Friday’s Headlines: Return of the Sinkhole Edition

The Hudson River Greenway’s uptown sinkhole has sunk once again.

Parks Department officials shuttered 1.25 miles of the greenway after heavy rainfall over the weekend reopened the notorious crater around 187th Street, a spokesperson said.

The closure marks the latest failure in the city’s ongoing — and costly — effort to keep the path from caving. A previous $1.2. million patch-up lasted only a few months before beginning to sink.

“We’ve made significant effort to make patch repairs above ground, but it’s clear that there are substructure issues that are causing failures along this route, and which require a much larger response,” Parks spokesperson Kelsey Jean-Baptiste told Streetsblog this week.

“We’re working with several agencies including State and City DOT, DEP, and DDC geotechnical engineers to confirm the root of the issue and determine the best long-term solution. In the meantime, we are exploring options to fill in the existing sinkhole quickly and reopen the pathway.”

The latest sinkhole is a whopping 11 feet by 6 feet in diameter, Jean-Baptiste said. In the meantime, cyclists can take a nasty two-mile detour among the dangerous car traffic of Broadway, as the clip below documents:

Reporting by Kevin Duggan

In other news:

• Placard abuse complaints have doubled this year, according to Gothamist.
• DOT is rolling out more electric vehicle charging ports at city parking garages.
• A lithium-ion battery fire landed an FDNY firefighter in the hospital. (Daily News)