Environmental Hazard from Traffic Congestion from Pershing Square Restaurant. Is it being ignored by the local media?
If so, why?
Have you had lunch at this delightful outdoor cafe? You should, I love the place! In the picture, this is the view looking uptown on Park Avenue towards 42nd street. I wish we could shutdown like half the streets in Manhattan, it would really be a party!
Click here for the map to see where Pershing Square Restaurant blocks Park Avenue going South at 42nd St. This Causes Massive Congestion & Air Pollution! But Does It Bother NYC Mayor Mike "Congestion Pricing Tax" Bloomberg?
This is really quite a travesty. The following was cobbled together from an email we received after taking a look at this mess.
With good reason, more and more people are talking about this.
Environmental Hazard from Traffic Congestion from Pershing Square Rest. Ignored by MSM....
Dear Concerned Politicians, Journalists & Activists
and NYC drivers,
Do you know why traffic is so TOTALLY JAMMED UP in
Midtown, especially East Midtown, between about
mid-May until mid-October?
DO YOU EVEN CARE?!
Park Avenue at 42nd street is BLOCKED OFF going South!
Have you tried to go South down Park Ave. from 42nd
Street?
"Every Weekday: Pershing Square Plaza is open on the
southbound lanes of Park Ave between East 41st St and
East 42nd St on weekdays between the hours of 11 am
and 10:30 pm (May) through October – weather
permitting. The public seating promenade next to the
Altria Building is open weekdays between 11 am and 3
pm for bag lunches, conversations, book reading, and
sun worshipping. The outdoor café is open for dining
and drinks on weekdays between noon and 10:30 pm."
Grand Central Partnership
Did you know this has been going on EVERY YEAR SINCE
1997?
Have you seen this traffic farce, from about 11am to
10pm just about every day for just about half the
year?
Did you know the downtown entrance to Park Avenue on
42 street is blocked off from traffic so that the
Pershing Square Restaurant can make boatloads of money
serving cocktails to thousands?
Sounds like fun!
It's like a street fair or block party that goes on
for 6 months!
This is a MASSIVE traffic hazard. I have seen
ambulances and police cars stuck in traffic many times.
Who is Michael 'Buzzy' O'Keefe? I believe he is still the owner of Pershing
Square Restaurant, and the Water Club, that's who.
Is he a BIG BUDDY of Peter Kalikow, the former head of the
MTA and Chairman of The Grand Central Partnership?
Is he also a BIG BUDDY of the supposedly 'practical',
anti-congestion and anti-pollution, green friendly Mayor Michael Bloomberg?
I have nothing against Michael O'Keefe, he's just a savvy businessman who rightfully and legally took advantage of a good deal. I hear he's a nice guy too. My problem is that it was handed to him by the City of New York, something that isn't really theirs to give away.
The sanctity of traffic congestion.
Who is the landlord of record of that space under the
Park Avenue Bridge?
Was this street deal a giveaway to get Michael 'Buzzy'
O'Keefe to sign on as tenant for a previously unsuccessful rental location?
Why is nothing being done about this massive traffic bottleneck in the heart of Midtown Manhattan?
It's not like the supposedly 'Green Friendly' Mayor Bloomberg can't do something about it.
The City seems genuinely concerned about air quality, and the Mayor is all puffed up about his "Congestion Pricing" tax scheme, which he must believe will be more successful than London's program.
Also, not only himself, but also the City Comptroller, the Borough President of Manhattan, and the Speaker of the City Council ALL sit on The GCP's 40+ member board along with a who's who of New York's business elite.
All of whom I'm sure, in their GCP duties have only the best interests of the City and its people in mind.
Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg*
Mayor of the City of New York
Hon. William Thompson, Jr.
Comptroller of the City of New York
Hon. Scott Stringer
Borough President of Manhattan
Hon. Christine C. Quinn
Speaker of the Council of the City of New York
Hon. Daniel R. Garodnick
New York City Council, District 4
David Diamond
Chair, Manhattan Community Board Five
Lyle Frank
Chair, Manhattan Community Board Six
Please look into this, check out all the cars that
would normally turn South down Park Ave at 42nd
street.
Watch on days when it is raining and the street is open.
It may average a few hundred cars PER hour! That's probably
a few thousand cars a day which are forced to keep
going East or West on 42nd street!
See how they have to go all the way down to Lexington
or 2nd ave to go back to Park Ave. 39th street and
Lexington Ave is often a joke. Tons of cars going
west on 39th across Lex and tons of cars turning West from Lex
on to 39th street.
Go check it out!
This is a HUGE mess and massive injustice to ALL New
Yorkers and visitors traffic-wise and to all the other restaurants
in the city WHO WOULD LOVE to be able to shutdown
the street in front or to the side and put tables out there.
How quaint!
Politicians clogging the streets on purpose for a frivolous
commercial privilege like this should earn a caning offense.
This is especially dangerous in a post-9/11 World.
Think of the children breathing all that carbon
monoxide that Bloomberg claims to want to clean up!
Calling 311 repeatedly has not cleaned this up, maybe
you can.
Hundreds of NYC journalists and politicians have been
sent this information, but NO ONE will write about it! Why?
Please call 311 today!
Please put a stop to this ASAP!!!
Turning down Park Avenue off 42nd street is a major traffic release valve. When it's cut off it really jams up 42nd street and then streets well beyond, it's a HUGE bottleneck mess!
Please call the Grand Central Partnership today!
The Grand Central Partnership
122 East 42nd Street, Suite 601
New York, NY 10168
Tel: 212.883.2420
Fax: 212.661.4384
Email: info@gcpbid.org
Call the Mayor, call your Council People.
Let the media and the traffic authorities know that you know!
Come on fellow bloggers, does this situation really annoy you?
It should, if so please write about it, tell your friends, tell the media, link to this post, visit the scene, take some pictures, some videos, post some on YouTube! Please help spread the word!
Just please think of the children, please save the CHILDREN!
And finally, please go have a nice time at the Cafe
before it gets shutdown, it really is wonderful.
But it's just wrong.
Better late than never...
Thank you!
:)
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