In the last four weeks, our volunteers in Chelsea and Hell’s Kitchen took an inventory of sidewalk obstructions. They identified 423 (!) illegal obstructions.
The obstructions include storm enclosures as large as a studio apartment, the ubiquitous sandwich boards in bands of 2 or 3, cafe furniture left in the snow, advertising, hand trucks, shopping carts, products (half the store) etc.. You name it, it is on the sidewalk !
This list has been sent to our Council Member to obtain enforcement. 8th and 9th Avenues are of particular concern since the sidewalks there are significantly narrower than on the other avenues and pedestrian often have to jaywalk because of the sidewalk crowding.
Thank you to Will Rogers, Burt Lazarin, Ernest Modarelli, George Forbes, David Solnick and Mark Robinson for going out in the freezing weather for this much needed inventory.