The VIP drop-off lane at Suri Cruise's private school might be an added perk of attending such a fancy educational institution, but for everyone else using 10th Avenue in the morning, it has turned into a nightmare.
"The entire left lane of traffic is coned off between 25th and 26th streets on 10th Avenue, Monday through Friday, with three or four staff members outside each morning helping cars pull up and drop off children," one local resident tells me. "From 7 a.m. to 8:15 a.m., it's a traffic nightmare. I have never seen anything like it before. It looks more like the limousine drop-off area at the Academy Awards than a school entrance each morning."
The private Avenues bills itself as "The World School," with a mission to produce graduates who are fluent in a second language and "artists no matter their field." The institution's mission statement also declares that students will be "aware that their behavior makes a difference in our ecosystem."
"The way every private school I know in the city operates is the opposite," one New York-based celebrity with three children in three different private schools tells me. "They have two orange cones outside the entrance to stop cars parking and ask parents to make sure they drop off their children quickly and do not block traffic."
Avenues' spokesperson did not return an email requesting comment.
Scott Gastel, with New York City's Department of Transportation, said, "We posted signage allowing the buses to use the curb lane for pick-up/drop-off of students. Additional safety measures include the addition of crosswalk markings on the North leg of West 25th Street at Tenth Avenue and the South leg of West 26th Street at Tenth Avenue. We are not aware of any complaints."
Related
Before You Go
