Frustrated at the limited space available for passing foot traffic at the bus stop located on Webster Avenue by East 204th Street in Norwood, local resident, Sirio Guerino, recently highlighted the accessibility issue with City representatives and local elected officials to see what could be done to address it. Due to a combination of factors, several City agencies are impacted.

 

“There is absolutely no room for a wheelchair-bound person, walker, or baby carriage to use this location’s sidewalk due to the blockage of the recently built outdoor extension of the restaurant, extra large tree pits, NYC Link info tower, three MTA Select bus service ticket machines, [a] new construction shed, [and the] location of [the] garbage bag pick up for [the] building [at] 3103 Webster Avenue,” Guerino, cofounder of Guerinos against Graffitti*, said. “I hope this problem will be rectified by summertime, and NOT put on a list to be rectified in 5 to 10 years!”

 

Norwood News visited the site on April 19 and spoke to some pedestrians in the area about accessibility. Silna Harris, accompanied by her companion, who was using a wheeled mobility device, said she used the bus stop “often enough.” Harris added, “The only problem I’m having is where the bus stop is at, where they have the machine for the bus right at that corner because they’re building housing right there.”

She continued, “So there are problems going down [Webster Avenue],” she said. Asked if there was room enough to pass by with difficulty with the mobility device or not at all, she said, “Yeah, we’re able to go past because if the workers are there, you’ll be able to go between, and you will have to ask the people to move or something.” On the topic of accessibility and also the new affordable housing construction site on Webster Avenue adjacent to the bus stop, Harris said, “It’s not easy…..but we need the housing!”

 

We later spoke to an employee at the construction site, Javier, who said he was working for the general contractor and asked if he noticed if people had difficulty passing by the sidewalk in the area given all the foot traffic, the bus stop, the outdoor dining, and the ticket machines etc. He said he and his construction team sometimes spoke with the Super from the adjacent building, located between his construction site and Estrellita restaurant on the corner of East 204th and Webster, and that the Super hadn’t complained about anything “yet.”

 

“Sometimes they bring the garbage out,” Javier said. “They put it right here on the sidewalk on our property but you know, it doesn’t really bother… but the problem is, as you can see, those MTA things. They are on the people’s way, you know? We’re trying to follow DOB’s requirements for the fence of five feet [wide on] the curb so people can walk through all the way along. We left an extra space because we’re going to be building a sidewalk shed,” he added.

Norwood News also spoke with another pedestrian, Felix Bejaran, who said he generally passed by the bus stop area each day. He was wheeling his shopping in a cart when we met him. Speaking in Spanish, he said, “A little bit more space is needed.”

 

We contacted NYC Department of Buildings (DOB), NYC Department of Transportation (DOT), NYC Office of Technology & Innovation (OTI), NYC Department of Parks & Recreation (Parks), NYC Department of Sanitation (DSNY) and the MTA for comment on the various points raised by Guerino.

 

Vincent Gragnani from DSNY responded, saying, “We visited the location today [April 19] and we will instruct the building management to place their trash and recycling between the trees to try and alleviate the sidewalk obstruction. We be monitoring the location for compliance.”

Ray Legendre from OTI, meanwhile, responded, clarifying, “There’s no LinkNYC kiosk at 204^th and Webster Avenue.” Referring to the “NYC Link info tower” referenced by Guerino, he said, “This is a DOT wayfaring [wayfinding] map. We’re not permitted to site Links that close to bus stops.”

 

WalkNYC is the City’s wayfinding system, comprising a collection of [electronic] maps and sign [structures] that help New Yorkers find their way around the City. According to DOT’s website, most WalkNYC structures are located on sidewalks, at Citi Bike stations or ferry terminals, and inside subway stations. The WalkNYC map design is also used for the NYC Bike Map and NYC & Co.’s Official Map of New York City.

 

David Maggiotto, DOB deputy press secretary, responded to our inquiry, saying, “As the issue pertains to sidewalks which are managed by DOT, we will defer to their agency for comment.” DOT did respond but also suggested that Norwood News check with DOB if there were any building additions, which we have done and the department later provided the following information on the construction taking place next to the sidewalk.

 

DOB signed off on complete demolition of the structures at 3099 Webster Ave and 3101 Webster Avenue, which are the lots adjacent to the dining shed and the MTA kiosks. In a addition to the demo permits, the department approved and issued permits for an 11-story building construction at 3095 Webster, which encompasses the lots of 3099 Webster and 3101 Webster.

 

According to DOB, the work should not impact/block the sidewalk, and DOB hasn’t registered any complaints in this regard. A diagram of the proposed building is attached, and the outdoor extension of the restaurant would be located in the lower right-hand corner of the diagram, in front of the 6-story residential building.

 

Meanwhile, Chris Clark, press officer for Parks, said, “NYC Parks is committed to ensuring our public realm is accessible and safe for all New Yorkers. We encourage New Yorkers to report inaccessible conditions or other violations by calling 311.”

According to Parks, the tree pit pictured by Guerino was installed as part of a [NYC Department of Design & Construction] DDC project, “adding offset trees to new bus stops/shelters along the BX41 SBS line,” aiming to create new tree canopy along the bus shelters and stops. According to Parks, the pits are intentionally large to provide shared rooting space for multiple trees and the tree pit design is generally only permitted where there is enough sidewalk to accommodate the pit and allow adequate space for pedestrian traffic.

 

Parks officials also explained that it appeared that, since the installation of the tree pit, an outdoor dining shed was built adjacent to it. They advised that DOT is responsible for overseeing outdoor dining structures and requested we contact DOT for further information. Parks also provided a photo which showed the site in question prior to the installation of the dining shed, which showed there was much more pedestrian space available at that time.

 

Clark provided the attached photo further below of the junction prior to the installation of the dining shed, where more space was available for passing foot traffic.

 

DOT also replied to our inquiry, saying, “DOT inspected the location today [April 19] and identified some areas where not enough passable space was provided, issuing a violation for fencing being too far out onto the sidewalk. The building will work with DOT to remedy the set-up. DOT will monitor and issue violations as needed if this isn’t rectified.”

We asked if by “the building,” DOT was referring to the new affordable housing construction or the building next door or the restaurant on the corner. We will update this story upon receipt of clarification from DOT.

 

Guerino told Norwood News, “There’s only two feet and five feet on one side of that tower for the cell phone [DOT NYC Walks wayfinder structure] which has already been vandalized because there’s wires hanging out of it, so they don’t even maintain this stuff.” He continued in part, “If they didn’t build the extended restaurant during the pandemic when they allowed restaurants to extend their outdoor dining, which was only supposed to be a temporary thing, they turned around and made all them things permanent when they should have investigated this location and said, ‘Ok, half of it can stay, but the other half of it has got to go’.”

 

Located at the corner of the intersection is an enclosed outdoor dining area on the Webster Avenue sidewalk. “Basically, if they had done that, technically, I would have no complaints because the sidewalk would be back there, but they didn’t do that,” Guerino said.

Norwood News reported previously on mixed opinions among residents in the debate on whether to extend outdoor dining. In the end, the City voted to extend the program. “I was hoping they wouldn’t,” Guerino said. “It got approved by whoever the powers be. It was approved by the City, period, and they put it under the jurisdiction of DOT. How do you even know if this place is paying for the permit? I don’t even know if they investigated… if they have people there. I have no clue if they’re even on the list to be ok.”

 

Norwood News followed up again with DOT to ask about the status of the license for the enclosed outdoor dining shed at the corner of East 204th and Webster Avenue, which falls under that department’s Open Restaurants Program. We will update this story upon receipt of feedback from DOT on this point.

Since June 18, 2020, the NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection (DCWP) no longer accepts applications for Sidewalk Café Licenses. Instead of this license, restaurants must apply for the Open Restaurants Program, managed by DOT. There are two options for expanded outdoor dining according to DOT:

• Open Restaurants – individual food service establishments may apply and self-certify to use the sidewalk or roadway adjacent to their business.
• Open Streets Full Closure – community-based organizations or groups of three (3) or more restaurants may join together to apply online for an Open Streets Full Closure for outdoor dining on streets temporarily closed to traffic. More information and locations on nyc.gov/openstreets.

Meanwhile, Mayor Eric Adams announced the appointment of Ya-Ting Liu on Feb. 16, the City’s first ever public-realm czar. Adams said the appointment delivered on what he said was a key promise from his State of the City address. In her role, Liu coordinates across city government, community organizations, and the private sector to “create extraordinary public spaces across the city to drive the city’s economic recovery.”

 

Adams signed an executive order codifying the creation of the position on the same date “ensuring that New Yorkers continue to have a one-stop shop for all issues related to public space.” Guerino said he couldn’t find an appropriate email contact for Liu when he wanted to raise the issues with the City regarding the side walk access on Webster Avenue.

We asked Guerino who, as reported, has been honored on several occasions for his community work, if he had witnessed people with disabilities or perhaps parents with strollers struggling to pass by the bus stop in question. He replied, “Now, to answer the question, how do you know that I’m not one of those persons? I know what it is to be in somebody else’s shoes and walk a mile in ’em. Let’s put it that way, so yeah, I know what it is.”

 

He added, “Definitely all through my life I watched people as a kid. I watched people being victimized and it irked me that thing… and now that I’m old enough, and big enough, and powerful enough to do things for other people, I got a superman complex. I want to be Captain America! I hate to say it but that’s just the way I am. I don’t know how my wife puts up with me with all this stuff, honestly, because I’m always on another crusade!”

 

Editor’s Note: The image provided by NYC Department of Parks & Recreation of the junction at Webster Avenue and East 204th Street prior to the installation of the dining shed was not in fact a rendering as previously stated but an actual photo. The article has since been updated to reflect this. We apologize for the error.