Manhattanites want to ‘reimagine’ more of Park Avenue
BY KEVIN DUGGAN
As the city plans to “reimagine”
Manhattan’s Park Avenue medians
north of Grand Central Terminal
following a massive reconstruction project
of the train tunnels below, residents living
south of the station are eager to also open
the planted malls running down their
stretch of the iconic thoroughfare.
The gardens lining the middle of the
boulevard between East 34th and East
39th Street in Murray Hill are fenced off,
but some at local Community Board 6 are
proposing to unlock their 4-foot-tall gates.
“This is a special space. It’s one of the
most heavily-used, heavily-traffi cked spaces
in Manhattan, in New York City. So why
not open it up, green it up, make it more
amenable and give people a place to be,”
said Gene Santoro, the chairperson of the
board’s Transportation Committee.
Santoro was inspired by the Department
of Transportation’s proposal to revamp the
landscaped midsections north of Grand
Central, from East 46th to East 57th Street,
after MTA’s Metro-North Railroad tears
up the road to repair entry tunnels to the
terminal next year as part of a $2 billion,
20-year renovation.
DOT is looking to bring back some Park
Avenue’s former glory as a linear park with
Gene Santoro, chairperson of Community Board 6’s Transportation Committee
wants more access to the gated medians on Park Avenue
a walkway and seating, harkening back to
the early 20th century before it was narrowed
and fenced off to accommodate
more vehicle traffi c.
While the streets south of the commuter
rail hub are not getting ripped up, Santoro
said it wouldn’t take much effort to make
them more accessible too.
The idea found favor among his fellow
CB6 Transportation Committee members
during an Oct. 10 virtual meeting.
“It’s actually an excellent idea because, I
PHOTO BY KEVIN DUGGAN
think that we can take these spaces and not
… alter the actual structure of Park Avenue
too much which is a huge undertaking to
do,” said Andrew Gross.
Trolleys and trenches
The malls date back to the 1850s when
they were installed to cover over a trench
used by steam-spewing trains and trolleys
of the New York and Harlem Railroad and
the underpass would later become the Park
Avenue Tunnel used by cars today.
The ditch was originally dug in the 1830s
because the Victorian-era trains were not
powerful enough to climb the steep incline
through Murray Hill starting at East 32nd
Street.
The new landscaped section above lined
with tulips, cherry trees, magnolias, and
begonias also gave the thoroughfare —
previously called Fourth Avenue — its new
name as Park Avenue.
The city’s Parks Department is technically
responsible for the malls, but they
fell into disrepair amid municipal disinvestment
in the second half of the 20th
century, with the fencing keeling over and
trash lining the dusty plots.
Locals formed Patrons of Park Avenue
to beautify and maintain the space in the
1980s, which group has done ever since.
The effort is entirely funded by donations
from residents and businesses along Park
Avenue and nearby.
“There was some trees but they were
not taken care of,” said Victoria Spagnola,
chairperson of the organization. “The
malls were dormant, there was no plantings
in the area.”
The Park Avenue resident said she would
be open to allowing more access to the
space, on the condition that the city puts up
the funding for the move and keeps people
from trampling on the plants.
Early voters sound off on crime, homelessness in casting ballots
BY DEAN MOSES
As early voting began this past weekend
in the 2021 mayoral election,
voters are considering the issues
that are important to them in deciding the
future of the Five Boroughs.
Hundreds of Manhattanites took to the
polls on Oct. 23-24 to choose a new mayor,
borough president, district attorney, and
more. As new faces are ushered into offi ce,
many New Yorkers are refl ecting on the last
several years.
Patricia D. says she came to vote early
avoiding procrastination, so she made sure
cast her ballot at the Hunter College site on
Sunday and said the process was seamless.
“I do like the idea of early voting because
you never know on that specifi c day what
might occur, so you do it ahead of time with
no worries,” Patricia D. said. She noticed
that this year’s election was not as busy as
the presidential one but believes later at
night it may pick up for those leaving work.
The vote for mayor was the most pressing
matter for Patricia D., who says that the
issues she was most concerned with is the
rights of those incarcerated and the infl ux
of homelessness.
Voters check in for early voting on Oct. 24, 2021.
“I think there needs to be a new process
in order. Homelessness is just incredibly sad.
I actually carry several dollar bills in my
pocket now because I see so many homeless
people on the street. The homeless issue is,
to me, something of the heart. In the last two
years it’s been far worse,” Patricia D. added.
Similar issues plague the minds of
those further downtown at Campos Plaza
PHOTO BY DEAN MOSES
Community Center at 611 East 13th St.
Here, earlier voters followed the red and
blue arrows ushering them to the polls,
where they hope their collective voice is
heard when it comes to crime.
Sixto Gonzalez, says this election is important
to him after witnessing the many
issues New Yorkers have been facing over
the past 19 months, especially crime.
“I see all the issues going on in society
as a whole, and I wanted to take the opportunity
to vote early so I made sure I didn’t
miss it,” Gonzalez said, expressing his love
for New York and the need for things to be
made better and safer.
Gonzalez was also surprised that there
was no line to get into vote, and the entire
process was signifi cantly less busy in comparison
to last year.
For Tom McLoughlin, on the other hand,
voting is a right he exercises every opportunity
he gets. He proudly shared that he is
a registered democrat and he felt that early
voting this year was extremely easy since
there was nobody on line when he arrived.
“It was easy last election as well, but
it was much more crowded,” McLoughlin
said, believing that more voters will
be heading to the sites as election day
approaches.
While McLoughlin says the issues themselves
are not on the ballot, he believes it
is up to voters to choose a candidate
that would be able to best address their
concerns.
“I think that the democratic candidate,
an ex-cop will look at that problem —
crime,” McLoughlin said.
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