Riverdale streets ranked second-worst in the Bronx

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How would you rate the streets in Riverdale and Fieldston?

According to the city’s Independent Budget Office, the area is the second-worst for road quality in the Bronx and comes in 185th among 188 areas rated in New York City.

The ranking is based on the share of well-maintained streets among all thoroughfares in a neighborhood, according to the budget office: The lower the percentage of streets rated “good,” the lower the overall ranking. In Riverdale and Fieldston, just 38.7 percent of streets ranked as good. Another 54.6 percent ranked as fair and the remaining 6.7 percent as poor, according to the agency’s report, titled “Good, Fair or Poor: What’s the Condition of the City’s Streets?”

The Press polled passersby on Riverdale, Johnson and Waldo avenues to see if community views on local streets’ quality matched those of the Independent Budget Office.

“For the most part, the roads are fair. Once you get back into Fieldston and stuff, right off Riverdale Avenue here, they are absolutely atrocious filled up with water, loaded up with mosquitos, larva all summer long. It’s tremendously terrible,” said Chris Fraser, as he stood on W. 258th Street and Riverdale Avenue. He has lived in the area for 40 years.

On Cambridge Avenue, some of the roads had been repaved while other areas remained in disrepair, Fraser said, adding that he wonders why.

Wanda Mapp, who has lived in the area for more than 50 years, said road conditions were “really bad.”

“It’s a beautiful community but the sidewalks and streets are really in bad shape,” Mapp said.

She offered a hypothesis on why the Transportation Department might be slow to make repairs. “I have a funny feeling why they keep the streets like this—in such a horrific condition—to keep people from speeding. I may be wrong—but I may be right, too,” she added as she stood on Waldo Avenue and held her cane.

Maureen Stanley, who uses a walker, said the streets were generally good—as long as the weather was fine and no construction was underway.

“One or two places are not good but they have done construction and they have not completed it,” said Stanley, who has lived in the area for more than 30 years.

But street quality deteriorates when it snows, Stanley said.

“The corners, the sewers on the corners do not allow the water to go down. They’re a mess—an absolute mess. Like up here where the drug store is, the guy comes out there and sweeps it himself. Because otherwise, you can’t get across it,” she said as she stood outside the Key Food near Johnson Avenue.

Elijah Negasi, who stood near the street stairs on Waldo Avenue, said the area was in good condition compared to other parts of the Bronx. “I like to travel around the whole Bronx… I feel like the streets here are more luxurious compared to other conditions, like the South Bronx or the East Bronx,” he said.

Local politicians took a gloomier view of local streets.

“Our roads are like a war zone,” Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said in a statement. “Drivers in Riverdale and surrounding neighborhoods should not have to spend their entire commute dodging potholes and cracks in the road.”

Councilman Andrew Cohen said in a statement that while the Transportation Department “has a limited budget to repave and maintain roads, it is unacceptable that these neighborhoods are rated so poorly.”

Brooklyn was in the best shape with 75.1 percent of streets rated as good, according to the Independent Budget Office ranking. Citywide, 70.2 percent are in good condition, 29.2 percent are in fair condition, and 0.6 percent are poor, according to the report.

The Bronx came in third among the five boroughs, with 68.5 percent of its streets rated as good. Among Bronx neighborhoods, Williamsbridge-Olinville was the best, with 81.5 percent of streets in good condition, and Parkchester rated the worst, with 30.3 percent.

Overall, Fraser said local streets have gotten better. “I remember my neck of the wood was a mess. It used to be a lot worse.”

IBO, Independent Budget Office, Streets in Riverdale, Streets in Fieldston, Councilman Andrew Cohen, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz, Chris Fraser, Wanda Mapp, Elijah Negasi, Maureen Stanley, Lisa Herndon

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