Left rectangle ads redesigned
Robert Ripps book
History of Tribeca Buildings
Citi Bike station on Duane will move alongside park
There’s been a longstanding battle on Duane Street over the Citi Bike station at the corner with Greenwich, and it has just been resolved — sorta.
At issue: the current station blocks the potential for curbside dining at two restaurants there on the north side: The Hideaway and the now defunct Tokyo Bay. In fact it really affects five, since the city discussed expanding it to cross in front of Duane Park Patisserie and Serenata and it already covers the curb in front of the future Café Clementine. In the case of the Tokyo Bay, owner Billy Liu blamed his closure on not just the pandemic but also his inability to expand outdoor seating.
So the city Department of Transportation has decided to move the station to the southern perimeter of the park, just on the outside of the fence. There is no sidewalk there, but Friends of Duane Park has plans to expand the park and add a sidewalk. To that end, the DOT promised that the Citi Bike station would not preclude that effort.
(For the record, I still think it should have gone on Greenwich in the old lay-by for Best Market, in front of the current Cocoon.)
This may seem like one of those silly little neighborhood issues — and perhaps it is — but it does touch on a lot of bigger themes facing the use of our streets. The future of curbside dining is wrapped up in this one, along with the viability of several longtime neighborhood restaurants. And then there’s the location and expansion of Citi Bike stations in the neighborhood — which has had some real trouble with flow lately (ask any regular rider).
Then there are the plans to expand and restore the city’s second oldest park. And if those go through, expect a new discussion on where the Citi Bike station should go.
13 Comments
Comment:
Medium rectangle #1 (top)
Right column rectangle ads
Mega rectangle
Restaurant guide icon
And the problem with Citi Bike “flow” in the neighborhood is what, exactly, Pam?
I am an avid CB rider and like the convenience of where the docking station is now but I want our small businesses to flourish so it is ok with me. Moving the station to Greenwich Street in front of Cocoon would have been a disaster for deliveries etc.
i hope you ignore the snarky remarks Pam. CitiBikes are here to stay and everyone seems to have an opinion. As long as the new Duane Street location doesn’t add further challenges to the fire department or any rescue service it should work fine.
This is good news for the local businesses. I am also a CB user and the extra block is more or less a rounding error in time (though there is a CB dock now super close on Hudson).
As for Duane Park, still absolutely perplexing that they are expanding South instead of North. The North Fork of Duane street is so rarely used by cars, and if FDNY needs the South Fork, why expand there? You could create a much bigger plaza and the local business would still have street area for delivery on Staple and Hudson. And then, get this, you could put the CB dock there!
IT TRULY MAKES NO SENSE TO GO SOUTH!
Putting the dock south of the park eliminates the option to go south on Greenwich when taking out a bike. From a user perspective, it is a less ideal location although I understand the compromise. I’m sure you’ll just see people salmon back up the street. What I would love to see some protected bike lanes to support all of these docks. On Hudson and on Greenwich!
As a forty year resident of Duane Street, I take issue with the assertion that the north side of Duane is rarely used by cars. Cars turning north on Hudson use the north side of Duane Street, and there are plenty of them. Also, there is a restaurant on that side of Duane, which has outdoor seating.
Temporary outdoor seating created by a pandemic which will end one day. The restaurant would benefit from a plaza because it could have outdoor seating along the front of the restaurant next to the plaza.
The north fork is redundant as you can turn onto Hudson from the south fork which is needed so cars can go east on Duane. It’s an oddity from a long gone era at this point. Get rid of the north fork and deliveries to the restaurant could still be made from Staple.
The south side of Duane Park is an AWFUL place for a Citibike station because CARS GO DOWN IT. A rider would have to be in the road get a bike from there then back into the road to get one out – a disaster (bike rider death) waiting to happen plus what if a vehicle slams into the docking station? At least the current dock allows you to enter it from the sidewalk vs. no sidewalk on the south side of the park.
On an unrelated note ENOUGH with No.Moore Street being the only westbound street below Beach. Time to make Jay Street westbound. This would reduce northbound traffic above Jay as it’d eliminate cars that miss or can’t go down westbound Reade who need to get to Greenwich, Chambers, West from Chambers, or streets below Chambers, as well as reduce flow from No.Moore down Greenwich. The days of meat, dairy, butter, eggs etc. delivery trucks coming from the west side, Bronx, NJ etc. (why Duane, Jay, Harrison & Franklin are ridiculously eastbound) are long gone. Also replace No.Moore with “North Moore” – big deal three extra letters : )
Phyllis,
We actually have data that proves that the north side is indeed, rarely used vs the south side.
Per DOT, more than 4,700 cars use Duane to go from Greenwich to some turn off to Lafayette (West Broadway, Church, Broadway). Only 600 turn on to Hudson from the north fork. This is data wise conclusive that the North Fork is rarely used vs. the South.
Feel free to take a look here: https://gisportalny.dot.ny.gov/portalny/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=28537cbc8b5941e19cf8e959b16797b4
Please let this be a warning for all that we shouldn’t take bold statements like the above without first looking to see if our great public agencies have data to educate an opinion. This seems to be quite the issue at Community Board meetings where experts, with data, are shouted down because someone doesn’t like something. Very Trumpian.
Further, if I was Scalini Fedeli (a great restaurant btw) having an Italian-like plaza for outdoor seating would be quite appealing vs. a shed they have to maintain in the street. That’s one of the great things about Italy! Car-free plazas! They also wouldn’t lose curb space with Staple.
I again think we need to prioritize people over cars, especially, when the data proves the north fork is not used widely, and people could still turn on to Hudson.
Was the data compiled before the block between Hudson and West Broadway was closed to through traffic? Relying on outdated data can be very dangerous!
This is a bad faith comment! This is the most recent data available and I’m sure you’re aware that Duane is not closed 24/7.
I also don’t know how this would change *anything* from the above statement. If you’d like to explain in more detail any hypothesis you have I’d be happy to have a data-based, factual conversation.
Most cars turning north on Hudson came down Greenwich. They can go east on Jay and avoid Duane.
A good point here as well, we have a redundant route for Greenwich to Hudson anyway. The North Fork is truly pointless when it comes to actually moving cars.
What’s with not allowing my post showing concern and opposition to a Citibike dock on the south side of Duane Park?
A dock there would be dangerous because cars use the south fork. You think having to go into the road to get a bike, backing into the road, and a dock in direct line of cars is safe???
Also you have a problem with me calling for turning the north fork into a plaza? I thought you wanted Duane between Greenwich and Hudson closed to traffic permanently. Besides that DB has the same idea I posted re: Scalini Fideli & a plaza. Or I dared to challenge your pal Phyllis?
If you don’t want anonymous comments then require registered comments only then.
Chill out. I just didn’t get to it immediately.