Denis Slattery/New York Daily News
State Senator Jeff Klein(D-Throgs Neck )and City Island Civic Association Vice President Barbara Dolensek hope that a Bronx judge’s ruling will force the city to reconsider plans for a new bridge to City Island.
Opponents of a controversial city plan to replace the crumbling bridge that connects City Island to mainland Bronx with a towering new span are claiming an end-of-the-year victory.
The Department of Transportation will be required to let residents weigh in on traffic alterations before it can break ground on the imposing new bridge, thanks to a ruling by Bronx Supreme Court Justice Mark Friedlander.
The public-review process, slated to start in January, concerns only minor changes to roadways on either side of the proposed span, but angry residents hope to use the opportunity — along with the arrival of a new administration — to convince officials to rethink the whole plan.
RELATED: CITY ISLANDERS SUE TO SINK BRIDGE
“It will be the one time that City Island residents will have their voices heard,” said local activist Barbara Dolensek. “(The Department of Transportation has) never once asked us for a vote, for support, for anything.”
Denis Slattery/New York Daily News
Barbara Dolensek, City Island Civic Association attempts to show how absurd a 250-foot tall cable-stayed bridge would look crossing Eastchester Bay.
Dolensek and her fellow opponents are not against the traffic changes, just the enormous scale of the proposed bridge.
The nearly 200-foot-high cable-stayed design, approved in 2008, is not technically up for review.
RELATED: SOUND OF SILENCE FOUND ON CITY ISLAND
But Friedlander provided a glimmer of hope, noting in his statements that, “A new era is dawning,” and that residents “might find a change in tone by the new administration.”
State Sen. Jeff Klein (D-Throgs Neck) agreed.
Denis Slattery/New York Daily News
The current 112-year-old City Island Bridge shows signs of rust and general wear and tear. Residents would like to see a similar 17-foot tall span built as opposed to the Department of Transportation’s design which is set to reach 250 feet above the roadway.
“In a few days, we’ll have a new mayor and will likely have a new leader at the Department of Transportation,” Klein said in a statement.
RELATED: CITY PICKS BUILDER FOR $ 102M CITY ISLAND BRIDGE
“I believe that this new chapter in New York City will also allow a fresh opportunity to reconsider the proposed design for the City Island Bridge.”
Friedlander issued the decision last week in response to a lawsuit filed in November by Klein, Dolensek and the City Island Civic Association, which charged the city with ignoring the requisite procedures for land-use review.
In his often-humorous, 13-page statement, the judge blasted all of the involved parties for the controversy surrounding the necessary replacement of the crumbling 112-year-old bridge that now connects the isle with the rest of the borough.
Courtesy of NYC DOT
conceptual design of city Island bridge
RELATED: CITY ISLAND SCHOOL IS BRONX LANDMARK
Friedlander compared the 11th-hour efforts of the City Island Civic Association to block construction to “the tail wagging the dog.”
And not to be one-sided, the jurist admonished the city for using “jargon” and metric measurements that “obscures somewhat the fact that the original tower was to be over 420 feet tall, equivalent to a good-sized midtown office tower.”
City officials were not fazed by the judge’s jabs.
“We are pleased with the court’s decision,” said Department of Transportation spokeswoman Nicole Garcia.
“This is an important next step in replacing this vital crossing to serve New Yorkers for generations to come.”
http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info/?p=19716
via Great Local News: New York http://newyork.greatlocalnews.info
No comments:
Post a Comment