South Beach bike and pedestrian path fenced off by restaurant

Fenced-off bicycle/pedestrian path parallel to beach boardwalk, as of Tuesday morning.

Photo via silive by Jan Somma-Hammel

Gregory DeRespino met a rude awakening Tuesday morning on the bicycle/pedestrian multi-use path that runs parallel to the Staten Island's South Beach boardwalk.  Where there was previously an uninterrupted stretch of calm asphalt, there is now a chain-link fence completely shutting off use, upon which he abruptly collided, sustaining minor injuries.

Without any prior notice or warning, the fence went up Monday night, the Staten Island Advance reports, and is now laced with yellow tape and a red "Do Not Enter" sign. 

The fence was erected at the request of Joe Tranchina, manager of catering hall Vanderbilt along the boardwalk, who got permission from the city's Parks Department.  He argued that since the path runs along the front of the hall's entrance, the delivery vans serving the restaurant and the newly added valet service pose a potential harm to path users.

"It’s really not a conducive area to have a bike path, in front of a catering facility," Tranchina said. "Several people have almost been run over,"

Tranchina failed to mention or comment upon the fact that the bicycle/ped path had been around for at least as long as the Vanderbilt facility itself, approximately five years, and how the path is part of a public area that serves more people than the catering hall itself. 

Meghan Lalor, Parks Department spokewoman, claimed that the fence is on a trial basis in attempt to separate bike/ped traffic from the catering hall's valet parking and entrance, and claimed to be open to community input. 

However, completely blocking off the path is by far no solution to reconciling traffic needs.  More discretion on the part of the valet operators and patrons is the route that ought to be taken.  A private business ought not hold so much sway over who may use a public path--and where, and when.