the second annual large scale public exhibition of the park, and in my opinion, was a resounding success. The park itself is a wonder. The fact that this is all occurring on Staten Island is nothing short of astonishing.

Construction of the park is being led by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreations, The New York City Department of Sanitation, and James Corner Field Operations. James Corner Field Operations is a landscape architecture and urban design firm which is spearheading the park’s design. The firm has received praise for their dramatic and extremely popular work at the High Line, a park constructed along an abandoned set of elevated railway track in Chelsea. Yet as innovative as the High Line is, the scope of that project pales in comparison to the massive undertaking at Freshkills.

Kayaking will be one of the many recreational activities avaiable at the completed park. Sneak Peak visitors got a a preview.

When it is completed, Freshkills Park will be nearly three times the size of Central Park. Walking and jogging paths will wind their way through the restored natural spaces. Ball fields will host Little League games. Families will pilot kayaks through restored wetlands. Bike ways will abut the boundaries of the park, which, thankfully are along major commercial and retail districts. All of this is to be done on reclaimed land, the site of a massively ambitious ecological restoration. Freshkills Park is not simply aiming to become yet another recreational destination. It will be a living monument to the triumph and capacity of environmental stewardship and activism.

Freshkills Park is shaping up to be the land use and urban design story on Staten Island. Over the next few weeks, I’ll be posting a series of stories on Freshkills Park, its past as a landfill and its future as a world class destination. For further reading, be sure to visit the Freshkills Park Blog, and the Department of Parks and Recreation’s official park site.

Progress for North Shore Light Rail/Bus Rapid Transit

At midnight on March 31, 1953, the final SIRT train along the North Shore branch pulled into station at St. George. The rail line was replaced with bus service, at the time a less costly and more flexible option for an island of changing demographics. Cars were on the rise and no one needed a train to get six or so miles to the ferry. Today, the twin surges in population and personal car ownership have turned that six mile drive (and competing bus commute) into an exercise in frustration. 60 years later, what was once an island of dense, well trafficked and highly independent communities has devolved into a sprawled out expanse of strip malls, big box stores, potholes, and poorly built single family housing. Many North Shore communities are still struggling to recover.

But a bit of transportation help may be on the way. The MTA is currently conducting the North Shore Alternatives Analysis, a series of studies and public workshops which evaluates the possible transportation improvements to and from St. George along the North Shore. The original candidates were, heavy rail, electric light rail, diesel light rail, ferry service, bus rapid transit, and improved conventional bus service. According to the document linked above, we are somewhere between the third and fourth phases of the plan. Phase three whittled the list down a bit, knocking heavy rail and ferry service off the list. Heavy rail would be prohibitively extensive, probably requiring much larger rights of way, extensive station rebuilding, and a more thorough reworking of the existing landscape. Money not being an issue, I would have loved to see a heavy rail line rebuilt. Ferry service would likely be far too inefficient, operate on too restrictive a schedule, and serve too small a segment of the local population.

Click this and all following images for a more manageable size

Phase four, short list selection , will evaluate the most promising and realistic alternatives.

Transportation Systems Management: By far the cheapest of the alternatives, TSM will feature the smallest impact on the existing environment. Conversely, it’s benefits will likely be marginal. TSM will rely primarily on existing streets, traffic signal prioritization, and bus upgrades. Travel time savings will be negligible.

Busway (Bus Rapid Transit): Bus rapid transit will use dedicated, rail-type stations, and a dedicated right of way. Travel time improvements will likely be 43%-64%. This is a serious time, and if achieved could revolutionize future development plans for the North Shore. Bus rapid transit systems are becoming a viable option throughout the world, as they tend to require less in initial capital funds and can operate on existing infrastructure as well as on dedicated rights of way.

Electric Light Rail: The most permanent and radical option. Light rail will feature improved traffic times of 50-67%, dedicated rights of way (and traffic mixing should the line be extended along South Avenue), and perhaps the greatest prospective impact on communities. The Hudson-Bergen light rail line has been a complete success. Some Staten Island politicians have hinted that they would like to see an Island-based light rail line connect to the Hudson-Bergen line at some point in the future. This would ease the strain on ferry services and give residents better options for traveling off island. Should transit oriented development take hold around the stations, the North Shore could become a much more accessible and integral part of the City. If I had to vote for a plan, light rail would be it.

All of this presupposes that any additional progress will be made. Since April 2010, three phases of eight have been completed. After phases four and five (short list screening and project selection) the real work begins. The environmental assessment, preliminary engineering and design, and final construction will likely take several years to complete. I doubt we will see any operations before 2020.

I remain skeptical we will see any of it. Actual progress in the series of studies, evaluations, and public hearings has been surprising. Whether we will actually see any construction is another matter entirely. Staten Island politics are dirty. South Shore politicians often exercise a disproportionate amount of power relative to their population sizes.

Will Congressman Michael Grimm go to bat for public transit and perhaps try to secure federal funds for the project? Will Borough President Molinaro push beyond platitudes about traffic and seek legitimate answers? Will communities along the line endorse a plan whose benefits will not be seen for a decade or more? Will the MTA have enough in capital funds to pay for a plan as ambitious as this?

(all images via MTA Alternatives Analysis Presentation, presented on 9/21/11. Presentation can be accessed here: http://www.mta.info/mta/planning/nsaa/pdfs/sept2011_presentation.pdf. Previous presentations can be accessed here: http://www.mta.info/mta/planning/nsaa/documents.html)

Prescriptions for a Vacant Lot

Take a stroll through a nearby retail or commercial strip and try to notice all of the vacant lots. There’s probably a sign referring to “lease or sale” half hung on an unfinished fence nearby. There are probably weeds breaking through the concrete and there is probably trash in abundance lining the edges. These are undeniably ugly places. They encourage people to spend their time and money elsewhere. Somewhere far from the town and far from its people.

For half a century, developers have asked two questions about vacant land on Staten Island. Is it big enough for a strip mall/Best Buy/Home Depot/Target + parking lot? Can I build closely packed and awkwardly arranged single family houses here? If the answer to both of those questions is no, then that empty and trash filled lot is probably still vacant today. But as a growing number of people are discovering in cities throughout the country, vacant land (especially land that is city-owned) is a powerful tool in the hands of a community. Even if the lot is privately held, real ownership lies with the locals. They own the crime. They own the dark spaces. They own the trash. They own the chronic vacancy rates. In an island rife with absentee landlords, the impetus for change falls to the people living near and around empty, blighted land.

There are several vacant lots and storefronts in my area. One empty lot, however, dominates the local landscape.  This is one of those spaces which actively encourages the further degradation of the spaces surrounding it. Trash is more plentiful. Walks seem longer and more dangerous. It’s a massive, unused, partially fenced in expanse of concrete covered in patches of weeds and litter. It’s just acres and acres of totally unused and unproductive land.

Excuse the expanse of gray. It's been here for years.

Help, in classic Staten Island fashion, is on the way. A Kohl’s will be opening here at some point in the near-far future. Maybe. Hooray.

Sarcastic much? While it is nice that a tenant has been selected (although there has been no news or construction since that announcement) and the lot will no longer be a deserted expanse of nothing, I wonder what benefit another department store will be to the area. New Dorp Lane above and at Hylan Boulevard is usually humming with activity, and there are several large shopping centers within a one mile radius of the Hylan/New Dorp intersection, with each shopping center featuring merchandise similar to Kohl’s. What more can a store like this bring, besides a slight uptick in minimum wage jobs?

What other options are there? Is there anything else that can be brought to a space like this, even when the land is no longer vacant?

Considering Staten Island is fairly devoid of fresh, locally grown produce, I was thinking of something along the lines of an official weekend NYC Greenmarket, similar to what is done at the mall and in St. George. The space is certainly big enough to accommodate an extensive network of stands and stalls and is extremely accessibly, considering it is one gigantic parking lot.

Fresh cherries at the Staten Island Greenmarket (image via silive.com)

How about a community garden operated in a small but dedicated section of the lot? The high school is just across the street. Perhaps some students and teachers would be interested in a bit of hyper-local volunteer work. There is always plenty of foot traffic on Saturday and Sunday, especially with the sporting events taking place on Miller Field.

If done in conjunction with the new tenant and the landlord, a garden and greenmarket could benefit all stakeholders. Without the approval of the tenant or landlord, perhaps a bit of guerrilla gardening is in store. Even something as simple as a few hundred seed bombs around the periphery would add a splash of life to this neglected public space.

Considering this is a massive commercial lot, I can’t help but imagine that it will likely become home to a very large department store. Even if the Kohl’s deal falls through, someone, someday will decide that this is a perfect location for a future Target or Lowe’s. There is little that can be done to prevent this. It’s an island-wide issues, with local leadership focused not on industry or community building, but single family homes and big-box construction. As our quality of life continues to decline, this sort of development is a temporary solution to a permanent problem.

Closely packed awkwardly arranged single family houses? Check.

For those of us less interested in more of the same, there are a few options. Over the next few days I will attempt to contact Kimco Realty (the owner of the site), NYC Greenmarket, the New Dorp Central Civic Association, officials at New Dorp High School, and a few local organizations interested in gardening, science, and community building. Perhaps we can get a decent enough coalition together to tell the city that Staten Island deserves more than just another department store.

How can we make better public spaces of our vacant land? What approach do you feel is best? Are there any vacant lots near you (on Staten Island or elsewhere) that you think can be made into more productive places?

Ferry Terminal Ramp Rehab: It Gets Better

If you’re a regular ferry rider, you’ve probably noticed the massive construction project taking place at the St. George Terminal. Scheduled for completion in 2013, the $175 million project (funded entirely by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act) has the capacity to dramatically improve the commuting experience for all users, regardless of their mode of transport to the ferry.

The project will focus primarily on the ramp system that feeds drivers, buses, cyclists, and pedestrians into the terminal complex. The benefits are clear to all commuters, with drivers getting a resurfaced parking lot and a relocated ramp, and bus users getting a full shelter and circulation overhaul. However, cyclists and pedestrians have the most to gain from the project. Viewed from the street, the terminal building is a distantly renovated oasis in a sea of pockmarked asphalt.

For all of the beautiful work done at the St George Terminal over the past decade, the immediately surrounding environment is actively hostile to pedestrians and cyclists. Signage is missing, crosswalks are faded, and sidewalks are entirely inadequate to handle the volume of walking users. Staten Island cyclists being a different breed than their protected-lane brethren in Brooklyn and Manhattan, seem comfortable on the rough streets of Richmond Terrace. Yet facilities are surprisingly bare at the terminal itself, and bikes are forced to contend with speeding traffic even within the terminal complex. This project seeks to change some of that, by increasing accessibility for non-drivers while at the same time, improving the experience for automobiles.

The project is to proceed in roughly three stages, of which, judging by the activity I’ve seen at the terminal, we are in Stage One. (Note: All photos below were culled from DOT’s community presentation. You can see the slides in their entirety here.

Stage One will see the construction of a new north ramp immediately adjacent to the ticket building for Richmond County Bank Ballpark, the reconstruction of ramps B and D, the rehab of the southern portion of the old viaduct, and the overhaul of bus ramps A and B.

See how disconnected the terminal is from the streetscape along Richmond Terrace

Stage Two (A) will reconstruct the taxi ramp, bus ramp D, the northern half of automobile ramp C, and the northern half of the old viaduct.

The new improvements will hopefully better control on car/pedestrian interactions

Stage Two (B) will demolish the old north ramp, in addition to the work begun in Two (A).

The relocation of the North Ramp is easily my favorite part of the plan.

Finally, Stage Three regrades and resurfaces the north parking lot (now minus the disruptive and frankly ugly north ramp), and will reconstruct ramp B and bus station ramp C.

Stage three brings some much needed improvements to the parking lot.

In the course of construction, DOT aims to continue operations, compensating in completed areas while the remaining sections are under construction. It’s a balancing act for sure, and navigating the maze of safety cones and construction vehicles can be frustrating, both in the car and on foot. As for what the completed ramps will look like, have a peak below for some of DOT’s mock ups. I’ve always loved the look of 2d people ambling about in planning proposals.

Dedicated bike lanes will funnel cyclists directly to the terminal building, apart from car traffic.New guardrails and signage will hopefully improve the pedestrian experience. This may have the added benefit of luring more tourists off the ferry and into St. George.

 

The new bus facilities look fantastic, with canopies extending around the sides of each shelter, and new signage placed on top.

The relocation of the north ramp will remove much of the car traffic from the immediate main entrance, hopefully speeding the experience for drivers caught in the steady stream of exiting ferry riders. New striping will likely accompany the new ramps as well. The current layout is something of a free for all at the north ramp, so bounded off pedestrian sidewalks and yellow lines dividing lanes should help to organize things a bit.

As much as this project will hopefully improve the commuting experience, I do have a few concerns.

Cars are currently forbidden from picking up passengers along the north ramp. Most drivers ignore this policy and park in what is normally a traffic lane. With traffic coming and going in both directions every 15 minutes at rush hour, this has a tendency to stop up the flow, and send drivers into the oncoming lanes. This greatly reduces the predictability of traffic for pedestrians and drivers alike. The signage seeks to fix this, but enforcement will likely be the only deterrent. If people feel like they can park somewhere, they will unless told otherwise. Enforcement of existing policies is key to making the new experience work.

The rehab will do wonders for increasing connectivity with St. George proper, but I do wonder if it goes far enough.  It’s true that the terminal exists to serve the entire borough, and rightfully so, but this doesn’t mean that the facilities shouldn’t flow more naturally into the surrounding environment. The terminal, for all of its new bikeways, signage, striping, and sidewalks, still looks isolated behind a moat of cars and asphalt. Given fiscal and operational realities, I understand a project like this can only accomplish so much. But I can’t shake the feeling that a more ambitious project could have accomplished something truly special for Staten Island.

Imagine the parking pit surrounding the terminal was covered by a platform extending from the building itself right up to Richmond Terrace. No spots would be lost, the lot would instead become an underground facility. A large pedestrian plaza would exist atop it, lined with trees, benches, and walkways. The ferry terminal would no longer be that place people use to get to work, but a destination in itself. A plaza atop the parking lot would effectively join the terminal with greater St. George, bringing sorely needed public space to one of the most urban sections of the island. From the terminal itself, tourists would be able to exit onto a promenade which would connect, without ramps or guardrails, to Staten Island itself. The St. George Terminal would finally become a part of the streetscape, rather than what often looks like a miniature airport.

Regardless of what I might hope for the space, what is actually being done should ease the commuting experience for thousands of Staten Islanders every year. Provided everything stays on track, completion is set for February 2013. How do you feel about the ramp rehab? Is the current construction too much of a hassle? Do the improvements go far enough? Or too far?