Tag Archives: albany street

Dangerous intersection at Albany and West Street

Crosswalk Countdowns To Be Installed On West Side Highway

Dangerous intersection at Albany and West Street
Albany and West Street has been a fatal intersection in our area.

We don’t have to wait for New Years Eve to see countdown clocks in Manhattan.

After several studies on pedestrian safety within the five boroughs, the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) and Mayor Bloomberg have announced plans to install crosswalk countdown clocks at all major New York City intersections.

Added with our 1.2 Million dollar infusion of crosswalk guards in our area, multiple bridges and now the countdown clocks — theoretically we might be the safest crossing area in all of Manhattan.

According to Mayor Bloomberg, “we’ve made historic gains in reducing traffic fatalities, and this year we are seeing pedestrian fatalities decline again. But we still see too many families devastated by traffic accidents. [The] countdown signals across the city, will make streets even safer, especially for the pedestrians who, year in and year out, account for the majority of New York’s traffic fatalities.”

Battery Park City is certainly not immune to traffic fatalities. Last year 26-year-old Marilyn Feng of 200 Rector Place was hit and killed by a drunk driver while crossing the West Side Highway at Albany Street.  A notoriously dangerous six lane intersection. Before that incident, our area recorded 1-2 pedestrian injuries at year.

In response to the study, countdown clocks will be installed at every intersection crossing West street in our area.

Other interesting findings include:

Some of the key findings in the report include:

1. Pedestrian fatalities in 2009 were down nearly 20 percent from 2001.
2. In the event of a crash, pedestrians are 10 times more likely to die than a motor vehicle occupant.
3. Pedestrians accounted for 52 percent of traffic fatalities from 2005-2009.
4. Driver inattention was cited in 36 percent of crashes resulting in pedestrians killed or seriously injured.
5. Driver failure to yield was cited in 27 percent of fatal pedestrian crashes.
6. Pedestrian-vehicle crashes involving unsafe speeds are twice as deadly as other crashes.
7. Serious pedestrian crashes are about two-thirds deadlier on major street corridors than on smaller local streets.
8. Most New Yorkers do not know the city’s standard speed limit is 30 m.p.h.
9. Male drivers are involved in 80 percent of crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians.
10. Private vehicles – not taxis, trucks or buses – are involved in 79 percent of crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians.
11. Manhattan has four times as many pedestrians killed or severely injured per mile of street compared to the other four boroughs.
12. Pedestrians killed in Manhattan lived in other boroughs or outside New York City 43 percent of the time.

How do you feel about the study and new countdown clocks?

blt bar and gril w hotel downtown

NOW OPEN: BLT Bar & Grill at W Hotel Downtown (PHOTOS)

blt bar and gril w hotel downtown
Food scene grows in Battery Park City with the opening of our own BLT

Are you looking for a great dinner option tonight, and have gotten tired of the restaurants around you?
You’re in luck because today marks the opening of the long awaited BLT Bar & Grill at the new W Hotel Downtown on Albany Street.

“We are pleased to partner with the W and become a presence in Lower Manhattan,” says Jimmy Haber, owner of the BLT Restaurant Group, “The BLT Bar & Grill concept was tailor-made for the neighborhood, offering a variety of dining options under one roof for friends, businesses and locals.”

The BLT enterprise has been testing our downtown palates with their GO Burger trucks at the South Street Seaport for a while, you can consider that they’ve done their homework on our neighborhood. With the rumored openings of Shake Shack and Blue Smoke in our neighborhood, Battery Park City is set to be a veritable foodie fiefdom.

According to the press release the restaurant bills itselve as “a modern tavern — offering modern American bar food with a wide selection of cocktails, beer and wine” with Executive Chefs Christophe Bellanca and David Craine at the helm of the cuiisine. The restaurant seats 23 at the bar, and has two levels of seating, including a private dining room and an outside patio area.

As BLT is billing itself as “affordable fare for everyday dining, ” that may be considered fighting words for our beloved Gatehouse, which has been the only other restaurant offering everyday pub-ish fare on Albany Street for years.

In terms of the menu, include the following selections:

Breakfast:
Brioche French Toast with cinnamon-caramelized apples
“Downtown” Burrito, cheddar scrambled eggs, peppers and onion tomato salsa.

Lunch:
Eggplant & Taleggio Panini with caper aioli
Cuban Sandwich pressed with pork belly and speck.

Dinner:
Spiced Rotisserie Chicken with cabernet honey and chicken jus
Fish & Chips with zesty tartar sauce
Filet Mignon, Bone-In Ribeye and NY Strip steaks.

There are daily specials being offered and to find out more check out their breakfast, lunch, dinner, and bar menus here.

The restaurant is open daily serving breakfast from 6:30AM -10:30AM, lunch from 11:30AM – 2:30PM and dinner from 5:30PM – 10PM. The bar is open from 11AM-1AM, which includes its own special bar menu.  Lucky condominium residents and guests of the W Hotel can count on BLT to provide them sustenance at their beck and call for “in residence dining”, including offering food options at Living Room Bar and Terrace location within the hotel.