Staten Island Greenway Killed by BP—Greenbelt Now Threatened
 

Write the Mayor and Borough President Today !

by Dick Buegler

March 14, 2005—An excerpt from the Gotham Gazette:

The (NYC) parks department has quietly shelved a fully funded and planned $1.2 million Staten Island greenway that local residents have worked for many years to get built. Borough President James P. Molinaro, who wields tremendous political power on the island and whose support Mayor Michael Bloomberg needs for reelection, is blocking the project because of concerns that it would limit future road-building options. The route, which goes through residential neighborhoods, would provide a recreational corridor between the waterfront and the island's wooded interior Greenbelt, and would also link to a greenway system being pieced together in the borough and throughout the city. For the full story go to:
http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/parks/20050315/14/1350.
 

If you read this story in the Gotham Gazette back in mid-March, you only had to wait two weeks to discover, in the Staten Island Advance, what it was all about. If you were worried that the BP was throwing good federal funds away, you were wrong. The BP may have found a way to obtain and use those funds to violate and irreparably destroy the Staten Island Greenbelt. His plan would undo the years of planning to fulfill Frederick Law Olmstead’s dream of a Staten Island park preserve incorporating most of the hilly, central undeveloped area.

On March 28, the Staten Island Advance had a first-page article with the heading, “Bicycle trails to run through the Greenbelt—6 miles of stone paths will be created starting this summer under a 2.5M federal grant.” (Click here for a map of the planned bicycle trails).  Unfortunately this is Borough President James Molinaro’s landscaping design gift to the future residents of Staten Island, even though there is little evidence that that is what they want or need. Former Borough President Guy Molinari also was not a strong proponent of saving vast undeveloped natural areas as public parks in the Olmstead tradition. It means fewer buildable tracts, less development, less construction, fewer sales, smaller population, lower tax returns, and fewer political campaign contributors.

Instead of wise land banking for future generations of Staten Islanders’ needs, Molinari was still in favor of building the Richmond and Willowbrook Parkways, which would bisect the entire Greenbelt into four quadrants with Mt. Moses dead center, as the major cloverleaf interchange for the two superhighways. In 1975, important wetlands legislation was enacted, making the destruction of those wetlands involved impossible. Even so, Molinari persisted in pushing for parkway building during his tenure and long after he left office.

We suspect Molinari passed along his superhighway dream to his successor, James P. Molinaro. Molinaro decided a small section of the end of the proposed Willowbrook Parkway, across the street from the entrance to Gateway National Recreation Area, should be kept as a potential desirable road addition, in effect throwing out the Staten Island Greenway plans for the Amundsen Trailway.

Molinaro certainly doesn’t want to “waste” the land on the cross-Island bike pathway that already had $1.2M in allocated federal funding—a beautiful community amenity that would stretch from Gateway to the Greenbelt. Somehow, Molinaro has managed to transfer those dedicated funds to the 6-mile Greenbelt circular, ground stone, bicycle trail. One cyclist publicly welcomed this crushed stone 6-mile circle—to nowhere—but other cyclists want to retain a more pristine Greenbelt for the wide variety of passive family activities that occur there. As another cyclist put it, he “would prefer natural trails to the planned screened stone trails. They’re kind of urbanizing the Greenbelt by putting a paved trail in this tremendous natural resource.”

Stick to the Master Plan

A great deal of time, money and effort went into the Greenbelt Master Plan that was adopted by Mayor Dinkins, Parks Commissioner Gotbaum, and Borough President Molinari in 1991. It was presented and accepted by Community Boards and Civic Associations in the 1990's. That plan has now given us the Staten Island Greenbelt Park. No one in NYC has ever planned a park where pedestrian walkers come into conflict with biking enthusiasts. Biking is not permitted in NYC parks, except on "park roads" at times and places designated by the Commissioner, and on "bike paths," and other areas specifically designated by the Commissioner. They are not permitted on pedestrian paths or in vegetated areas. Central Park, for example, has no bicycle trails or mountain bike trails. On weekends, however, some Central Park roadways are closed down for bicycle, pedestrian and rollerblade usage, much as occurs on weekends on the Silver Lake Road on Staten Island.

It’s hard to imagine that the Borough President, at this late stage of park planning, can get these stone, cycling path plans approved, then acquire the federal transportation funds to destroy a large natural area to install the biking trails and then convince the Staten Island community that their Greenbelt Park needs this solution. Our Borough Parks Commissioner, Thomas Paulo has made no comment about this sudden, Molinaro-created, turn of events.

The Greenbelt Master Plan, which already was paid for with planning funds, provided cyclists with welcome perimeter cycling trails which are being developed. Do we sacrifice all this money, work and community involvement to a politician’s whim to redesign Staten Island to his own view of what the Island’s future needs might be?

Protectors of Pine Oak Woods, Staten Island’s two thousand-member conservation/outdoor organization was never asked to comment. Since Protectors was not consulted, I doubt if the many dozens of walking/hiking groups in the NY Metropolitan area, all members of the New York-New Jersey Trail Conference were ever contacted. These organizations probably represent at least a hundred thousand outdoor enthusiasts who treasure unspoiled, undeveloped natural areas and work towards preservation of more natural areas.

If this 6-mile, crushed stone, circular bicycle trail addition to the Greenbelt is not what you want, let Borough President James P. Molinaro and Mayor Michael Bloomberg know that you want the Staten Island Greenbelt protected. No additional trails. No bicycling paths, no stone pavements, no further destruction of native wildlife or vegetation. Please write, phone and e-mail them today.