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April 9, 2002
Jack G. Sinagra Dear Chairperson Sinagra: On behalf of the Board of Trustees of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, I would like to thank PATH and its team led by Bill Fellini for its presentation to us regarding the proposed PATH station expansions in Greenwich Village. We appreciate the seriousness of the issues which PATH must address post-September 11th which prompted this proposal. We also appreciate your listening to our concerns, aimed at helping to ensure that any new project in the Greenwich Village Historic District not negatively impact upon the neighborhood’s historic or architectural integrity. We are most concerned about the vulnerability of the proposed locations’ surroundings, as Greenwich Village is one of New York’s most historic neighborhoods, and the immediate vicinity of the proposed exits/entrances contains some of its oldest, frailest, and most culturally significant structures. We have several particular concerns about the locations chosen. Christopher Street is a cross-town bus route and is often used as an alternate route by Staten Island Express buses, among others. Bedford Street is also frequently used by cross-town traffic as an alternative to Houston Street west of Sixth Avenue. Narrowing Christopher Street at these locations could have an extremely negative impact on traffic, as even a parking lane (which would disappear under this plan) does allow some flexibility for traffic. The Bedford and Christopher Street location is directly across from the Lucille Lortel Theater, where taxicabs congregate before and after shows, adding to the potential traffic problems. We fear that constricted vehicular traffic on these streets could have a considerable negative impact on the area. Similarly, as the proposed sidewalk extensions are only four feet wide and the proposed stairs are at least five feet wide (and set in from the new curb), the stairs will necessarily constrict pedestrian traffic on an already crowded sidewalk. If the purpose of the project is to facilitate egress in the case of an emergency, the crowded conditions on Christopher Street’s narrow roadbed and sidewalk seem at odds with this goal. We invite you or your staff to make a site visit with us to the proposed locations to examine the existing crowding conditions which would impact upon, and be impacted by, any new means of egress. All of this highlights the fact that while the existing PATH exits/entrances are on or just off wide streets and major corridors, the proposed locations are on a narrow street with even narrower sidewalks. We understand that the PATH tubes’ structure presents challenges to any alterations or additions, and if the project does move forward, we do not wish to unnecessarily increase the scope of work (and disruption) involved. However, we must ask if the Port Authority has looked at other locations or configurations for additional entrances, such as on Sixth Avenue (especially at or near the West 4th Street Station, or Ruth Wittenberg Triangle, or by connecting the 9th and 14th Street Stations) or Seventh Avenue South (especially in connection to the Christopher Street subway station). Has the Port Authority considered making the new stairs emergency exits only, especially as a new (interim) station is expected to open at the World Trade Center by late 2003? Beyond these concerns, I would like to recapitulate and elaborate upon the requests we made at the presentation, should the proposal move forward:
We would also like to know more about the testing which would be done and the precautions taken to prevent any impact upon nearby structures (i.e. will you be formulating a “protection plan” for the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and will there be daily “control inspections” for the Department of Buildings to ensure no damage to nearby buildings?). We stress that you keep in mind that a small minority of property owners, because of absentee stewardship or because of a desire to demolish or alter their buildings, may not inform you of signs of damage to their structures. Thus we ask that you ensure that your precautions not depend solely upon warning or feedback from building owners. We appreciate your response to these concerns, and look forward to hearing back from you. Sincerely, Andrew Berman Cc: Governor George E. Pataki |