North Riverdale wins grant to beautify

Correction appended.

Three stores on the same block of Riverdale Avenue have gone out of business over roughly the past two years. Small business owners elsewhere in north Riverdale fear they will go the way of Sam’s Cleaner, the Greentree Restaurant and the Candy Box & Gelatto Shoppe — empty storefronts near the intersection with West 259th Street today — unless the neighborhood changes.

Organizers hope a forthcoming study on improving the traffic safety, attractiveness and other aspects of Riverdale’s shopping areas will yield ways to help neighborhood businesses thrive. The report will also single out locations for potential new developments and emphasize environmental friendliness.

“A lot of the small businesses here really struggle to maintain sort of a local flavor and to attract local customers,” said Gary Wartel, the owner of Skyview Wine and Liquor and head of the North Riverdale Merchant and Business Association. “[The way] to make that happen is to revitalize the streetscape and make it a more pedestrian- and shopper- and family-friendly environment.”

The New York City Regional Economic Development Council (NYCREDC) recently awarded the merchant association and Riverdale Neighborhood House (RNH) a $100,000 grant for a study on ways to improve traffic patterns on Riverdale Avenue from West 254th Street to the city line, on Mosholu Avenue and on Broadway from West 242nd Street up to Yonkers. Many of north Riverdale’s shops and restaurants are on those streets, which also see chronic speeding and traffic problems.

Further, the study, by VHB Engineering, Surveying and Landscape Architecture, P.C., will suggest locations for new developments “consistent with current zoning and community character;” propose specifics on installing greenery, storm water controls and signs on sidewalks; and recommend safer pedestrian paths along several stretches of Riverdale, including improvements to the steep, unmarked route many commuters walk to reach Riverdale’s Metro-North station.