The residents of 44 Laight St, a converted loft condominium building in Tribeca are seeking to have the cobblestones in front of their building replaced with something a little more...stroller-friendly. The Community Board all but chased the petitioners straight into the Holland Tunnel:
’ÄúYou should respect what the neighborhood is,’Äù fumed committee member Paul Sipos. ’ÄúYou say it is unsightly. I take big exception to that. And as for the trouble with pushing baby strollers, well that’Äôs life in the historic district.’ÄùResidents Plead to Be Rid of Cobblestones [tribecatribune via curbed, who also has interior shots--which show Picasso's Guernica in the livingroom--of a $5mm loft in the bldg.]The request was swiftly voted down.
Until I became a stroller-pusher in Beantown I had little awareness of the challenge that 'historic' sidewalks and roadways pose to the elderly, injured, and handicapped. I can't imagine having to deal with quaint brick sidewalks and cobblestones with a walker or wheelchair every day for the rest of my life---a few years of pushing the stroller on them is bad enough.
Another reason we got the Bugaboo - those fat tires roll over all the "quaint" brick sidewalks in Cambridge. I'm hoping they do the same when winter comes and our neighbors fail to shovel their sidewalks.