DOT rolls back traffic restrictions on delayed Fifth Avenue busway
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
City street designers quietly watered
down their own traffic restrictions
for the long-delayed Fifth Avenue
busway after pushback from moneyed businesses
along the upscale Midtown corridor.
The Department of Transportation wants
to still allow through traffic for private vehicles
on almost all of the busway from 57th Street
to 34th Street, rather than direct cars off at
the first available turn to free up congestion
for buses, according to a July 29 presentation
to local groups and businesses known as the
Community Advisory Board.
“It’s disappointing that the proposal was
diluted from the original,” Danny Pearlstein, a
spokesman for the transit advocacy group Riders
Alliance, told amNewYork Metro. “There
are uniquely powerful business interests at
play here, but I don’t think there’s a unique
justification for the change.”
DOT’s revised scheme splits the prominent
corridor into two sections, a 10-block stretch
allowing through traffic from 55th to 45th
streets, and undoing all restrictions for those
going south of 45th Street, according to the
presentation.
The city at first wanted to ban private vehicles
from driving through the entire 23-block
section of the Fifth Avenue busway, while still
Buses head down the double red-painted lanes on Fifth Avenue near
46th Street in Manhattan.
allowing local access via side streets requiring
drivers to take the next available turn.
Drivers now will have to turn off only at
55th Street and those on the 10-block stretch
below have to leave the busway by 45th Street.
Turns will be banned at 51st, 49th, and
47th streets, consistent with holiday season
restrictions on the avenue, which DOT says
will reduce conflicts between cars crossing
over the existing two lanes of red bus lanes,
while also improving safety for pedestrians at
the busy intersections.
One of the new benefits that the updated
plan lists is that it “maintains more vehicular
access along Fifth Avenue” — seemingly
FILE PHOTO
running counter to the whole idea of a busway
to divert most car travel.
The Fifth Avenue project is the last of five
new busways Mayor Bill de Blasio announced
in June 2020 to help the city’s notoriously-slow
buses, and DOT officials say the restrictions
on other busways and bus lanes have boosted
speeds by about 30%.
The Midtown proposal also includes a new
protected bike lane and an expanded painted
sidewalk between 59th Street and 34th Street,
which DOT still plans to install in August.
The head of the Fifth Avenue Association,
which advocates for businesses along the corridor,
opposed DOT’s original plans, saying
they should allow through traffic on all of the
roadway, and instead focus on enforcing the
existing bus lanes and maybe eliminate some
turns.
“They should go further in altering the proposal
to maintain through car traffic on Fifth
Avenue, which we believe is possible while still
attaining their goals of increasing bus speeds
and making the avenue a better place for all
users,” Jerome Barth told amNewYork Metro.
When asked about the city putting wellheeled
New Yorkers and visitors before lowerincome
public transit users, Barth said that
many of the working-class commuters relied
on these businesses for a job.
“The facts on the ground are that those
hotels, those businesses employ the very
workers and the very people we are talking
about,” Barth said.
A DOT spokesman said the changes would
still reduce traffic enough to keep buses at
current speeds, which in June were 12-33%
faster than in October 2019.
“The restrictions proposed would reduce
enough general traffic to keep buses moving
at current speeds, which are still substantially
faster than pre-COVID,” said Brian Zumhagen
in a statement.
DOT plans to again present its final plans
to the local community board and the CAB
later this month, the rep said.
The Navy ‘Leap Frogs’ into Central Park
BY DEAN MOSES
Hundreds flocked to Central Park’s
Great Lawn for a dramatic aerial
extravaganza.
US Navy Seal Leap Frogs literally descended
on New York Thursday evening in
astonishing fashion by leaping from a moving
aircraft. Emerging from the clouds, a C-130
military plane served as the 8,000 feet jumping
point for the skydiving demonstration.
Hurtling through the air, the Leap Frogs
performed breathtaking maneuvers with
their parachutes deployed, including leaving
smoke trails behind them, flying the Star-
Spangled Banner in midair, and even joined
together in the descent to show-off acrobatic
moves.
The crowd roared with excitement as the
Leap Frogs came in for a landing with the
city skyline as their backdrop and their feet
hitting the grass with pinpoint accuracy.
This marked the first occasion skydivers
plummeted into Central Park.
The team was created in 1969 by the Navy
SEALs and Underwater Demolition Team
members who volunteered to perform during
the weekend air shows, and in 1974 they were
dubbed the “Leap Frogs” by the Chief of Naval
Operations. The skydiving Seals mission
The Navy’s Leap Frogs parachuted for the first time in Central Park
on Aug. 5.
for every demonstration is to showcase the
excellence of the United States Navy.
After their performance, members of the
Leap Frogs took photos with and answered
questions from spectators, who each were
wondering what it’s like to freefall thousands
of feet toward the ground and have the fortitude
to land safely while also making it look
fun.
“It’s amazing and being a part of the team
that did it for the first time ever! No one has
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
ever gotten to jump in here. I’m baffled at
the opportunity,” exclaimed George Monteveride,
SO1 Navy Seal as he described the
feeling of parachuting into Central Park.
Jim Woods told amNewYork Metro that
the team has jumped into several parks this
month, including Murphy Park, Matthew
Kantor Memorial Park, and then on Aug. 7
at 9:30 am and 6 pm they will be jumping
into Liberty Park.
“We do parachute demonstration jumps all
over the United States raising awareness for
young people to consider the military as an
option for their future,” Woods said.
Woods joined the Navy in 1982 and retired
in 2003, but he still enjoys parachuting
so much that he continues to volunteer with
the Leap Frogs—jumping for over 37 years.
Jumping out of a plane was not always
Woods’ idea of a good time. Over the course
of 200 jumps, he became more comfortable
with the routine and procedure, and while
he still has fears they dissipate as soon as he
is in the air and his parachute opens up for
a safe landing.
“I was broke and tried to figure out what
to do with my life and someone suggested
that I join the Navy and I did. So, my first job
in the Navy after schooling was at a SEAL
team and they put me in charge of all of the
high-altitude oxygenating equipment, so they
figured if I was going to be in the airplane,
taking care of the oxygen equipment I better
wear a parachute in case I fell out. If I was
going to wear a parachute, I need to know
how to use it. So, I went to jump school in
Lakers New Jersey and learned how to jump,
and never liked it until I had about 200 jumps
later,” Woods said.
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