By Molly Sugarman
A loud-and-clear message was sent to the city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) on May 10th, as local residents and Community Board 7 Transportation Committee members spoke out to save the red brick crosswalks on West 94th Street between Central Park West and Amsterdam Avenue.
In fact, rather than eliminating the 94th Street crosswalk zones when the road is resurfaced – as the city’s DOT proposes – more brick crosswalks should be installed throughout the area, argued several speakers at the transportation committee meeting.
The crosswalks were installed in the late 1960s, after an accident in which speeding cars on 94th Street killed one child and left another injured. Gabriella Rowe, sister of the child injured in that accident, Zoomed in from Texas this month to attend the committee meeting and recount the history of the accident and the aftermath.
According to Rowe, drag racers used to speed down 94th Street, and her brother’s injury was caused by a speeding drunk driver. In the aftermath, Rowe’s parents and other local residents campaigned for city action to reduce the hazard by slowing traffic. The city’s eventual solution was to install octagonal pavers, extending the sidewalks into 94th Street at corners and mid-block.
Narrowing the street got drivers to slow down. “It completely transformed the way people drove,” Rowe told the committee.
That transformation continues today, said Erana Stennett, a member of the transportation committee. “The only reason cars slow down is the change in pavement,” said Stennett.
Despite those endorsements, Colleen Chattergoon, a DOT representative at the meeting, said the city had planned to patch the bricks with asphalt during an upcoming resurfacing of the street. Some of the crosswalk bricks are loose and present a tripping hazard, Chattergoon said, and they are difficult for the city to maintain. But before any action is taken, Chattergoon said, the city wanted input from the CB7 transportation committee.
Chattergoon said DOT had no record of the accident leading to the death of a child in the 1960s, nor are there records detailing the installation of the brick crosswalks or any city commitment to maintain them.
Committee Member Ken Coughlin said that, until 2008, DOT was maintaining the bricks. “All of a sudden DOT is saying they can’t deal with this, which just seems absurd for an agency putting safety first,” he said.
Because the bricks are not DOT’s usual road covering, there are none in stock, according to Chattergoon, who suggested that the loose bricks be temporarily patched with asphalt until DOT designates repair of the red brick road as a capital project, something that might take five to ten years.
Support for the red bricks as a speed control measure was so strong on the committee that Chattergoon suggested an alternative measure for slowing traffic. She noted that money has become available for more speed cameras and suggested that 94th Street might be an appropriate location for one.
The committee was unanimous in its opposition to this approach. Neither speed cameras nor speed bumps garnered support from residents or committee members.
Carl Mahaney, a local advocate for alternative transportation, summed up the sentiment, “[The brick] slows traffic and saves lives. We want this to become standard across the district.”
Committee Member Polly Spain brought up another issue: lack of notification of 94th Street residents that the DOT was contemplating eliminating the bricks. “I urge the Community Board not to vote approval to have this work done,” she said.
The committee agreed with both of Spain’s points: that better notification of residents needs to occur before changes are made, and that the bricks should stay. The committee will recommend to the full board that the bricks not be removed, and that money be found to repair the brick in kind.
So enthusiastic was support for this traffic-calming measure, that the committee wants to discuss expanding the brick crosswalks and street narrowing to other cross streets throughout the district.
“I’ve argued for years we should replicate 94th on all crosstown streets,” Coughlin said. “I didn’t know the story. It’s very sad that in 50 years this is not on any other block. DOT should replicate this on other blocks. We shouldn’t wait for another death. Be proactive. Brick is fantastic, safer, and more charming.”
The board unanimously passed a resolution to, “Call on DOT not to remove the brick, nor use asphalt to patch, but find it in their budget to repair the brick in kind because it is a proven traffic calming measure.” The committee also recommended that before the issue is discussed by the full board on June 7, extensive notification should go out to 94th Street residents and block associations.
With Community Board 7 Member Sheldon Fine taking the lead, several people also pledged to buy replacement bricks.
The committee agreed to put expanding the 94th street design to other crosstown streets on next month’s agenda.
The bricks are loud when cars drive over them for those of us living near them. Just put in a some speed bumps like they did one block north on 95th.
The problem with the speed jumps on 95th is that an SUV can take it at 30mph without much effect. A luxury SUV can take it even faster. The bumpiness of the red bricks slows all traffic considerably. I cross the bricks at 10mph but the speed bumps at 15, although if I didn’t care about safety, could do it comfortably at a significantly higher speed.
I’ve been calling 311 to fix the brix for more than a decade. Literally hundreds of calls. They continue to ignore the problem, just as they ignore noise complaints, forever scaffolding, and motorcycles on the sidewalks.
Thank you for letting us know what’s under discussion at CB7. No one else keeps us informed about local government and I, for one, don’t want to lose more parking spaces on true UWS.
The sidewalk extensions are also used to pile trash on garbage days, keeping it off the sidewalk and making it easier for sanitation workers to collect.
Perhaps when the bricks are reset they will be less noisy, one would assume so. I’ve always loved this street and wondered why this street alone has this treatment. Thanks for sharing the background.
24% of households own cars in the UWS, including mine. I would prefer that parking spaces be repurposed for things that make our streets and sidewalks safer – mid-block crossings, corner bulb outs and mid-block street closures for playgrounds like Scott Stringer proposed.
24% of households own cars on the UWS. But I’m sure the people pushing for parking spaces to be repurposed can afford garages and think everyone else can too. Not only you have parking demand from 24% of UWS households, but you also have demand from workers and business owners who live in transit deserts and would have a long, cumbersome commute involving multiple transfers otherwise.
The bricks are beautiful, use less oil, and slow down cars. Likely cheaper to maintain, but i’m not sure.
lol at posters complaining about noise. Far prefer the sound of bricks over loud music, dozens of motorcycles, and loud cars.
The sound of cars going over speed bumps is preferable to cars going over bricks that are often loose. Just because we live with motorcycles and trucks we should live with this too when there’s a quieter alternative? Why is that?
Too many people are tripping and falling and breaking their ankles/foot and legs on the brick during the ice and snowy winter… They are extremely loud and sounds like a railroad car at night especially with the commercial garbage trucks that Speed by. The city is being sued left and right and have several dozen cases pending right now about the street and the condition of it on West 94th St.
I suggested speed bumps as as they have been installed on many cross streets on the Upper West Side to date. They work sufficiently and has slowed down the traffic. They are already installed on the Upper West Side. Perfect example is W. 80th St. between Columbus and Amsterdam W. 77/78 Street and W. 79th St. between Columbus and Amsterdam.
As a resident of W. 94th St. I totally agree with you. Speed bumps are the answer. And the new 4″ regulated speed bumps really works. I have witnessed them on W. 79th St. and West 80th Street. West 80th Street has several speed bumps between Columbus and Amsterdam that were requested by Billy Amato Block Association President after the fatal speeding black car accident killing the delivery boy on his bike several years ago. Bricks are high maintenance and very dangerous in the winter and the noise is unbelievable at night…. you can’t sleep with your windows open.
Well said and I totally agree!
Brick roads might be OK for a place like Charleston SC but they get ripped up every winter by the snow plows in NYC.
Bricks might serve some purposes but are a real pain for those of us who use walkers and/or wheelchairs. They present yet another obstacle for the handicapped.
Remove the damn bricks, they are ugly, never maintained and an huge eye sore. Speed bumps are more appropriate if you want to slow down traffic. Get real!
The bricks are ugly and need to be removed and the street properly paved. It is a giant eyesore. If you want to slow traffic down, put in a speed bump.
The argument that there’s already a lot of noise so who cares if the brick are noisy is 180 degrees the opposite of sensible. All the ambient noise makes noise reduction even more important. It’s like oh you’re fat already so just eat more.
I support speed bumps, bricks, and similar measures. But far more important would be speed cameras and especially legislative changes. The penalties for driving at outrageous speeds, driving drunk or high, driving while texting, etc. etc., are ridiculously low. Our car culture is a pathology. And, to be as clear as possible, there should be far stronger penalties not only against automobile drivers but anyone driving or riding anything irresponsibly that can cause serious harm.
I don’t have any problem with bricks. But roadway narrowings that are a convenient excuse to usurp more parking spaces aren’t acceptable.
I drive a battery operated scooter and I do not like brick roads. They are not smooth to drive on. There are lot of them surrounding Central Park.
How Much is a brick ? I live on west 66 street but I might buy some. Bernice Silverman
I am a NYPD School Crossing Guard and I absolutely agree that there should be far more stronger penalties for driving drunk or high, driving while texting etc. and the same should be for anyone driving or riding anything irresponsibly that can cause serious harm and death bc we are humans are not made of steel.Scgs put their lives in harms way to make sure that children get across that crosswalk safe on their way to school.
My 1st floor bedroom is right next to one of the brick crosswalks and I have zero issues with the occasional noise. Yes, sometimes a car will speed over and it’s noisy AF but generally fewer cars drive down the street or go very slow. (Yes, I have a car and I do drive slower across the brick than over a speed bump — which I often don’t even see before I hit it — a whole other issue). Plus, for those talking about parking – good luck with the rat inside car issues on 94th (yuck).
Plus, the brick gives the street character!