River Terrace Garden Club

There are several proposals recommending a hike/bike path that would connect the existing path in Manhattan to a path in Westchester.  The proposals recommend alternatives to cross over the river via the railroad swing bridge to stay on the waterfront, or the Henry Hudson or Broadway bridges to provide inland routes. The proposed projects will cost tens of millions of dollars and could impact private property, parks, traffic and the safety of citizens in Riverdale. You should be aware of these plans and you may want to get involved to be sure your interests and concerns are addressed.

Latest News

Community Board 8 is meeting on Wednesday March 26th at 7 PM at the Schervier Home to vote on the Greenway plan. Your voices were heard last month. The large turnout reinforced our position of saying NO to the NYMTC $100,000,000 bike plan to destroy our neighborhood and park. Please come out again and let your voices be heard. (Click here for meeting details.)

To read the full text of Gary Klingsberg's remarks at the February 26, 2014 meeting of Community Board 8 (click here). To see what is happening on the Facebook go to: https://www.facebook.com/riverdalesdcoalition. As a result of everyone's efforts at the meeting, the Riverdale Press ran the following as its top of the front page story: Hudson River Greenway Plan Greeted With Scorn ‏ (Click here to read the article).

On January 14, 2014, Gary Klingsberg addressed the full membership of Community Board 8 and local elected officials, Councilman Andrew Cohen, Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez and Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz on: “A Sensible, Safe and Cost Effective Hudson River Greenway Plan, Not a Sidewalk to Nowhere”. The full text of the speech is available (click here).

Deirdre Burke of Save Riverdale Park also addressed the Community Board. Her remarks are available (click here). The presentation of Sura Jeselsohn of Along the Hudson Homeowners Association is also available (click here).

On January 15, 2014, the Riverdale Press published an article on this topic entitled: “Waterfront plan gains steam, criticism” (click here). Dr. Klingsberg had led the members of the Press on an extensive walking tour from Riverdale Park through the neighborhood, over the Henry Hudson Bridge, to what could someday become the northern Manhattan route that crosses over the Spuyten Duyvil Creek at river level via the Amtrak swing bridge.



A Sensible, Safe and Cost Effective Hudson River Greenway Plan

The NY Metropolitan Transportation Council has been working on, supervising and spending federal tax money on the Hudson River Greenway Plan for the past twenty years. The Friends of the Hudson River Greenway, have devised a marginally better one than that of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council. Both include an inland route through our Spuyten Duyvil community and cross over the Henry Hudson Bridge (at a cost of $35 million!) A much more desirable route stays on the Hudson riverfront.
 
The plans presented to close the hole in the greenway plan are simply not based upon reality. The estimated cost of the plan is over $100 million! It is a plan which does not respect the rights of private property owners, have an awareness of the area's Special Natural Area Designation (SNAD), the intent of the people and legislators of the State of New York for certain designated parklands to be "Forever Wild", the importance of trees on Palisade Avenue (some centenarians) and how their root systems would be damaged by the creation of retaining walls. We could go on and on with reasons gleaned from other attendees of recent Community Board meetings about why this plan should not be considered. The reasons are stated elegantly and are available in the link:  Hudson River Greenway-Issues, Facts, Questions, which was developed by members of the Along-the Hudson-Homeowners Association and Tom Bird. Additionally, there are the compelling arguments put forth in the Executive Summary of: Along the Hudson Home Owners Association, Inc., Spuyten Duyvil Homeowners Group and Riverdalesafestreets.

A link for anyone who would like to read the detailed study of the New York Metropolitan Transportation Council's 2010 analysis is: Task #7 Alternatives Analysis. The study details numerous routes from Manhattan to the Bronx and rates them.  Note: the routes via the Henry Hudson Bridge and the Broadway Bridge are already in place and are currently usable by anyone who wishes to do so. They do not require major capital construction expenditures. They essentially just lack the thermoplastic paint which marks bike paths on the streets. However, from various perspectives such as safety, rider comfort and riverfront access they are lacking.

We have always believed in adhering to the goal of an all Hudson River waterfront, river level plan, which stays on the waterfront via the railroad swing bridge. Local access to the greenway would be available at the Riverdale station. Possibly a more ambitious plan using a tiny portion of the $100 million, could create access to the triangle which abuts the Spuyten Duyvil Shorefront Park via a small pedestrian bridge. This scenic area is presently inaccessible to our community.
 
Why develop a plan to connect the designated waterfront route via an inland route of steep and difficult hills, traversing a hazardous highway off ramp, taking private property and including building sections with paths and bridges running through "Forever Wild" parks, at a cost of $100 million dollars? Especially in light of the fact that you can already hike and bike the on street and existing bridge route at no capital or destructive costs, and essentially no one does it!

If you haven't walked this path let alone ridden it on a bike we encourage you to do so.

For additional information visit: Riverdalesdcoaliton.com

A SENSIBLE  and SAFE WATERFRONT ROUTE