Photos and reporting by Stacie Joy
A new CityBench appeared late Thursday night, midblock on Third Street — directly in front of 176 E. Third St. between Avenue A and B — and it has left residents scratching their heads.
Lorna Lentini, who lives directly in front of the newly installed bench, said she and her neighbor, Matthew Shipp, were surprised to see it appear suddenly.
The placement is especially odd, they noted, since it's not near a bus line or park.
Unlike other CityBench installations in the area — such as the leaning bar by the M9 stop on Avenue C and Sixth Street, or the backless benches on 10th Street near Avenue C — this bench features full back support, placed near a doorstep and facing an apartment.
The DOT website has a link to "invite the public to suggest seating locations on the sidewalk or in plazas."
According to the DOT website, priority seating locations include bus stops without shelters, subway stops and transit stations, senior centers, shopping districts, libraries, schools, and hospitals.
This spot is near none of the above.
"We weren’t made aware of this, nor did we get a say in it," said Lentini.
After calling 311, Lentini learned the bench was installed by the Department of Transportation as part of its CityBench program, but was told they couldn't explain why it was placed there or how it could be removed.
The new bench has sparked concern among the longtime neighbors, both of whom have lived on the block since the 1980s.
Lentini worried it would become a magnet for loitering.
"Junkies have another place to sit. It's very dark here, there's no street light," she said. "They vomit here, they urinate here. We really do not want to attract more people to this dark spot."
To discourage people from gathering at night, Lentini and Shipp wrapped caution tape around the bench.
“No butts!” Lentini added.
H/T EVG reader Newman!
6 comments:
In a city that has very few public restrooms and very few places to sit besides the parks these seats could only help, especially for elderly people. I understand the tenants apprehension about homeless loitering, people sit on my stoop all the time, but give it a test run and see how it goes. Who knows you might just meet someone interesting sitting there someday, and isn’t that what NYC is all about? Have a great day.
I don't think I've seen one not facing the street. Hopefully they can figure out if someone installed this is the complete wrong spot.
I agree! Let people sit - take off the tape!
These have appeared all over Astoria, too. They aren't near bus stops or under trees for shade. They seem very un-inviting.
The small building I live in had 3 steps to access the now long gone commercial space. It was a magnet for late night /overnight activity, sleeping became impossible. The landlord removed those steps and residents could finally get a good night's sleep. KR, this was a mix up at the DOT, I hope for sake of the residents of this building one of which is a friend, this bench is removed immediately.
As a huge fan of sitting, I'm all for more benches across the city!
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