There’s no shortage of visitors on City Island. It’s especially busy during July and August. To get there, drivers first have to make it through a traffic circle. What’s supposed to be a one minute drive can take one hour or more.
“It’s crazy out there. The traffic is just crazy. It’s a three-way merge into one. It’s nuts," said one driver.
The small island which is part of the Bronx, is a summer dining destination, but some say the gridlock is anything but appetizing.
"If you’re coming to eat, by the time you get here you’re starving because it takes a long time to get up here. And by the time you get back you’re hungry again because it takes a long time to get back the other way," said one driver.
The NYPD directs traffic during summer weekends, but some are calling for extended enforcement.
Dan Treiber owns a vintage toy and collectible store on City Island Avenue. He says restaurant visitors shop at his business and he worries the congestion may keep them away.
"The restaurants span the whole strip and employ a lot of people," he said. "So if people take two hours to get on city island instead of half an hour, they're going to miss their reservations. Everybody loses."
Treiber started a petition calling for police presence from April through September. More than 600 people have signed it. A large response when you consider that only about 4,000 people live there.
Construction is wrapping up on the City Island bridge. The project, some say, has also impacted traffic.
Residents say lots of cars at the traffic circle often means bumper to bumper traffic at the bridge, which is the only way and out of City Island.
Treiber and the City Island Civic Association will deliver the petition to police at the end of the month. In the meantime, some drivers are considering other ways to fix the issue.
"Maybe reinforcing the stop signs a little more or the yield signs. Take away the yield signs and put stop signs," suggested one driver.
It's a problem he says needs a solution, if City Island wants to keep attracting visitors.