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Transportation & Environment
Request for a loading zone in front of 225 Fifth Ave, b/t East 26th-27th
WHEREAS, Each weekday and on the weekends, there is "bumper-to-bumper" traffic immediately in front of The 225 Fifth Avenue Condominium (the "building") between 26th and 27th Street at 6pm, when the parking rules change, thereby preventing delivery trucks for the building from pulling up to curbside and thus forcing these trucks to double-park in the eastern-most traffic lane, exacerbating the already heavy traffic conditions; and
WHEREAS, On many week nights, limousines servicing local banks and businesses may also line up in this same lane, further blocking the entrance to this building and thus forcing the delivery trucks to double-park in the second eastern-most traffic lane, which is almost in the middle of Fifth Avenue, further contributing to the heavy traffic conditions; and
WHEREAS, The MTA uses the 26th Street area between Fifth Avenue and Madison Avenue as a staging area for buses, and when busses and other vehicles are stopped at Fifth Avenue waiting to turn, as the bus parking area allows only one lane to be open for through-traffic, this again adds congestion to the already congested street; and
WHEREAS, Taxi cabs and other cars dropping off passengers for the building must frequently stop in the second or even the third eastern-most traffic lane due to the above conditions; and
WHEREAS, These passengers often are unable to walk through the gaps of the stopped or parked vehicles in front of the building and must therefore walk on the street either up or down Fifth Avenue to get to the sidewalk and the entrance to the building; and
WHEREAS, A rooftop bar/nightclub at 230 Fifth Avenue creates a major traffic jam on the western side of Fifth Avenue diagonally across the street from the entrance to the building; and
WHEREAS, Fifth Avenue narrows immediately below 26th Street and, therefore, traffic is often funneling into the middle of Fifth Avenue at high speeds at those times when there is not a high volume of vehicles; and
WHEREAS, All of the above conditions create a unique and dangerous traffic situation which in turn creates significant safety issues for the residents of and visitors to the building; therefore, be it
RESOLVED, That in order to ameliorate the conditions described above, Community Board Five requests that DOT create signage for a No-Standing Zone in front of the entrance to 225 Fifth Avenue that is 20 feet in length, enough to accommodate one vehicle; and be it further
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five requests that DOT extend the hours of commercial parking permitted on 27th Street between Madison Avenue and Fifth Avenue to 10 p.m. from 6 p.m., which would allow delivery trucks to service the building, which abuts that block, during those additional hours without having to occupy traffic lanes on Fifth Avenue.
The above resolution passed with a vote of 32 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstaining.