LoHud ; By Theresa Juva-Brown and Khurram Saeed
May 4, 2013
The massive effort to build a new Tappan Zee Bridge will create a grand spectacle on the river that likely will draw crowds of curious onlookers.
While Tarrytown has plenty of public waterfront where official viewing areas can be set up, that’s not the case across the river. Because there are no public spaces along the South Nyack shore, residents there are concerned that people will wander onto their properties to watch the $3.9 billion project take shape.
Trespassing is already a problem at South Nyack’s Salisbury Point, co-op Vice President Judy Hirschhorn said. The 120-unit riverfront complex has a front-row view of the Tappan Zee that often attracts outside visitors who make themselves at home on the complex’s sprawling lawn. Some cyclists are also notorious for urinating in Salisbury Point’s bushes, she said.
Residents worry that when heavy construction starts on the new Tappan Zee, spectators from all over will flock to their parking lots to get a glimpse of the action.
“We think it’s going to be a huge problem,” she said.
Nyack Mayor Jen Laird-White said some people might go to Nyack’s Memorial Park to get unimpeded — but distant — views of the construction.
One resident has proposed getting the project team to help overhaul Memorial Park, including moving the parking lot to Nyack Municipal Marina and building a pedestrian bridge over the inlet to connect the two areas, she said.
Meanwhile, leaders in Tarrytown are already looking at the village’s waterfront for possible viewing stations, including Losee and Pierson parks and the River Walk.
David Aukland, Tarrytown’s liaison to the project, said he envisions an area where people could not only watch construction but also learn about the project.
“We know the public is interested, and we’d rather them have clear information than have them guess,” he said.
The area, which he said would likely be created by the Thruway Authority and Tappan Zee Constructors, could include binoculars and signs that explain the work. The signs could also feature tags people scan with their smartphones to get information about local wildlife and history, he said.
That would be similar to the approach taken by another huge public works project, the reconstruction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which has a designated viewing area. The location offers information on the bridge’s history and great views of the self-anchored suspension portion of the new Bay Bridge East Span, said John Goodwin, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission.
Brian Conybeare, Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s special adviser on the Tappan Zee Bridge project, said the project team is discussing possible viewing sites with officials on both sides of the river.
“The goal is to find safe, accessible, public areas where people can view the project and take pictures once construction gets going, but no final determination on locations has been made,” he said in an email.
In addition to asking the project team for security fencing and cameras, Salisbury officials plan to post more trespassing signs and work with South Nyack-Grand View police to keep an eye out for unwelcome visitors.
Hirschhorn said measures need to be in place soon. Dredging of the river bottom is set to start in August and will likely attract attention, she said.
“We can’t have people walking all over our property,” she said.