Sustaining The Nature Of New York

1
Sustaining The Nature Of New York

• Paul Zappitielli

2
EAB
In a previous presentation, I discussed the
creation of an Environmental Awareness Blitz
(EAB) to address the problem of environmental
ignorance in New York City.
I advocated the creation of advertisements,
similar to those used by the MTA, to target New
Yorkers in specific areas throughout the city.
The advertisements would be strategically placed
in the five boroughs, addressing particular
problems effecting those specific neighborhoods.
3
EAB
Of the many problems faced by people from my
community, Bayside, the problem of dependency on
gasoline is by far the worst.
I have chosen to take a leap from simple
advertisements to an actual plan for dealing with
automobile traffic throughout Bayside. But it is
vital to understand the automobile problem in the
city and its roots.
4
The Power Broker
Though it is grossly unfair to blame one person
for the unrestrained expansion of the automobile
for much of the first half of the 20th century,
Robert Moses did more than any other New Yorker
to shape the city into the highway central it is
today.
While many of his public projects were for good,
many were also for bad. Moses despised public
transportation and doomed the city by building
every one of his highways without a railroad
link.
A railroad link would have been invaluable to the
citys highways, not just for traffic, but to
ease the excessive gasoline usage that makes New
Yorkers ecological footprint so very large.
5
The Power Broker
The average New Yorker has an extremely high
ecological footprint.
This is, in part, due to the fact that New York
is a virtual maze of interstate highways and
arterial parkways.
Unfortunately for our ecological footprint, these
highways are here to stay as embedded into
neighborhoods as the people living there are.
6
The Power Broker
Like the cornerstone of a building, the skeleton
of the city is shaped by his overarching hand in
the form of three lane highways.
Since the time of Robert Moses, city project
planning and environmentalism have been cursed by
the double edged sword of community expansion.
Communities are now too large and too strong to
invoke any sort of change that deviates from what
already exists.
This is why any new public project would need to
be built in accordance with the existing frame of
the city.
7
Air Train
Nowhere is this more true than with the Van Wyck
Expressway and the Air Train.
The Van Wyck Expressway is synonymous with
unyielding traffic jams for miles heading to JFK
airport.
But a seemingly hopeless plan began to take
serious form in 1997 in the form of Air Train.
Air Train provides a rail link from the Jamaica
Railroad-Subway Station to JFK International
Airport.
The train runs atop the median of the Van Wyck
Expressway.
8
The Air Train Plan
Calling for something similar on many of the
roads throughout the city would ease traffic and
congestion. This is why I call for an Air Train
Plan
Environmentally, taking a train to and from work,
as opposed to driving, would save money on
gasoline.
And building atop existing thoroughfares is the
only conceivable mass-transit solution to New
Yorks dependency on the automobile.
9
The Air Train Plan
Of the two highways that cut through Bayside,
only the Cross Island Parkway would be suitable
for an Air Train Plan. The Clearview Expressway
runs only from The Throgs Neck Bridge to The
Grand Central Parkway.
The Cross Island Parkway, however, from the
Whitestone Bridge to Sunrise Highway, is longer
and would be able to serve more residents.
This Cross Island Railroad Project should be one
of many railroad expansion projects for the
citys roadway system.
10
EAB
But highway expansion alone will not be enough.
In order to deal with the increased population in
Bayside, other expansions of mass transit are
needed.
11
West Side Expansion
Mayor Bloomberg, Governor Pataki, Robert Johnson
and other billionaires are striving to build a
West Side Stadium in part of a West Side
Expansion of unused property on the Hudson.
Part of this West Side Expansion Plan calls for
the extension of the IRT 7 Subway Line to the
proposed stadium.
12
East Side Expansion
I, however, am not a billionaire. But I call for
expansion of the 7 line as well. Except, I call
for the expansion on The East side (of the city),
not The West Side (of Manhattan). I call it East
Side Expansion.
I call for extending the old IRT Subway line
further into Queens along Northern Boulevard,
terminating at the proposed Cross Island Railroad
Station
13
East Side Expansion
The subway system in the city services most of
the five boroughs with the exception of the East
Side of Queens.
Nearly all the subways were built over 50 years
ago, when the eastern termini were mostly rural
and empty.
However, since that time, there has been much
expansion east of the termini of the major lines
(7,F,E,J,Z,A). Therefore an East Side Expansion,
of at least the 7 line, would be appropriate.
14
East Side Expansion
This East Side Expansion would do wonders for
public transportation in Bayside.
It would cut down on automobile usage and
congestion along many highway routes (such as the
LIE, Clearview, and Whitestone Expressways and
the Cross Island and Grand Central Parkways).
It would also reduce the ecological footprint of
most Baysiders whose footprints, like mine, are
dangerously high.
15
Sustaining The Nature of New York
In order to sustain the Nature of New York,
changes must be made.
Necessary expansions of mass transit must be made
before our ecological footprint becomes too large
and human life is no longer sustainable in the
five boroughs.
Implementation of The Air Train Plan and The East
Side Expansion are viable public works projects
that would protect New York from destroying
itself.