Chelsea residents say a pandemic-related street closing is itself posing a safety hazard by delaying emergency vehicles and it needs to be scrapped.
Metal barriers at the intersection of West 22nd Street and Eighth Avenue close the block off to all but local traffic for a whopping 12 hours a day, every day.
“It’s a moment of panic,” said McLane, an engineer whose family has owned a brownstone on the block since 1971.Helayne SeidmanThe city Department of Transportation added the block between Seventh and Eighth avenues to its controversial Open Streets program in 2020 at the behest of some residents.
Molly Harris, 51, an immigration lawyer who lives on the street, said the barriers cause confusion about who is allowed there and give an unwanted impression that it is an “exclusive street.”