A vision for a safe Canal St., long overdue Named best weekly newspaper in New York State in 2001, 2004 and 2005 by New York Press Association PUBLISHER JENNIFER GOODSTEIN
EDITOR IN CHIEF LINCOLN ANDERSON
ARTS EDITOR
SCOTT STIFFLER
REPORTER
SAM SPOKONY
CONTRIBUTORS IRA BLUTREICH TERESE LOEB KREUZER JEFFERSON SIEGEL JERRY TALLMER
ART / PRODUCTION DIRECTOR TROY MASTERS
SENIOR DESIGNER MICHAEL SHIREY
GRAPHIC DESIGNERS CHRIS ORTIZ ANDREW GOOS
SENIOR VP OF ADVERTISING / MARKETING FRANCESCO REGINI
RETAIL AD MANAGER COLIN GREGORY
EDITORIAL
I
t almost seems as if there’s been a Canal St. traffic study for every car on the street. The roadway has long been a source of government-funded efforts — some with catchy acronyms like CATS, the Canal Area Transportation Study — so it was not surprising Canal is one of the 13 streets the city is trying to make safer with an “arterial slow zone.” Of the targeted areas, Canal is the deadliest per mile, according to the statistics the city Department of Transportation released with last week’s announcement about the zones. While other city streets, like Queens Boulevard and Atlantic Ave. in the Bronx, have seen many more deaths since 2008 (23 and 25, respectively) than Canal’s six, they’re about a death-per-mile lower than the 4-to-1 ratio on Canal’s shorter, one-and-a-half-mile stretch. And although there were six deaths too many on the Lower Manhattan street, that was actually a vast improvement over some years ago when there were 14 deaths over the six years ending in 2001.
The slow zone will have a modest drop in speed limit from 30 to 25 miles per hour, but even more important, there will be speedlimit signs, more enforcement and focus. The last one is probably the most important, because the reality is speeding is not the big problem on Canal. No doubt, many frustrated drivers turning off the West Side Highway waiting to get into the Holland Tunnel, or stuck as they wait to cross the Manhattan Bridge, would be willing to pay the price of a speeding ticket if that would get them moving faster. The street is a clear physical barrier that also literally divides Community Boards 1 and 2. That is one of the reasons that Lower Manhattan school advocates don’t see a proposed school just near Canal as a solution to school overcrowding problems because it would mean students as young as age 4 would be crossing the thoroughfare. Vehicles so dominate the area that they overwhelm pedestrians trying to cross the five to seven lanes of two-way traffic, or the long intersection at Hudson St. that sandwiches the tunnel entrance. There have been minor tweaks to the street over the years, which probably have helped reduce the death rate. Still, what is clear is that daily many people are visibly in fear because they walk so
cautiously when crossing. What’s needed is larger, more prominent crosswalks to send the unmistakable Ratso Rizzo message to drivers: “Hey! I’m walkin’ here!” (Dustin Hoffman’s most famous line from “Midnight Cowboy” was ad libbed when an impatient New York cabbie almost ran him over during filming.) Northern Boulevard, the site of D.O.T.’s slow zone announcement, will also be getting safer crosswalks at an intersection near a school. It is almost undoubtedly needed there, although it is notable that the boulevard’s zone is almost three times the length of Canal but has had one fewer death since 2008, five. As of now, there are no plans for additional safety measures in Lower Manhattan. The focus and stepped-up enforcement on Canal will unquestionably help. It’s all part of Mayor de Blasio’s worthy Vision Zero goal of eliminating all traffic deaths. In a practical sense, adding signs will make the speed limit drop infinite since many city drivers are unaware of a specific limit because they rarely see a sign. The arterial slow zone will be a big improvement, nevertheless, more will still need to be done. However, the city is thankfully moving in the right direction by implementing the Canal St. slow zone.
ACCOUNT EXECUTIVES ALLISON GREAKER MIKE O’BRIEN ANDREW REGIER REBECCA ROSENTHAL JULIO TUMBACO
CIRCULATIONS SALES MNGR. MARVIN ROCK
PUBLISHER EMERITUS JOHN W. SUTTER
Member of the New York Press Association
Member of the National Newspaper Association
The Villager (USPS 578930) ISSN 0042-6202 is published every week by NYC Community Media LLC, 515 Canal Street, Unit 1C, New York, N.Y. 10013 (212) 229-1890. Periodicals Postage paid at New York, N.Y. Annual subscription by mail in Manhattan and Brooklyn $29 ($35 elsewhere). Single copy price at office and newsstands is $1. The entire contents of newspaper, including advertising, are copyrighted and no part may be reproduced without the express permission of the publisher - © 2011 NYC Community Media LLC.
PUBLISHER’S LIABILITY FOR ERROR
The Publisher shall not be liable for slight changes or typographical errors that do not lessen the value of an advertisement. The publisher’s liability for others errors or omissions in connection with an advertisement is strictly limited to publication of the advertisement in any subsequent issue. Published by NYC Community Media, LLC 515 Canal Street, Unit 1C, NY, NY 10013 Phone: (212) 229-1890 • Fax: (212) 229-2790 On-line: www.thevillager.com E-mail: news@thevillager.com © 2012 NYC Community Media, LLC
8
May 15, 2014
LETTERS TO THE EDITOR C.B. 3 numbers don’t lie To The Editor: Re “C.B. 3 lacks leadership diversity, member charges” (news article, May 1): The fact that the membership of the Executive Committee of Community Board 3 is diverse wins Ayo Harrington’s argument. Fifty members of the community board voted for these appointments. This is precisely why more diversity and balance exists. On the other hand, the committee chairpersons are appointed exclusively by board Chairperson Gigi Li. Ms. Harington has handled this with grace and dignity. She gave statistics. Numbers do not lie. The appointed committee chairpersons under Li (and, I suspect, equally under her predecessors, Dominic Berg and David McWater) do not reflect the diver-
sity of the 50 board members. For context, it was former Borough President Scott Stringer and now his successor, Gale Brewer, along with Councilmembers Margaret Chin and Rosie Mendez, who have been responsible for creating the board’s diversity. It was up to Li as board chairperson to make sure these elected officials’ commitment to diversity and representation was upheld. In the aftermath of all this, some commentators are now portraying Ms. Harrington (I’m paraphrasing) as a loud black woman who is using the race card to get something she doesn’t deserve. This to me is disturbing and sobering, a reminder of just how far we have to go to end a legacy of slavery, race and segregation in this country. Finally, there is no way to have an honest conversation about race relations, institutionalized racism, inadequate representa-
tion or prejudice, if you cloud the discussion with a false premise. That Ms. Li is an Asian-American woman does not exclude her from the same scrutiny a Caucasian man or woman may have experienced in these same circumstances. Ms. Li was in a position of power and influence — what did she do with it? Ms. Harrington’s statics provide the answer. Erin Harvey
It’s a collective concern To The Editor: Re “C.B. 3 lacks leadership diversity, member charges” (news article, May 1): The struggle to end racism is a collective one. The momentary relief of finding “the” racist is the work of tabloids. It is a counterfeit fight. And worse, it is ineffective in ending racism because it con-
fuses people into thinking that the depth and mass of the problem is being tackled. The Executive Committee of C.B. 3, in part, is composed of an African-heritage man who is the first vice chairperson; a Latina who is the secretary; and a Chinese-heritage woman who is the board chairperson. How you best fill the committee chairperson posts to reflect racial diversity that is inclusive of African heritage, Latino and, I assume, indigenous peoples is the task at hand. The woman who brought the complaint wants that, the chairperson wants that, and the rest of the board wants that. If achieving this goal is happening too slowly, if it’s not going well, if there is disagreement about it — that is something the group, collectively, is responsible for. Personalizing a systemic difficulty of the magnitude of racLETTERS, continued on p. 23
EastVillagerNews.com