New York (Manhattan)

FDR Drive: Between 110th St and 98th St., manholes submerged beneath road level in all lanes. Last observed: 03/08/2009, Last reported: 01/15/2008

1st. Ave: At 70th St, between 1st and 2nd rightmost (eastern) lanes, submerged manhole cover and surrounding deterioration of pavement. Last observed: 03/20/2009, Last Reported: Never

York Ave: Southbound, between 61st and 60th Streets, potholes in center (#2) lane as a result of two manholes submerged beneath road level. As of 03/08/2009, these seem to have been covered with two flat metal panels typical of those used to cover road surfaces during construction/excavation. Last observed: 03/08/2009, Last Reported: Never

5th Ave and 9th St, right lane (southbound) at the intersection of 9th street, deep pothole on passenger side, driver will need to swerve into the left lane or parking lane to avoid it. Last observed: 03/14/2009, Last Reported: 3/18/20009

Bayside: Directly under the northbound lanes of I-295 / Clearview Expressway at the NB exit ramp from the Clearview Expressway (last exit in Queens). Large drop, partially due to manhole submersion but also due to poor construction/maintenance of road surface immediately surrounding it. Pothole traverses the left lane of the EB road and the left lane of the WB road. Last observed: 03/01/2009, Last Reported: never (why bother anymore, NYC DOT et. al. never really bother to fix anything unless someone sues them...)

Belt Parkway: A very large pothole is in the right lane of the transition ramp from the eastbound Belt Parkway and the NY-878 Expressway. Last observed: 03/18/2010, Last Reported: 03/19/2010.

Long Island City: Well, pretty much anywhere in LIC is bad, but of particular note, along the service road to I-495/Long Island Expressway, at and just (f0r 50 feet or so) east of where Greenpoint Ave, crosses over the LIE and allows access to both the upper and lower levels of the Long Island Expressway, as well as I-278/BQE north and south, the leftmost "lanes" (this is NYC, so of course no lanes are actually painted, but if they were, the left and center lanes are in horrible condiion, and cars making a left from Greenpoint Ave. south to the LIE service road east (a signalized two-lane left turn) slow down so much that very few cars can get through a given green signal, causing traffic to back up in an already very, very crowded grid-pattern of roadways. Moreover, traffic on the LIE service road heading east, often at speed, must slow down dramatically after crossing Greenpoint Ave in order to avoid damage to their cars, causing even more of a traffic buildup westward back to Van Dam street. (And one often sees an unlucky motorist or truck driver who has suffered some breakdown from the poor road condition on what is the road hazzard roulette wheel circus of driving in New York City. It defies credibility to believe the City/DOT are not familiar with this road hazzard, but for 10 years (and likely forever) nothing has been done to address this, and on a recent trip back to NYC in June, 2018, this testament to NYC's incompetence in repairing its road infrastructure in any reasonable period of time is still going strong!; Last observed: 06/20/2018.

Whitestone: Along the Whitestone Expressway/I-678, as it passes over the Cross Island Parkway, the road surface on the overpass has been in very poor condition for over two years (since at least 2015). As it is this is a sub-standard road/overpass - it is narrow, has no shoulders, and has a very short merge from the service road just before the (narrow) overpass approaching the Queens landing before heading to the Bronx. The road is potholed, rough, and the expansion joint on the north side of the overpass is in poor condition, leading to a sudden jolt when driving over it. Experienced drivers/commuters are familiar with the conditions, and tend not to slow down as much, so the weekday traffic isn't as bad, but on weekends, where many motorists who are driving aren't as familiar with the road (and generally how awful New York City roads can be!), the poor conditions result in breaking and very slow speeds, which back up the northbound Whitesone Expressway/I-678 to at least Flushing and the I-678/Whitestone Expressway interchange. Despite having the problem reported in writing in early 2017 (as if it weren't obvious for years and of course nothing was done), as of May 2017 - make that now June 2018, the Cross Island overpass is still in poor condition, and the traffic backup goes on day after day after day. Want to see this in action but aren't "blessed" to be in New York City and enjoy their outstanding ;) roads? Just go to Google Maps and look just south of the Whitestone Bridge anytime from 2 to 8 in the evening, and it will almost universally be red, all the way back to the Grand Central Parkway, and most of this is caused by the slowdown to 10 MPH casused by the road surface on the Whitestone Bridge approach ramp. This was reported to the City of NY on a number of occassions, and of course nothing was done at all; perhaps someone needs to sue them after getting into an accident before this gets better, since why actually fix a problem which affects hundreds of thousands of motorists weekly for years on end and do their jobs unless they are forced to by a court? (And then they'll likely just pay out since it's cheaper to do that than actually fix a road...). Last observed: 06/20/2018.

I-495/I-278: The ramp from I-278 northbound merges with the LIE/I-495 eastbound at the lower level where the two remaining lanes merge to I-495 eastbound and both levels merge together has numerous potholes. Most recently observed on 04/11/2010.

Kings (Brooklyn)

Brooklyn Heights: Henry St, at Atlantic: Road deterioration at NW corner of intersection has yielded a poor road surface and series of small potholes where the top (most recent?) layer of asphalt has degraded forming a contoured and rough surface. Last observed: 03/01/2009, Last reported: never

Bronx

Willis Ave Bridge: Probably one of the most shameful roads in the entire City of New York - an absolute disgrace. This bridge and its "approaches" is so potholed and covered with with "temporary" (for 20 YEARS?!) repairs that it resembles the surface of the moon! This bridge is used by thousands of motorists, trucks and buses on a regular basis as one of the main ways to get from the FDR drive to I-87 (Deegan) and I-278 (Bruckner) expressways without having to pay the onerous tolls of the MTA (TBTA) bridges and tunnels which now are around $5 per shot (And TBTA facilities are no dream ride either -- for $5 you'd expect a lot more!) This bridge is symbolic of how awful and pathetic things can get in New York before anything is ever done. As of late 2008, work appears to have started on rehabilitation, replacement, or expansion of the bridge, including a new ramp from the FDR which is reminiscent of the temporary ramps which were used for the Tobin Bridge during the Central Artery in Boston. Work can't be completed too soon -- the bridge is a disgrace and properly shows how roads in NYC are probably worse than many of those found in the third world! Last observed: Weekly for 20 years!, Last reported: Why bother, they'll only fix it when they have no other choice! ;(

I-278 just north of I-895 JCT: As the SB Bruckner Expressway (I-278) drops to two lanes (shameful -- and unsafe -- design that this is), motorists encounter a steep left bank as southbound Bruckner aligns itself under the I-895/Sheridan Expressway for their eventual merge. At this turn, the left (#1) lane suffered a series of bumps and sewer(?) grates, which, under wet conditions can cause a vehicle in said lane to move over to the right. The given section of road along the turn and upwards to I-895 is also in poor condition and needs improvement. Last observed: 03/01/2009, Last reported: never

Richmond (Staten Island)

Verrazano Narrows Bridge/I-278: Eastbound, after the unused toll plaza (which the MTA/TBTA doesn't seem to want to take down, probably hoping and praying (preying too? ;)) that one day they will again be able to collect tolls both ways so they can get their greedy little hands on even more toll revenue from people coming into Brooklyn), the road surface leading up the bridge is in very poor condition and can result is slipping and skidding when the road surface is slick. The surface of the upper deck on the bridge itself isn't much better. The left ramps from the bridge to the Belt Parkway East have less that smooth surfaces (both lanes) and the expansion joints can be very slippery when wet and will easily cause a motorist to slide from the left to the right lane a bit at the posted(?) 25 MPH limit. Your toll dollars at work! ;( Last observed: 03/01/2009, Last reported: Report something to the TBTA? You've GOT to be kidding!

New Jersey Potholes

Wayne/North Caldwell: (Near the Willowbrook Mall) In April 2017, a large pothole formed on the westbound US-46/NJ-23 transition ramp to I-80 (where the two left lanes proceed to I-80 and the right two lanes continue to NJ-23 West). After the NJ-23 breaks off to the northwest, the ramp turns left, proceeds under the NJ-23S ramp to US-46W, and right before the NJTransit rail overpass, there is a large pothole between the two lanes on the ramp as it transitions to I-80 westbound. Last observed: 05/01/2017.

The following were problem pothole/road hazard areas but have apparently been corrected and/or no longer suffer from harsh or dangerous road surfaces.

New York (Manhattan)

57th St: Re-paved from York to 2nd Ave during the summer of 2008, although the intersections with 1st and 2nd Aves still suffer from poor road quality, submerged manholes, and smaller potholes. Moved to corrected list: 12/31/2008

Van Wyck Expressway: Finally re-paved for the most part after 5 years of work (by the Port Authority? NYC can't fix its own roads anymore?). Moved to correct list: 12/31/2008

Verrazano-Narrows Bridge: The ramp connecting the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge inbound to the Belt Parkway eastbound has a large pothole. Last observed: 03/18/2010, Last Reported: 03/19/2010.

Test

Todt Hill: Repavement of road surface in conjunction with Bus lane completed in early 2008, near ghost ramps/stacks for the unbuilt Willowbrook Parkway. Moved to corrected list: 12/31/2008