Friday, March 25th, 2011

After Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer noticed what he thought to be an error on bus stop signs on the west side of 5th Avenue, he sent a stern note to the Department of Transportation asking for a correction.  The bus stop signs, which run along the sidewalk that borders 5th Avenue and Central Park, indicate the east-west streets as “West” (as in “5 Avenue & West 84 St”).

But The New York Times notes that these signs may not be incorrect after all… because the signs sit on the west side of 5th Avenue, they are technically in the western zone of the street grid.  Although the rule is a technicality, this means that Upper West Siders can declare Central Park, and even the Metropolitan Museum of Art, as part of our ‘hood.

The reason for the rule is hazy, with even historians unable to explain the streetscape.  Samuel I. Schwartz, a former transportation commissioner and a longtime authority on New York’s streetscape, said he believed the city’s bus stop signs were, in fact, correct.  “Let’s be pure about it,” he said, “and keep 5th Avenue as the dividing line.”  Mr. Stringer, however, insisted that the signs were confusing at best and a danger at worst.  “These are nonexistent streets, which do not actually appear until you’re standing on the other side of Central Park,” he said.  Despite the likelihood that Upper East Siders would probably not give up Central Park without a fight, a spokesman for the Transportation Department, Seth Solomonow, said that the signs in question had been installed, in full public view, since 1997, and not a single person has filed a complaint.  Still, Mr. Solomonow added, the agency would inspect the signs and “make any changes with a sticker overlay.”

Until any changes are made, we can be safe assuming that the Upper West Side’s favorite park to the east is still ours.

Filed under: Central Park, Landmark, Manhattan, Nature, New York City, News, NYC, Politics, Transportation, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, UWS 2 Comments »
Tags: 5th Avenue, Bus, Bus Stop, Bus Stop Signs, Central Park, Department of Transportation, Fifth Avenue, Manhattan Borough President, Met, Metropolitan Museum of Art, News, Samuel I. Schwartz, Scott Stringer, Signs, The Met, Transportation