It’s going off the crushed path.
New York Metropolis took eight months to complete roughly 30 blocks of motorbike lane on the West Aspect — and an analogous undertaking alongside the scenic Hudson River Greenway is anticipated to languish for one more yr, The Publish has discovered.
The prolonged metropolis tasks have been agonizing for cyclists, forcing some to pedal throughout harmful streets and even ignore development indicators.
“They are taking their sweet time with this construction,” mentioned Danny Diaz, 37, a automotive rental employee who bikes alongside the Hudson River Greenway from work in Brooklyn.
“I’ve been living in New York for a while, so you expect they don’t complete things when they say they will, but this is kind of ‘come on man.’ They don’t even have that much work to do.”
Diaz’s frustration — and people of many locals and cyclists who spoke to The Publish — stems from overlapping closures of Riverside Park’s Cherry Stroll Greenway between a hundredth Road and St. Clair Place and the Fort Washington Park Greenway between West 181st and Dyckman Streets.
Each are a part of the broader Hudson River Greenway that gives pedestrians and cyclists a picturesque, car-free journey alongside Manhattan’s West Aspect.
The primary leg began in September, as crews launched into a $1.5 million undertaking to reconstruct the Cherry Stroll Greenway, take away cracks and clean out its floor.
However cyclists griped that the closure got here with a harmful detour by way of the inexperienced area’s pedestrian-clogged walkways and onto Riverside Drive.
Additionally they grew pissed off that the undertaking’s March finish date not solely got here and went, however the metropolis Division of Parks & Recreation listed it as completed — regardless of the trail nonetheless being closed, with detour indicators remaining into Might.
Some adventurous cyclists took to ignoring the development obstacles.
Two weeks in the past, The Publish noticed private coach Kenny Wong, 61, leaping the fence and using his bike alongside the freshly paved — however as but unopened — Cherry Stroll Greenway.
“I’m from New York, I don’t pay attention to the fences,” the Higher West Aspect resident mentioned.
“What are they going to do? Tell me to leave?”
Parks officers mentioned pavement markers wanted to be accomplished earlier than the trail may very well be reopened.
The trail lastly reopened by this week, however cyclists now need to deal with the Fort Washington Park closure — which is anticipated to finish in March 2026, in line with the parks division.
The undertaking close to the George Washington Bridge, with a price ticket of lower than $1 million, will reconstruct a section of motorbike path alongside the Henry Hudson Parkway.
Even earlier than it closed for development in April, the trail had sporadically been blocked off to cyclists and pedestrians due to sinkholes.
“I can’t walk my dog uptown because of the sinkhole,” mentioned Sam Wolgemuth, 35, a Washington Heights resident.
“They tried fixing the sinkholes in the past, but it didn’t work, I guess. It’s been closed off and on for two years.”
Peter Freed, 72, a videographer from Riverdale, added that the closure’s detour sends cyclists equivalent to himself to a stretch of Broadway between Dyckman and West 181st streets that’s harmful for these on two wheels.
“The detour’s terrible — there’s potholes, there’s cars double-parked that the cops don’t care about, there are scooter delivery hubs,” he mentioned.
Freed famous a “beautiful” new bike path on the Henry Hudson Bridge — an MTA undertaking — successfully emptied onto a treacherous detour for the closed Hudson River Greenway.
He puzzled why the town didn’t coordinate their tasks, together with the Riverside Park path, to be achieved on the identical time.
“Why don’t they do the work in the winter? We had a fairly mild winter,” he mentioned. “It’s stupid.”
The parks division dodged The Publish’s question about cyclists’ frustrations in regards to the closures and detours main by way of tough streets.
“We’re committed to ensuring our public spaces can safely accommodate the diverse ways New Yorkers engage with them—whether they’re commuting, exercising, relaxing, or simply enjoying the outdoors—by prioritizing accessibility, thoughtful design, and shared use for all,” mentioned Tricia Shimamura, NYC Parks’ borough commissioner for Manhattan, in a press release.
The sinkhole downside alongside the entire Hudson River Greenway prompted the parks division to start out a 12-month research to delve into engineering alternate options for the restoration of a retaining wall that might get rid of future sinkholes, officers mentioned.
Contractors have began engaged on the sinkholes and are anticipated to complete by the summer season, officers mentioned.
