Plans For Bay Terrace Townhouses Prompt Traffic Worries

BAY TERRACE, QUEENS — As a 33-townhouse complex rises across from P.S. 169 Bay Terrace, members of the Bay Terrace Community Alliance are lobbying the developer to make a plan to keep schoolkids safe.

The alliance's president, Matthew Silverstein, is pitching Queens-based developer Cord Meyer on ways to avoid adding traffic congestion to 212th Street outside P.S. 169 once the complex is finished and new residents arrive.

"That block during school hours, during drop-off and pick-up, it's horrible," Silverstein said. "You can't even drive down that block during the school year."

Cord Meyer did not immediately respond to a call requesting comment.

The complex will have two entryways, Silverstein said: one on 23rd Avenue and another on 212th Street by the school.

He advocates adding a third by the bus stops on 211th Street to redirect some of the traffic going in and out of the complex, though that might require asking the city to move a bus stop.

At least 10 people have suffered crash-related injuries at the intersection of 212th Street and 23rd Avenue over the last six years, the city's Vision Zero data shows. None have been reported so far this year.

Traffic entering and exiting the complex will dangerously conflict with school drop off and pickup at PS 169. #BayTerrace https://t.co/MrHE6YZwp0
— Bay Terrace (@Bay_Terrace) July 17, 2019

Cord Meyer is finishing the first phase of the development at 211-35 23rd Ave., New York YIMBY reports.

The complex, designed by Morali Architects, will include 33 two-family townhouses at four stories each.

Each building will have cellar-level parking for two cars, private terraces and a backyard.

Silverstein said the developer, which also owns the Bay Terrace Shopping Center, is responsive to concerns — and he hopes they'll find a way to address the congestion concerns before they become a problem.

"They've been a good neighbor," he said.