As is, Greenway’s a path to disaster

To the editor:

The community has been hoodwinked!

The majority who simply want to enjoy river access would NOT benefit from and we could all be harmed by the Hudson “Greenway.” How many bicyclists would ride between Westchester, Bronx and Manhattan, or do actually pedal such distances now? What proportion of those wanting shore access are bikers, anyway? The New York Metropolitan Transportation Council hasn’t done a survey, and our Community Board hasn’t demanded one. Why not? 

The existence of a continuous path generally leads to a demand for more convenience, speed and “universal” access -— i.e., paved bike speedways. In Manhattan, the “Cherry Walk” between the Hudson and the West Side Highway was once used by runners and walkers and was a favorite perching area for red-tailed hawks. When it was paved from 96th Street to 125th Street, whizzing bikes banished the hawks. Pedestrians fled from the bikes too, except for some on weekdays, when bicycle “commuters” are few. 

Why should the natural Bronx shoreline be de-natured, or the traffic on the Henry Hudson Bridge further constricted, for a recreational elite? Shore access could be expanded instead where overpasses already exist. Why doesn’t the board simply call for park areas at those points? A likely answer is that a shore road better meets the officially-promoted and too-widely accepted prescription for public needs to be made profitable. Paving the shore takes it from nature and opens this desirable area for development. 

A NIMBY defense won’t protect our park or our neighborhood from the creeping commercialization of public spaces. Paving and privatizing of the Bronx shore could in turn rekindle the old developers’ dream of a short cut from Broadway to Riverdale. We must wake up to the larger social context of the “Greenway” and the other dozen takeovers already existing and planned in the name of “recreational access” and “public-private partnership.” 

The fact that this particular scheme has brewed for years is no reason to let it go further. At the crucial April 11 CB 8 meeting we will make the following demands: 

1. A proper survey of potential shore path users before ANY further steps; 

2. Shore parks at existing access points; 

3. Any shore paths to be guaranteed unpaved and commercialization-free in perpetuity. 

The response to these demands might at least clarify what’s really going on. 

Rita Freed