Dear Editors:
I’d be glad to vote in favor of a hospital at Pier 40. However, I want to voice my concern about the potential for a constant stream of ambulance sirens on the West Side Highway (WSH). I anticipate that this will disrupt the otherwise peaceful West Village neighborhood we now enjoy at least a hundred times a day.
I live half a block away from the WSH and it is already so annoying when fire trucks or motorcycles pass, especially when they get stuck in traffic—sirens wail! Please institute a SIREN-FREE zone or consider repurposing the median strip so that ambulances can pass in a private lane south, toward the hospital, from 14th Street—no sirens necessary. Don’t forget to include a median strip reconstruction line in your budget proposal.
The median strip I refer to starts at West 14th Street in the Meatpacking District and ends well south of Pier 40. Repurposing can provide uninterrupted downtown ambulance transit access and is certain to save lives.
—Joe Nardelli
