New attendance high at Hudson River Park
BY GABE HERMAN
Hudson River Park had a recordbreaking
2019 for attendance
and some of its environmental
programs, according to a recent announcement
from the Hudson River
Park Trust.
The park had almost 200,000 people
attend the park’s nearly 800 events and
programs during the year. Such programs
include dance and music events,
movie nights, family activities and fi tness
programming. The attendance
number was a 13 percent increase from
the previous year.
Hudson River Park also reported a
higher participation in its Community
Compost Program, an effort to protect
its green space and 400-acre Estuarine
Sanctuary. About 81,000 pounds
of food scraps were collected at seven
drop-off sites located along the park’s
four miles, to be converted into compost
for trees and plantings. This was
an 8 percent increase from the amount
collected the previous year.
The composting program also diverted
430,000 pounds of organic
waste from landfi lls, an increase from
400,000 pounds in 2018. The park’s
compost program diverts food from the
city’s waste stream and makes compost
by combining those food scraps with
the park’s horticulture waste.
A post-Halloween pumpkin smash
composting event in Hudson River Park
A recent dancing event held in the park.
had a record 380 pumpkins smashed,
which generated over 2,000 pounds of
pumpkin for compost.
The park also hosted 500 educational
programs, attended by over 33,000
people, and 12,000 city public school
students visited the park during 250
fi eld trips.
“As stewards of the estuarine sanctuary,”
said Madelyn Wils, president
and CEO of the Hudson River Park
Trust, in a statement, “we are excited
to welcome a record-breaking number
of students and visitors with a calendar
of events designed to engage New Yorkers
with the waterfront and inspire another
generation of people invested in
preserving the long term health of the
river.”
The Trust also released fi gures related
to the park’s Park Over Plastic
program, which launched this past year
with the goal to reduce single-use plastics
by the park and its vendors. The
PHOTO BY MAX GIULIANI FOR HUDSON RIVER PARK
park installed four indoor fountains
in May, which have saved the equivalent
of almost 50,000 single-use water
bottles.
The program also included scientists
at the Estuary Lab and community volunteers
removing about 555 pounds
of marine debris from shores along
the Gansevoort Peninsula in the West
Village and at Pier 76 near the Javits
Center.
Transit advocates fume over e-bike bill veto
BY MARK HALLUM
Governor Andrew Cuomo on Thursday vetoed
a bill that would have paved the way for the
legalization of e-scooters and e-bikes in New
York.
The legislation, passed in Albany earlier this year
with widespread support, would have in part instituted
three different classes of electronically assisted
bicycles across the state–effectively ending the de Blasio
administration’s crackdown against the bicycles,
which are commonly used among low-wage, immigrant
food delivery workers in the city.
Cuomo in his veto message said the bill was “fatally
fl awed” and cited the legislation’s lack of a helmet requirement
in his stance.
“The proposal contained a number of safety measures,
including a lower speed limit, restrictions on
where such e-bikes and e-scooters could be operated,
a prohibition against operating while impaired by
drugs or alcohol, a helmet requirement, mandatory
front and rear lights, and a mandatory bell on each
mode of conveyance,” Cuomo’s veto message read.
“The Legislature’s proposal inexplicably omitted
several of the safety measures included in the budget
proposal. Failure to include these basic measures renders
this legislation fatally fl awed.”
Cuomo noted a recent incident in which a 16-yearold
in Elizabeth, N.J. was struck and killed while riding
a Lime scooter. The scooter rider was hit by a
PHOTO BY MARK HALLUM
turning tow truck, according to news reports.
The version of the bill introduced by state Senator
Jessica Ramos passed in the State Senate with a staggering
majority of 56 votes in favor and only six in
the negative. Supporters and advocates believed the
legislation would have opened New Yorkers to new,
energy-effi cient alternatives to cars–while also providing
relief to workers in the city.
At a Queens press conference in May, Marco Conner,
deputy director with Transportation Alternatives,
called the mayor’s policy against e-bikes a “draconian”
hypocrisy that allows the police to harass the
city’s poorest immigrants.
Cuomo is expected to revisit a path toward legalization
next year, writing he “looked forward to continuing
the discussion.”
“E-bikes and e-scooters carry the potential to be a
useful tool in changing the way we travel and reducing
greenhouse gas emissions,” he wrote. “They do,
however, carry signifi cant safety concerns.”
Lime, a scooter-sharing company, remained hopeful
that new legislation would pass next year.
“While it’s disappointing that this important bill
will not become law this year, we’re hopeful that the
administration will work swiftly with legislative leaders
to improve mobility for all New Yorkers early in
the New Year,” Phil Jones, Senior Government Relations
Director at Lime, said. “Governor Cuomo has
been a strong advocate for innovative and sustainable
mobility options, and in the upcoming session, he
should make New York a national leader for alternative
transportation.”
Advocates and city offi cials have warned that while
helmets should be encouraged, mandating their use
could stifl e ridership.
“There is a creative tension of, in cities where…
adults are required to wear cycling helmets, cycling
goes down — particularly for things like Citi Bike,”
said Polly Trottenberg, the city’s transportation commissioner,
at a City Council hearing earlier this year.
4 January 2, 2020 Schneps Media