[Back in July]
Back in July, workers installed pedestrian crosswalk islands along Third Avenue as part of the ongoing Astor Place Reconstruction Project…
And just like that yesterday, an alert EVG reader let us know that workers jackhammered away the island at St. Mark's Place... leaving behind a springy tar pit...
... this was an oasis that provided relief from the dodgy Third Avenue traffic as well as time to decide what 7-for-$10-shots to order at the Continental ...
No word just yet how long this will push back the project's completion date. Perhaps Amanda Burden-Christ will provide commentary in the comments.
Thank you for the arrows!
ReplyDeletei sometimes wonder if any of these "construction sites" aren't the work of those english guys that used to set up a construction site, complete with barriers, dig some and then leave. happened a few times some years ago.
ReplyDeleteand i wonder how the city gets anything done when there is so little thought (especially of unintentional consequences).
too many engineers with too little brain matter.
So who is paying for all that???
ReplyDeleteCTRL+Z
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DeleteThe boondoggle construction project with no end gets worse. This area is increasingly dangerous to navigate.
ReplyDeleteI noticed that the buses turning up 3rd Ave were causing traffic jams. The turn for the articulated bus was too tight. Maybe the powers that be realized their mistake.
ReplyDeletethis seems like a blatant cash grab. bill the taxpayers to build it, then bill them to demo it the following week.
ReplyDeletesomeone should be getting fired for this.
This makes no sense. The island was a great idea. Why remove it?
ReplyDelete- East Villager
idiots. they ripped up the corner of 3rd & 9th, took them 3+ months to fix one corner.
ReplyDeleteand if any crossing on 3rd needs an island, it's at st. marks.
Maybe that "tar pit" is the new St. Marks Place pedestrian plaza where Elmo and the desnudas can take pictures with all the tourists?
ReplyDeleteMy money is with cmarrtyy on this
ReplyDeleteMaking room for the bus wouldn't require removing the whole thing. No, I think something more sinister is afoot.
ReplyDeleteI'm with the theory of placement error with regards to the busses turning issues. Have stood there and watched it numerous times and wondered "Just who the hell decided on this genius move?"...
ReplyDeletethe whole ASTOR PLACE RENOVATION is A REALY crazy S L O W painfully disruptive MONEY PIT.
ReplyDeletewhy is everything torn up?? sometimes 3 or 4 guys are there to add a few cobblestones then nothing for a few
weeks then a few more guys not doing much,its disgraceful how long this project is taking ,someone is in charge
of this,and milking it for every hour this FIASCO generates!WHO iS RESPONSIBLE ????any IDEAS ???SOMEONE needs
get this boondoggle finished AS SOON AS….???????????? W H E N?? WHO?? WHY ???ANSWERS???????
cmarrtyy is right. The buses making the left hand turn onto 3rd Ave. were getting stuck, its a tight turn already and there wasn't enough room. Obviously the DOT does not coordinate these street changes with the MTA, they just build first and ask questions later.
ReplyDeleteMaybe Bratton and his lapdog de Blasio are concerned that a desnuda or two will show up on the traffic island, and, in line with their proposal to get rid of the pedestrian mall in Times Square to rid the city of the scourge of public semi-nudity, decided to take preventative action and tore up the island. That'll teach those women not to show their breasts.
ReplyDeleteOops! It appears my uncontrollable urge to waste money and eye appealing cement once again has got the best of me. We decided to rip up tens of thousands of dollars worth of work and instead, plant some pedestrian soothing flower beds. With my Burpee seeds of course! This way the buses can drive right through the beauty. Funny how this project was supposed to reduce traffic. Oh, did I say that out loud? Um. Pumpkins!
ReplyDeleteI get it that it makes it hard for buses to turn, but I for one was thrilled when these median islands started going up in the neighborhood. It forces cars to slow down as they make that left turn. The closest I've come to getting run down In NYC was crossing 3rd Ave from the north side of St. Marks, as a van blew through turning left and I had to leap out of the way. It is truly a dangerous intersection.
ReplyDeleteWith cars, buses, bikes, and a ton of people all converging at this intersection, the structure these islands provided was much needed. Too bad these boneheads work both slow and stupid.
ReplyDeletetypical waste of tax dollars. let's take 3 weeks to build some shit that should only take a weekend to erect. during which time, let's block a high pedestrian intersection forcing people to walk IN traffic to cross the street. and wait.. once it's finally built.. let's fuckin tear it down again.. and put some half-assed tar in it's place. what a colossal fuck up. some seriously inept shit.. why the fuck are we paying these guys? as a lifelong resident of st marks.. i want my damn money and time back.
ReplyDeleteIt's those construction workers on Houston street at it again. What, you want an island? I'll give you at island . . . Hey, Ernie, this idiot wants an island. I'll give him an island up his pazzu, in 10, 15, a million years, I will.
ReplyDeleteEVArrow....is this post not a violation of the "arrows-per-pic-per-post" statute in your contract?
ReplyDelete.....two arrows would have sufficed here.....but noooo....if that midway wasn't dead yet, THAT many arrows certainly finished it off reeel good.
.....it makes me think you are perhaps being forced against your will to participate in such a flagrant breaking of the norm.
.....are you ok? Is your quiver being trifled with? Are your arrows being squandered? Are you .....(gasp!) being held against your will?
(Drop a note off at Ray's, and the Egg Cream Regulars will begin the investigation!)
(After juuust one mor Egg Cream of course :^)
They've also abandoned these blockade gates outside of Organic Avenue and across the street at the dorm. There's no reason for them to be there yet they force people into the traffic to cross the street.
ReplyDeleteThanks for asking, DrBOP!
ReplyDeleteTBH, I suggested four arrows given the length of the island. But the editor insisted on 6. (Some of this was guilt at work, after under-utilizing my time and talents this month.)
Also, yellow was my call.
I am worried about 2016, though. The budget still needs to be approved by the board of directors. It's possible that the arrow budget will be gutted and I will be paid in Red Mango Gift Cards again. I hope the location on 2nd Avenue is still open!
The Bloomberg DOT really rushed planning, placement and installation of traffic islands and structured bike lanes. There was virtually no thought paid to how any of this would impact MTA buses.
ReplyDelete(BTW, the Bloomberg DOT really rushed installation of the bike lane on 9th Avenue in Hell's Kitchen/Clinton and then just a year or two later, the City had to remove the bike lane infrastructure to dig up the street due to long-planned underground pipe work)
This seems to be a residual.
It will take a while for the current DeBlasio DOT to remedy the numerous and unpublicized problems left behind by the Bloomberg Administration.
If folks -- cars and people -- adhered to street lights, there was no reason at all for an island. Third avenue is no wider than any other avenue, and it is no more difficult to cross.
ReplyDeleteThe DoT sucks at making roads that work properly and this is like, Evidence A. Whoever's in charge of this shit is obviously confused and overwhelmed. It's a goddamn intersection, it's not the first of its kind. Go consult a fucking textbook and learn how this shit needs to be setup, stop wasting everyone's time and money! Unless that is the whole point. In which case, fuck you.
ReplyDeleteThe island at 7th street is a joke, it sub-road level, so last month when it actually rained one day the island was a pond. Who is managing this project? This is out of control. The park was supposed to have been done in August. Isn't Copper Union pissed off?
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