The sign that was placed in the middle of the crosswalk at Warburton and Odell has disappeared. The cars are ignoring pedestrians in the crosswalks. First, these signs need to replaced. I have written to Yonkers problem solver, I recommend others do the same. city of yonkers problem solver .

The intersection of Odell and Warburton needs some modern traffic calming, as the amount of children gather at the crosswalks and pedestrian traffic increases, the speed of traffic is also increasing. There are modern traffic calming techniques that should be utilized at this intersection such as a curb bulb out and bollard at the southeast corner of Warburton and Odell Avenue, these would decrease the speed of the right turning vehicle therefore enabling people to use the bus stop safely or stand on the corner without chance of being run over. The sidewalk here shows ample evidence on vehicles cutting the corner too close and driving on the sidewalk. The crosswalks should also be raised as a speed hump. This also causes vehicles to slow down and will not interfere with emergency vehicles, the Yonkers fire district ends in 400 yards so time will not be lost and no emergency vehicle can safely make the right hand turn at high speed, regardless of emergency.

lots of rain, how long before there is more damage at 1077 warburton?

The world is moving to open space , greenways  and  parks  along their newly  redeveloped waterfronts.

Yonkers is doing the opposite, it is SoYonkers , the city of hills and valleys where nothing is on the level.

The soon to be completed Hudson Park is a waterfront eyesore. I thought we were passed the building of parking garages on the Hudson River. This is a micro version of Alexander Street Master Plan which will have 18 building ranging from 30 stories  to 14 stories.  The ASMP also calls for 57 levels of above ground parking on the Hudson shore . What happened to the 2002 NYS open space conservation act and other environmental acts that ensure proper land usage on the waterfront. Parking garages, streets and on street parking on the waterfront are not within the public land use doctrine.

new shoring and retaining wall that appeared today at

1077 Warburton neighbors property

These boulders weren’t there this afternoon,

looks like another landslide at velocity, every time it rains there is ground movement

Passed by this tonight , i noticed they had pumps at the stream that flows through the stonewall this afternoon.

this evening at 8pm i noticed that new boulders had fallen and that there was new shoring on the bishops property, it looks like the shoring is being used to prevent a mudslide and collapse of bishops rear yard

This is the kind of stuff you cant make up, one would think they are talking about a hick town someplace in small town USA in 1978

Federal judge finds Yonkers violated weekly newspaper’s First Amendment rights

journal news

The reality that these first amendment violations were done at the mayors direction and the police blindly followed speaks volumes on how poor and bullying the city government is.  I am seeing  smoke and mirrors and a  puppet show. Yonkers hasn’t made any headway in its politics, the developers are running the game, Don’t let the great personality fool you. In this market if anyone starts building it is not their money they are gambling, it is Yonkers taxpayers money, and it is a losing dice roll.

The kool-aid is warm and bitter, it has gone bad and is time to throw it out.

we need a whole new batch.

while speaking of privatization of the pier , where is the public transit to the heavily subsidized water taxi?

It is traditional for water taxis to connect to ground public transit. but i guess that would put a bus stop near or on the pier and maybe interfere with the image the developers are trying to sell.

where are the closest bus stops? one half mile away? it is a land of valet parking on the pier, the public would be better served by making the valet parking area a bus stop. most livable cities guideline consider 200 feet long blocks the optimize side for walkability. from the pier it may be a 1/2 mile to the nearest bus stop

i am all for trying other means of public transportation such as water taxis, but there should be a workable public transit connection, there should be better public transit in downtown Yonkers,

i had to laugh at the metro-north site where it shows bus connections, it list the 1 T as connecting, AFAIK the nearest stop is on hudson street, about 1/2 mile away uphill.

All the buses should stop at the Yonkers train station, the plaza was built for bus connections , it is ridiculous and insulting that the people that are doing the right thing by taking public transit to the train are punished by dropping them off or picking them up blocks away. meanwhile the private car people have full curb side access. This is marginalization of the bus people, the same with the pier , there should be bus stop not a valet parking spot on the public space. if your going to do the unthinkable and put a road through the public space on the pier , it should serve the public, not the private interests .

yonkers pier esplanda public space?

Originally uploaded by galvoguy

how is this supposed to become a vibrant greenway public space?
the residential windows are right next to and above the public space area. this causes conflict by design. you know th people that live above the esplanade are going to lobby for quietness and less public activities.
this is what happens when you let developers run the show,
there should be activity from 6am to midnight . There is loss of public space by putting the windows so low, tables and chair and awning, shade tent can no longer be placed there. A better design would have been space for ethnic food gallery, ice cream, juice bar , espresso bar, make the pier a healthy family destination, not a place of gin mills.

there should be a market or some activity in this corner

put a market or dancing in this corner .

west side greenway

photo from flickr by collection by seth_holladay

nyc bikemaps by seth holladay 

The more I research neighborhood and waterfront revitalization; i see a common element missing from Yonkers completed esplanade section.
there is no destination, bars and a super high end restaurants aren’t the destinations that bring in good foot traffic, the items that are necessary for good destinations are missing, such as plenty of movable tables and chairs, adequate clean bathrooms, both sunny and shaded areas to sit and congregate. I saw a sectionalized bar area that has the outdoor seating, if the seating next to walled bar seating was public, it did not have that feeling. only 2 toilets for the whole area, the employees of the X2 restaurant seem to use them a lot, maybe they used the space upstairs for seating, and didn’t build enough bathrooms upstairs, the public space area is being used as another free subsidy as the employees bathroom to match the use of their parking area on the public plaza. Not a big issue if there is no one using the pier area except for the Xavier patrons, but a very big issue when you try and bring people into this under built for public area.

Bryant park has an outdoor public library with proper seating and tables, you can brown bag your lunch and enjoy the area without cost, but there plenty of kiosk to buy food or beverage if you want them. Larking plaza library is close by, so an outdoor library would be possible here. i am sure i can think of quite a few items that are better than a bar, people that like outdoor markets and walking neighborhoods are not your usual bar patrons, nor would they consider bar food a destination. A community supported recycle a bicycle organization for the neighborhood kids to learn to rebuild discarded and abandoned bicycles and bicycle repair would be a great plus for the community.
Start promoting bicycle Saturday and Sundays for families with a ferry ride to the Manhattan greenway. Metro-North has free parking on weekends at the stations outside Yonkers; promote a train to Yonkers pier to Manhattan waterfront family bike days. Manhattan waterfront has plenty of ferry docks and Brooklyn for ice cream is also a possibility. At least 1500 bicyclist travel to Piermont across the George Washington bridge every seasonal weekend day and pump up the local economy, at least the places that have healthy food. if Yonkers waterfront had a decent priced bicycle and vegetarian friendly outdoor indoor restaurant it could be the returning bicycles dinner point. If Yonkers had a coffee house with muffins and bagels it would become a intermediate stop or return stop via train or ferry. With music and movies, they may stay for dinner. A market would also add to the attraction, all using public transit.

However I don’t think the buses go near the waterfront, that may be why the market is way up on Riverdale, or is it privatization?
if Yonkers waterfront was a healthy bicycle/skater destination and return point, Some cyclist may prefer a beer after their epic ride up at bear mountain and ferry ride back before they take the metro-north home. Bicycle friendly bus to the downtown waterfront are also missing. Small town’s upstate NY in New Paltz are served with bicycle racks on their buses. Westchester Beeline Buses with bike racks would enable many more families to participate in a Yonkers bicycle-ferry weekends without being car dependent.

The waterfront needs to become established as a safe car free conflict destination.

This isn’t a recent revelation that popped up today or with the Alexander street DGEIS , i wrote the mayor last year with this suggestion.

Hudson River Park – Esplanade

photo from flickr by by criana

this is a esplanade that is working since there are stops along it to keeps peoples interest , plenty of grass to take a nap choice of sun or shade tree. plenty of safe children play areas, with a bicycle tou can connect easily to interesting items along the way. it works fine now that the bicycle path is connected to it. As a walking path it has great views and sculpture ,wildflowers. there are a couple restaurants and coffee shops, lunch and breakfast stops within walking distance.
space for bicyclist and peds , plus green space.

i didn’t realize that before the  greenway /bike path was finished this was  like was a  gated community with only two bridges over west street to gain pedestrian access,  the bike/skate pedestrian  path really opened up the public access to this area. Robert Wagner park is one of my favorite destinations.  there are concerts and children activities,  drum circles, nyc parks dept has summer programs for kids, all real good stuff.