On Thursday morning, less than 48 hours after a terrorist drove his rented truck down the Hudson River Park bike path, killing eight and injuring many more, New York City officials began erecting concrete barriers at the access points to the four-mile path.
A spokesman for Mayor Bill de Blasio told the Times that barriers are going up at 57 intersections. Thirty-one of them are vehicle access points, typically used by service vehicles. Each of these intersections will soon be home to six jersey barriers, those long, heavy slabs of concrete often used to separate lanes of traffic. Another 26 pedestrian access points will be protected by two concrete cubes each.
These barriers are hardly a permanent fix. They create obstructions and limit the space available on the path; thin steel bollards would be a more elegant long-term solution. For now though, de Blasio spokesman Ben Sarle told the Times, people will have to make a tradeoff. “After these safety measures are installed, there may be areas at the intersections that will be more narrow than they used to be,” he said. “But, I would trade a little speed for substantially more safety any day.”
