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December 11, 2007
Re-think East Harlem project
El Diario/La Prenza, Editorial
While Mayor Bloomberg is promoting initiatives to reduce traffic congestion, his administration is doing nothing to address concerns of more traffic generated by two mega-projects brought to you by Bruce:
Years ago, advocacy organizations like West Harlem Environmental Action warned the city about the adverse effects of dramatically increased vehicular volume that East River Plaza would trigger. And recently, when the New York City Planning Commission had a chance to give a thumb down to giving the entities behind East River Plaza—Forest City Ratner (FCR) and the Blumenfeld Corporation—more garage capacity, it instead re-granted permits to them. East Harlem’s community board had rejected the renewal.
With another development it is steering—the Atlantic Yards proposal—FCR says it will mitigate the traffic sure to be drawn by a new Nets Stadium at the site. Yet, it is the scale of these projects to begin with that aggravates traffic and congestion.
We urge the Mayor to direct his Office of Sustainability to examine how the East River Plaza project, beyond window-dressing measures, can mitigate its effects on a community that shouldn`t be exposed to more environmental and health risks.
Posted by lumi at December 11, 2007 5:45 AM