On the Market Street side they behaved. On 21st, on the other hand, they ate up not just sidewalk but one whole lane of traffic, which they've sat on like it was their property for more than a year, parking the odd pickup truck in it but otherwise doing precious little to justify the continued blockage over the last few months. Meanwhile the morning traffic crawls through.

Kenney's bill can't pass quickly enough for me. I'd like to see Murano get a bill for all that valuable city property they've been occupying.

Let's face it, if you are using north 21st st you aren't important. In fact, we were just wishing the old chinese wall was still there. What annoys me about the Murano isn't the taking of 21st street, it's the fact that there is no connection to JFK. that's my pedestrian superhighway and it would be nice to have it connect to TJ's and the street grid below (for fast access to the Fairmount and SG hoods on foot).
So how does the law apply to the worst offender of all, the PCC (pictured earlier?) that one really is annoying. I'd also like to see them tax CDC's and other non-profits that sit on vacant properties for years. they coudl be hiring cops and cutting biz taxes with those funds.

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"You down wit OPM?"
Fumo: "Yeah, you know me!"

I was pretty sure that one of the renderings or plans for the JFK reconstruction included a stairway down at 22nd street. It don't think it was connected to the Murano plans but rather the JFK construction going on thru November. But of course renderings and realities don't always match up.

Just know that with this call for safety..


Expect higher prices for everything instead of temporary sidewalk closures.


THey will just charge more for rent or for purchase or use to recoup.

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What/which CDCs are continuously sitting on properties for years that arn't in active long term planning/development processes?

Where are these properties?

I think commercial speculators and developers are way more guilty of this. All sorts of commercially owned properties sit vacant for.. far too long.. with no active plans or usage in place, and it brings down neighborhoods, shopping centers, etc. usually all because someone is stubborn, lackadaisical, or just wants too high a price for their space.

When there is no commercial tenant or finalized use, lots of these properties could be opened up to various nonprofit and community project uses for very cheap or even free/as a donation (lending, not necessarily giving away the property!). The benefits would be many, such as:to bring more people to other stores or properties in a strip mall or area, the basic social benefits of whatever the programs utilizing the space are, increased security of the property, increased ongoing maintenance of the property, improvements made to the property, utility bills could be paid by the nonprofit/community tenants rather than out-of-pocket, etc. etc. etc.

You know, if this were honestly the choice, I might even be inclined to agree with you. Closing the street "for a lil" might be fine. But as everyone has pointed out, contractors don't seem to feel a particular sense of urgency about returning the public right-of-way to the public. See Bella Vista Lofts, the Western Union, the Aria, etc., etc., etc. If contractors made a good faith effort to minimize sidewalk closure times, I might even be willing to give them the benefit of the doubt. But since they don't, I think we need to add a little stick to the carrot.