Marble Hill Residents Say New School Has Created Traffic Nightmare
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- School bus traffic, double parking and driveway blockers are bothering the residents of narrow Marble Hill Avenue in upper Manhattan, and some neighbors blame the brand new charter school that opened there less than a year ago.
"They leave the car double parked," Juan Mestre told CBS2's Sonia Rincon. "They don't move. They don't even drop the mirrors on the side. So the bus comes and slowly can't make it."
"People come. I want to get out of my driveway. I can't," said Janet Alonzo. "I have to beep my horn for my car."
Bernice Cintron has documented the daily gridlock with photos. She said she found one parent, who was picking up a child, parked in her driveway.
"And that person had the audacity to start screaming at my mother and I (that) he had every right to park there," Cintron said.
"There's just no way for you to get to your property," she added. "It's just not possible. They won't move."
She said she and her neighbors were blindsided by Atmosphere Academy opening in the neighborhood last fall. A charter school official with the state told her there were required signatures gathered, she said.
"Whose signature did you get?" Cinton said. "They don't live around here."
"I couldn't believe it," Alonzo said. "Then when I saw the students, I was like, 'OK, so that is a school that they're opening.'"
Founder and Principal Colin Greene said it wasn't a requirement, but that he approached the local community boards anyway.
"We also chose a building that is zoned ... as a school, so we followed all the regulations and requirements," he said.
He said the school has felt welcomed by the community for the most part.
"I know there are some people who it's inconvenienced, and I definitely apologize to them if that's the case," Greene said.
The school has cones in place to hold the spots for the buses in the school zone. The principal said as long as nobody parks there, everyone should be able to get around the school buses.
As for the driveway blockers, "I would say if someone's blocking your driveway, if someone's double parked, please call the police, because that has nothing to do with the school," Greene said.
On Friday, traffic seemed to be moving at dismissal time, Rincon reported. Neighbors say the very light traffic at the school was very unusual. They suspect it's because CBS2's cameras were there.
CBS2 will be checking back on the parking and traffic to see if it stays that way.
The school also says, now that more parents have learned of the school, even more students from the community are enrolled for next year. They get priority. So not as many will have to commute. Currently, about half the students reside in the school district, Greene said.
