RSS
Home
SI step street named 'worst' in all five boros
Print
Email
RSS
Subscribe
.JPG)
East Buchanan St. (Photo: Ann Meehan)
A step street on the North Shore of Staten Island has been named the worst street in all five boroughs, according to an internal study conducted by the Department of Transportation.
This announcement was made at a recent Community Board #1 Transportion Committee meeting by Sean Sweeney, chair of that committee.
The street in New Brighton, East Buchanan Street, consists of steps and a rail connecting Buchanan Street to York Avenue just below the site of St. Stanislas Church.
The Transportation Committee approved a request asking DOT to repair the steps and rail, install lighting, and improve the landscaping.
New York City has 94 step streets, most of them in neighborhoods in the west Bronx and upper Manhattan, according to an article by Seth Kugel at streetsblog.com.
There are also a few step streets scattered in the Bay Ridge and Highland Park sections of Brooklyn.
Park Place (Photo: Ann Meehan)
"New York is not the only city with step streets," Kugel writes. "San Francisco has 20 of them and Pittsburgh has 762.
"In New York, where step streets show up on some maps as official streets, they cause endless problems for unaware motorists. But for pedestrians, they provide shortcuts to subway stations, bus stops and shopping strips."
NYC's step streets were built largely in the early 20th century as the expanding New York City grid system ran into steep hills and declines.
The Department of Transportation has rebuilt 16 of the most damaged step streets since 1996.
NYC's step streets range from extravagant affairs with stone walls, terraces, and streetlights to simple stairs and rails like East Buchanan Street.
Park Place--lower steps crumbling (Photo: Ann Meehan)
The Department of Sanitation issued a press release a few weeks ago relating to snow removal on NYC step streets.
"Emergency snow laborers are vital to clearing massive amounts of snow and ice from step streets, as well as around bus tops and crosswalks," said DOS Commissioner John Doherty.
The rate of pay begins at $12 an hour and increases to $18 per hour after completing the first 40 hours.
People interested in applying can do so at the Department of Sanitation garage located at 539 Jersey Street.
The most used steps on Staten Island adjoin Borough Hall in St. George and connect Richmond Terrace and Bay Street to Stuyvesant Place.
These steps are architecturally similar to the step streets found elsewhere in the City.
There is another, even steeper set of steps in New Brighton, which connect Park Place to York Ave, about a quater-mile from East Buchanan Steet.
These steps have crumbled over the years down to the structural steel rods in many places.
They are an accident waiting to happen.
John Signoriello can be contacted by email at siexaminer@yahoo.com
Related Articles:
Add a Comment
.jpg)
.jpg)
