플러싱 먹자골목..다리 공사로 2010년 이후 차량통행 못해
월스트리트저널(WSJ)이 뉴욕의 한인타운에서 4년째 공사가 중단된 다리 문제를 크게 보도했다.
WSJ는 지난달 31일 ‘149가에 가기엔 너무 먼 다리(A Bridge Too Far for 149th Street)’라는 기사에서 “뉴욕 플러싱에서 4년 넘게 이어진 차량통행금지(車輛通行禁止) 조치로 한인 상권이 매출 감소의 어려움을 겪고 있다”고 전했다. 특히 3장의 사진과 지도를 함께 싣는 등 거의 한면 전체를 할애해 눈길을 끌었다.
문제의 다리는 한인식당 등이 밀집해 플러싱 ‘먹자골목’으로 불리는 루즈벨트 애버뉴와 41스트릿으로 연결되는 것으로 아래는 롱아일랜드 철도가 지나며 인근에 머레이힐 역이 위치하고 있다.
2010년 3월 시작된 다리 보수공사는 무려 26개월만인 2012년 5월 공사가 완료됐으나 “심각한 결함이 발견됐다”는 이유로 현재까지 진입로를 가로막은 채 개통(開通)이 되지 않고 있다.
WSJ는 “이곳은 미국 내 대표적인 한인 밀집지역으로 식당과 제과점, 술집, 델리, 노래방 등 50여개의 한인업소가 있다”면서 “뉴욕시 교통국은 기존 다리를 철거하고 새로운 다리를 짓겠다는 입장“이라고 덧붙였다.
이 때문에 지역 한인상인들이 지난달 28일 뉴욕시교통국을 상대로 집단 소송을 제기하겠다는 기자회견을 갖기도 했다. 머레이힐 먹자골목 상인번영회는 “지역 정치인들과 뉴욕시교통국이 내년 11월 교량을 재개통하겠다고 발표했지만 개통 시기가 너무 늦는데다 전례(前例)에 비춰 약속이 지켜질지 의문”이라고 강한 불신을 드러냈다.
한인들은 “공사지연의 근본원인이 뉴욕시의 관료주의(官僚主義)때문”이라면서 “이 지역 업소들은 대부분 영세한 점포들이기 때문에 교통불편이 미치는 영향이 심각하다”고 지적했다.
저널은 “플러싱의 한인업소 70%는 이민 1세대가 운영하고 있다> 이들은 대부분 1979년 한국 군부의 쿠데타이후 뉴욕에 이주했으며 영어가 불편하다”고 소개하기도 했다.
아버지와 함께 함지박 식당을 운영하는 김윤(44) 씨는 저널과의 인터뷰에서 “주민들의 언어장벽도 뉴욕시 공무원들과의 문제해결에 영향을 미쳤겠지만 여기가 맨해튼이라면 이렇게 수 년째 막아놓았겠냐”고 불만을 표했다.
마포갈비의 한필남(57) 사장도 “다리가 막힌 이후 업종을 바꾸는 가게와 식당들이 늘었다. 올해만 해도 식당 세곳이 문을 닫았다”고 전했다.
뉴욕=민병옥특파원 newsroh@gmail.com
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A Bridge Too Far (in Future) for 149th Street
Korean Businesses Cite Revenue Losses After Closing of Crossing for Years
The 149th Street Bridge in the Murray Hill section of Flushing, Queens, has been closed for more than four years, which the area's mostly Korean businesses say has resulted in costly revenue losses.
A new two-lane bridge stretching over the Long Island Rail Road tracks between Roosevelt and 41st avenues, was set to open in late 2012, but cracks were found along the concrete deck by city inspectors. The structure has remained unused while yet another bridge is being planned, according to city Transportation Department officials.
It will take at least 18 months before the current bridge is demolished and rebuilt, said state Sen. Toby Ann Stavisky, who met with city officials in early June. Transportation Department officials declined to comment on that timeline, saying only that the new bridge is in the design phase.
The yearslong delay in opening the crucial downtown artery in Murray Hill has led to daily traffic jams and frequent accidents, said state Assemblyman Ron Kim, a Democrat who represents Flushing. It has also cost many businesses upward of 30% of their pre-2009 annual revenue, even when accounting for the impact of the financial downturn, according to estimates by the Murray Hill Merchant Association.
"It's a combination of New York City bureaucracy and faulty work," Mr. Kim said. "It's very frustrating. These are mostly mom-and-pop Korean businesses and everything is linked to driving and parking."
City officials say they have been hamstrung by a structurally deficient bridge that wouldn't stand up to traffic, forcing them to come up with a replacement structure.
Flushing is home to one of the largest concentrations of Koreans in the U.S. and nearly all of the 50 or so shops in the Murray Hill business district are Korean-owned barbecue restaurants, bakeries, bars, delis and karaoke clubs. About 70% of the business owners here are first-generation Korean immigrants who came to New York after a military-led coup in South Korea in 1979, according to the merchant association. Many Korean seniors struggle with English.
"When things happen, it takes us a lot longer to get a hold of city officials because of the language barrier," said Yoon Kim, 44 years old, who runs the Korean restaurant Hahm Ji Bach with her father, Young. "A bridge wouldn't be closed for years like this in Manhattan."
The result has been a constantly rotating roster of Korean businesses. Since 2009, turnover among retailers and restaurants has been unusually high, said Pil-Nam Han, 57, who runs Mapo Korean B.B.Q. on 41st Avenue.
So far this year, at least three stores in Murray Hill have closed and Ms. Han, who opened her 60-seat restaurant in 2003, said her business has been down since the bridge closure. One area bright spot has been Caffeine Fix, a sleek coffee shop that opened last year and is filled with young Korean students and professionals.
View Graphics The city hired New York-based Gandhi Engineering in 2000 to oversee the design and construction of 10 city bridges, including a new 149th Street Bridge. Work on that crossing began in March 2010 but a city inspection more than two years later, in May 2012, found cracks. The structure was deemed unstable by city engineers and was immediately closed to traffic.
Pedestrians still are allowed to walk across the bridge. Nearby residents complain it has become a haven for teenagers and the homeless.
In May 2013, the city sued Gandhi Engineering claiming the new 149th Street Bridge had a faulty design. Gandhi in court documents has denied wrongdoing; a company representative declined to elaborate.
The lawsuit is continuing but won't affect the new bridge construction going forward, according to Nicole Garcia, a Transportation Department spokeswoman.
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