By Julie Shapiro
Fury spread through Tribeca this week in the wake of the city’s announcement that 20 commuter buses will soon move to West St. from South St.
Community members almost couldn’t decide which they disliked more: the plan itself, which would allow buses to park between Canal and Harrison Sts. 11 hours a day seven days a week, or the fact that the city Dept. of Transportation waited until two weeks before the change to inform the community.
“This is an outrageous situation,” said Julie Menin, chairperson of Community Board 1. “We’re going to fight this.”
Menin sent a sharply worded letter to D.O.T. Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan. Borough President Scott Stringer and City Councilmelmber Alan Gerson have also gotten involved, but the D.O.T. appears to be moving forward regardless.
The D.O.T. has to move the buses out from under F.D.R. Drive on the other side of Lower Manhattan because work is starting on the East River Waterfront esplanade.
Suchi Sanagavarapu, a D.O.T. project manager, presented the plan to C.B. 1’s Tribeca Committee last week, the first word anyone got on what was happening. She said the D.O.T. has known about the bus move for about a year and a half but did not give a reason why the D.O.T. waited until now to make it public, several people who attended the meeting said. Two days after Downtown Express asked about this, a D.O.T. spokesperson said the West St. location was decided only recently.
“This is not the first time D.O.T. has done this,” said Michael Levine, director of land use and planning for C.B. 1. He cited other examples, including the bike path through City Hall Park, when D.O.T. came to the community board only after making a final decision.
Levine said the D.O.T. did not look carefully enough at the impact on businesses along West St. and north Tribeca’s growing residential population. The city did not do an environmental impact statement, which would have required public review. The D.O.T. would not say this week if they considered any other sites for the buses.
The D.O.T. said parking changes do not require an E.I.S.
Several residents said they wouldn’t mind a few buses along West St. but the D.O.T. should spread them out among other parts of Manhattan as well. If the buses have to stay in Lower Manhattan, Tribeca resident Bruce Ehrmann suggested Battery Pl. just north of Battery Park, where the street is wide and has few residents.
The D.O.T. is studying that location but said many tour buses already stop there and the area gets particularly busy in the summer.
A longer-term solution is the parking garage above the Brooklyn Battery Tunnel, a project that remains in limbo although the community has been pushing for buses to use the space for years. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. has studied the feasibility of buying the garage and converting it for buses, but the project needs funding.
The D.O.T. said last week that they plan to move the buses to West St. around the beginning of May, and residents doubt they have time to change the city’s mind before then. But Stringer held a rally and Gerson held a meeting on Wednesday to apply political pressure. Levine hopes the D.O.T. listens and finds another place for the buses soon after they move.
D.O.T. spokesperson Seth Solomonow released a statement saying, “We are committed to working with the community and with the borough president to identify alternatives.” This week the D.O.T. said they were still deciding when the buses would move.
Many residents are concerned about diesel fumes from the row of buses, but the D.O.T. said that would not be a problem because “no idling” rules will be in place, but did not say if there would be any patrol officers enforcing the rule.
The D.O.T. declined to say how long the buses will stay on West St., but they can never move back to South St. At the Tribeca Committee meeting, the D.O.T. said the buses would stay for about five years, several people who attended the meeting said.
John Mele, property manager for Ponte Equities, which owns 50 buildings in Tribeca and the F.illi Ponte Restaurant on West St., said the buses would make it hard for the restaurant to get deliveries.
“Someone thinks it’s a good idea, but I’m not so sure it’s people who are familiar with the area,” he said of D.O.T.’s plan.
On Fridays, traffic from the Holland Tunnel backs up along West St. starting at 2 p.m., Mele said. The row of buses will make the traffic worse, he said.
The D.O.T. said last week that the buses would leave West St. to pick up commuters before rush hour started, minimizing their conflict with auto traffic.
Residents were also concerned about the buses displacing parking for black cars for Citigroup, who agreed to use West St. rather than Greenwich St. at the community’s request.
Andy Neale, a member of the Tribeca Community Association, said the neighborhood is even more outraged about the buses than they were about the apartment towers Jack Parker recently opened along the highway.
“Tribeca was already cut off [from Hudson River Park] by the West Side Highway and high-rises,” Neale said, “and now they’re going to cut us off with a line of commuter buses.”
Julie@DowntownExpress.com
