Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association Meeting

Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association Meeting 

By Robert Press

Tuesday night was the first in person meeting of the Pelham Parkway Neighborhood Association in over a year, and a crowd of over sixty people came out to hear Bronx Department of Transportation Commissioner Nivardo Lopez address neighborhood complaints of the new E-scooter program in Pelham Parkway. 

PPNA President Edith Blitzer opened the meeting by welcoming the large crowd to the first in person meeting of the organization in over a year. She asked if anyone knew who was putting out bread in the street and park that was creating a rat problem as they were the ones eating the bread. She then introduced Assemblywoman Nathalia Fernandez who said her office was up and running, and handling flood problems for the community. She added that she was participating in an event by the Friends of Pelham Parkway, and all were invited to join in. 

Next up was Bronx DOT commissioner Nivardo Lopez. who went over the E-scoter program, saying NYC waited, because in other cities E-scooter companies went bankrupt, and those cities were left with the E-scooter's. NYC chose three companies they thought were the best, and went into a pilot program in the east side of the Bronx that had natural boundaries such as the Mount Vernon City line, the water, and Bronx River parkway. He added when asked about the liability of the E-scooter, that it was the company that was responsible, even if someone tripped over one in front of a person's property. 

Commissioner Lopez was asked if the more people ride the E-scooter the less they will be walking or getting exercise, to which he replied that would have to be looked at. One person then said they took an E-scooter from the subway about five blocks away rather than walking to the meeting. There were plenty of complaints of the E-scooters being left anywhere and everywhere. Commissioner Lopez said that there is a maximum of forty-eight hours that one can be left outside a marked coral. He added that it must be picked up, and has a GPS so it can easily be found if it is out of bounds. He mentioned that the next phase is to bring 3,000 more E-scooters to Community Boards 9 and 10, as there are 3,000 currently in boards 11 and 12. The meeting ended with a question about an outside dining structure on Lydig Avenue that Commissioner Lopez said he would check into, but there are to be changes made to the program by 2023.

PPNA President Edith Blitzer welcomes everyone to the meeting.

Assemblywoman Fernandez addresses the audience.

Bronx DOT Commissioner Nivardo Lopez answers a question about the E-Scooters.