By Patrick Hedlund
DNAinfo News Editor
LOWER EAST SIDE — Deep potholes on Eldridge Street are forcing pedestrians to jump and juke through neighborhood crosswalks to avoid tripping on the craggy blacktop.
On the north and south sides of the intersection at Eldridge and Delancey streets, the large holes pock the heavily trafficked crossing lanes and present an obstacle course for passing pedestrians.
“It’s obviously a big hole,” said Qiong Chen, 32, who was walking with her two daughters along Delancey Street Wednesday when one of her children pointed out the cavernous gap, which looks at least a foot deep. “It’s really dangerous.”
Gar Jing, 18, who often walks through the intersection on his way to the gym, said he’s twisted his ankle on area’s jagged streets.
“It’s definitely a problem, but very little people know what to do about it,” he said. “If more people were knowledgeable about what they could do, I’m sure people would take more action.”
On the south side of Delancey Street at Eldridge Street, an even more noticeable gouge has begun collecting trash and makes navigating the crosswalk tricky for some of the neighborhood’s elderly residents.
A group visiting from the Bronx on Wednesday had to be fleet-footed to avoid tripping.
“They’re asking for trouble,” said Karen Pell, 57, who cautioned a friend to watch out as they approached the gash. “When somebody falls and sues the city, then they’ll fix it.”
However, Pell’s friend said it wasn’t surprising.
“It’s kind of what you kind of expect from city roads,” said Nora Reale, 47. “It’s part of the charm.”
Through June of this year, the city's 311 hotline had received more than 600 complaints for street- or sidewalk-related issues in the 10002 zip code, according to city records.
The Department of Transportation indicated that the potholes may be due to conditions beneath the ground, and that the agency has reached out to the appropriate utility companies to make the repairs.
A block south on Eldridge Street at Broome Street, another crater in the street that sits outside the crosswalk was repaved by work crews early Thursday morning.
But the patch job is already showing wear with multiple cars running over it, neighbors said.
Rafael Perez, who works at the Chinese Hispanic Grocery at the corner of Eldridge and Broome streets said crews regularly come and fill in the potholes, but that the patches eventually give way.
“I hear a lot of people complain that there’s a big hole there,” Perez said, adding that locals have sought to cover it up using their own methods. “Sometimes they put a garbage container over it.”
