Greenway Shut Tonight for Presidential Forum — Motorists, Carry On

Ten blocks of the Hudson River Greenway will be closed during evening rush today as a “security” precaution for a presidential candidate event on the USS Intrepid. While people on bikes will have to figure out another way around, there’s no indication that people driving multi-ton metal boxes a few feet away on the West Side Highway will have to change their routines at all.

According to the Hudson River Park Trust, the greenway will be closed from 44th Street to 55th Street from 5 to 10:30 p.m. due to “NYPD safety/security measures.” The trust said greenway commuters should “plan an alternate route,” and posted no re-routing info on its web site or Twitter feed.

We called NYPD about the greenway closure, and to ask if the West Side Highway would be shut as well. NYPD referred us to the Secret Service. “NYPD’s the one who closes the street,” said the person who answered the phone at the Secret Service field office in Brooklyn.

A spokesperson said the Hudson River Park Trust learned of the greenway closure yesterday. No one we contacted would say if motor traffic would be blocked or rerouted. No announcement of a road closure has been posted online, and the DOT’s map of street disruptions shows no parallel detour on the West Side Highway today.

Tonight’s event is a forum on the military and national security. While it looks like operators of motor vehicles will carry on unimpeded, people biking and walking will be targeted by NYPD security theater.

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