CB11 Chair threatens lawsuit over MP Ave. road diet
BY ALEX MITCHELL
The implementation of the
Morris Park Avenue ‘road
diet,’ something that’s been
viewed as a proverbial ‘spit in
the eye’ to many Morris Park
residents, will offi cially commence
the week of Sunday,
April 28, and be completed in
six weeks, the NYC Department
of Transportation confi
rmed.
When the road’s re-lining
is complete, the four-lane
thoroughfare will forfeit one
lane in each direction, have
dedicated turn bays and bicycle
lanes on the bustling
business corridor from Newport
Avenue on the east to Adams
Street on the western tip,
while also implementing a
truck loading zones between
Colden and Paulding avenues,
according to DOT.
Since its initial public proposal
in early 2018, the road
diet was sharply criticized by
an overwhelming majority of
Community Board 11 as well
as Councilman Mark Gjonaj.
CB 11 chairman and small
business owner on Morris
Park Avenue, Al D’Angelo, is
currently working with a le-
AG, Crespo unveil groundbreaking eco-friendly truck program
BRONX TIMES REPORTER, A BTR PRIL 19-25, 2019 3
BY ALEX MITCHELL
Here’s a breath of fresh air
for the Bronx. Attorney General
Letitia James unveiled
the fi rst-of-its-kind fl eet of allelectric,
zero-emission, delivery
trucks that will be used
by the New York Botanical
Garden, Bronx Zoo, Sustainable
South Bronx and other
local non-profi t organizations
on Wednesday, April 17.
Some units of the new, ecofriendly
and battery-powered
truck fl eet were on display
outside the Hunts Point Produce
Market, right where
James made the announcement
alongside Assemblyman
Marcos Crespo and
many others involved in what
she called a groundbreaking
initiative.
The specially designed
Mitsubishi Fuso trucks are
so quiet that they only make
a specifi cally designed, slight
noise for traffi c safety purposes.
“The dirty diesel trucks
that crowd our streets are
a major source of our city’s
worst local air pollution,”
James said as a line of the
trucks boisterously cut her
off while pulling into the mar-
Morris Park Avenue. Fernando Justiniano
gal team to sue the city over
the road diet plan, he said.
“It’s criminal what they’re
doing. It’s not their livelihood
here, it’s ours,” the chairman
said.
D’Angelo’s primary concern
with the traffi c project
is that the road diet will harm
the ‘mom and pop’ businesses
on the avenue.
“There’s already no parking
whatsoever on Morris
Park Avenue, adding a loading
zone means more parking
spaces will disappear and double
parking will only continue
to get worse,” D’Angelo said.
“The business community
opposed this, the Morris
Park Business Improvement
District is on record opposing
this,” he continued.
The president of the Bronx
Chamber of Commerce Lisa
Sorin publicly ripped the ‘Vision
Zero Initiative’ plan.
In D’Angelo’ eyes, as well as
many others in Morris Park,
they view the city’s road diet
decision as a David vs. Goliath
struggle, since Mayor de Blasio
is imposing the plan on the
community eventhough it has
made it abundantly clear they
are opposed to the project.
“They’re spending a lot
of money on this, money that
could have gone to something
more benefi cial,” D’Angelo
said, noting that the DOT rejected
the community’s alternative
proposals to the road
diet offered months earlier.
Prior to reaching the point
of legal action, D’Angelo,
Gjonaj and other road diet opponents
had thousands of residents
sign petitions and held
protests to have their voices
heard, but to no avail.
When talks fi rst began on
the road diet proposal, Gjonaj
remained neutral, pledging
to support the community’s
wishes.
“I stand with my community
and will work to stop this
project,” he said.
Gjonaj’s concerns with
the plan are that it could lead
to longer response times for
emergency vehicles bustling
in and out of neighboring Jacobi
Hospital and Montefi ore
Hospital, while at the same
time inadvertently diverting
traffi c to residential side
streets.
“These are just some of
the reasons that residents are
fi rmly against it,” Gjonaj said.
The councilman also expressed
uneasiness that the
area’s congestion will be at an
all time high once the Morris
Park Metro North Railroad
station is constructed in several
years.
Most recently, Gjonaj published
an ‘anti road diet’ petition
on Change.org which has
received over 1,088 electronic
signatures.
It can be viewed at https://
www.change.org/p/bdeblasio
cityhall-nyc-gov-opposethe
morris-park-avenue-roaddiet
plan
Attourney General Letita James and Assemblyman marcos Crespo inside
one of the eco-friendly trucks. Veronica Feliciano
ket.
“Perfect timing,” the attorney
general joked.
She had negotiated twoyear
leases for the specialty
fl eet with Milea Truck of 885
E. 149th Street. Given the vehicles’
unique nature, these
big hauls aren’t sold commercially,
rather only given special
leases with environmentally
conscious non-profi ts,
according to Steven Dorn of
Milea Truck.
Dorn also explained that
due to the emerging and vibrant
eco-technology, the
trucks in this fl eet will likely
be obsoleted and replaced
when the two year lease expiries.
During the lease period,
the attorney general’s offi ce
will study the performance of
the electric trucks deployed
in the project, documenting
their utility and performance.
The fl eet of all-electric
trucks are designed to eliminate
vehicle emissions of all
air pollutants, including soot
which is a known contributor
to asthma, a respiratory condition
the south Bronx knows
all too well.
Crespo spoke about bettering
the respiratory health
of the south Bronx, a place
where residents are victim to
inhaling truck exhaust emanating
from the industrial
Hunts Point area.
“For many years, communities
like the south Bronx
have been unfairly exposed to
negative environmental impacts”
he said.
Over 20 trucks passed by
the market during the brief
press conference, to put it in
perspective.
“Moreover these communities
are are treated negatively
by policies and leaders
who completely ignored the
ramifi cations and effects of
poor air quality on generations
of Bronx residents,” Crespo
continued while commending
the Jame’s initiative.
The use of these trucks
over traditional diesel-fueled
types directly addresses the
soot problem across the borough
as well as the entire city,
according to James.
Other citywide participating
non-profi ts in the environmentally
friendly truck
program are Big Reuse,
GrowNYC and Habitat for Humanity
New York City.
After James hopped in one
of the trucks with Crespo to
check out its specs fi rsthand,
she told the Bronx Times some
of her other environmental
initiatives for the borough.
“We need to utilize more
open space for parks,” James
said.
The attorney general explained
that expanding the
use of green roofs is also pivotal,
just like expanding the
use electric trucks.
Allocating the proper city
and state funding to make the
Bronx greener is also at the
top of her list.
“We also have to fi x the
MTA so we can get cars off
the road,” James said.
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/Change.org