By Suzanne Ma
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
CITY HALL — Angry Chinatown residents backed by John Liu, the newly-nominated Democratic candidate for comptroller, turned out at a tense transportation committee hearing Thursday where Liu accused city officials of ramming major construction projects "down the throats of the community."
On the residents' hit list are speeding traffic coming off the Manhattan Bridge they say endangers pedestrians, the ongoing closure of Park Row to residential traffic, and the reconstruction of Chatham Square. They want the Dept. of Transportation to actively seek feedback from the community about major projects.
"The DOT thinks they can come in here and make changes to our community without engaging in any kind of meaningful dialogue," said Chinatown resident and business owner, Jan Lee. "We're letting them know that's not going to work."
Liu, who's also chair of the City Council's transportation committee, grilled DOT Deputy Commissioner David Woloch about the project in Chatham Square, an intersection of seven streets near Police Plaza.
The city has envisioned a three-year, $50 million project to add a pedestrian promenade and green space to the area. Woloch said on Wednesday that the DOT has engaged the Chinatown community for the last five years about the project.
"This guy is so full of bull," said Triple Edwards, who lives on Park Row, which residents say would be permanently cut off by the project that would also disrupt Chinatown's major intersection. "Even to this day there is still no clear record of when the project is going to start, when the promenade is going into effect. They still have no communication with us, which I think is so ludicrous."
Park Row has been blocked off to traffic since 9/11 to protect Police Plaza.
Woloch said the department has worked hard to improve community dialogue. He also said any changes to neighborhood streets are necessary to improve safety and reduce congestion.
"This is hard work," he said at the hearing. "It would be much easier, I think, certainly for my job, if we weren't doing any of this, if we took all our marbles and went home and didn't make changes. You wouldn't have some of the disagreements that can arise. [But] the city wouldn't be as well off."
