LETTERS TO THE EDITOR

No thanks to the sidewalk path

Posted

To the editor:

(re: “Sidewalks just might pave way for safety,” Feb. 15)

Unfortunately, I was unable to attend the meeting Feb. 15 at The Riverdale Y. 

I live in the Riverdale Park apartments on Netherland Avenue, right by West 255th Street. And now that we have a clean brick wall and a clean fence, it feels nice and safe, closed off. There is a path right past our block, and our safe private children’s playground that many people use from Riverdale Avenue through to Netherland Avenue.

The grass frontage recently got cleaned up and turned into a very lovely garden. That path should be fine for everybody coming from North Riverdale Avenue, or just walk down Riverdale Avenue to West 254th Street. The sidewalks were recently repaved.

There are many closed-up areas in the neighborhood, why can’t we keep ours? And many other roads and sidewalks in North Riverdale that need attending to more urgently than this plan.

Riverdale Park is a dog-free zone, but local residents still walk their dogs through it and don’t pick up after them. And there are plenty of cars that park on Netherland Avenue, West 255th, and Arlington Avenue, that are not owned by our residents, and take up parking paces to commute or work locally, leaving us with safe spaces to park for our children. 

This will all be changed and made worse if this proposal goes through.

Why is the North Riverdale Merchant and Business Association concerned about this, as we are not near any stores? Is the real reason that it could be quicker for customers to get to shops, which can benefit the association? Please correct me if I’m wrong.

Steven Chait obviously lives in Skyview, not close to the actual proposed development site, so he will not be personally affected by the disturbance, particularly the construction noise and loss of parking places.

I’m sure if plans to make Skyview and all its amenities open to the public, Skyview Owners Corp. co-op board would not be so quick to allow it. 

In summation — no thanks.

Joel Tankel

Joel Tankel

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