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NYC To Open Two More Miles Of Streets In Downtown Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, Bronx & Queens Starting Thursday
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 6, 2020
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David 'Dee' Delgado/Gothamist
By
Ben Yakas
Published May 6, 2020
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During his morning press conference on Wednesday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the second phase of the city's plan to open up city streets to give pedestrians and cyclists room to maintain proper social distancing while getting fresh air during the pandemic. He said that two more miles of streets would be closed to vehicles and opened to the public starting Thursday, in downtown Manhattan, Downtown Brooklyn, the Bronx and Queens.
The open streets initiatives "is now ready to go into higher gear," de Blasio said. "Over the last few days, including the weekend, we have opened over seven miles, and now we're adding two more miles that will be open Thursday. In this case, these are specific sites that are being managed by local Business Improvement Districts...[they're] taking responsibility to make sure everything is set up and monitored and is safe, and they'll work very closely of course with the NYPD and DOT."
You can see those locations below, which includes a large stretch in the Lower East Side, sections of the Flatiron and Garment Districts; a small part of Downtown Brooklyn; a few blocks in the Bronx; and a part of Jackson Heights that was part of the original pilot program way back at the end of March.
NYC
NYC
That initial pilot program with a handful of open streets was canceled after less than two weeks because of the city's concerns about NYPD resources being diverted to policing the new open spaces. Safe street activists pointed to other major cities which had launched their own open streets programs as examples of why and how NYC could do it as well. The City Council then introduced a bill that would open up to 75 miles of streets for recreation; the NYPD and DOT argued it wasn't safe or feasible.
But de Blasio changed his mind last week, announcing that the city would open at least 40 miles of streets as we enter the summer, with the goal of opening 100 miles total. On Saturday, those initial seven miles of streets opened, with the majority located inside city parks.
With continued evidence of crowding at parks during warm weather weekends, the need for more outdoor space for New Yorkers is more important than ever, and some streets advocates are frustrated that less than 10 miles have been announced so far. But de Blasio vowed that there will be more announcements forthcoming—and not all of the open streets will be tied to local BID groups.
"This is the beginning, we expect to be in every kind of community," he said, emphasizing the importance of rolling out the streets with "the right kinds of enforcement" and "the right kinds of structures." He said the focus remained on opening areas in and around parks, and focusing on communities that have been hardest hit by the virus.
"These examples you see today are just the beginning," he reiterated. "You're going to see these kinds of open streets in all five boroughs more and more, and you're gonna see different kinds of organizations that have the capacity to help make them work and give them structure joining into it. We'll announce them as they come together."
Asked about his transportation recovery panel, de Blasio said he saw this as an inflection point for mass transit: "Is this a moment to rethink how we get away from too much dependence on cars? The answer is yes. We need to see this as a transformational moment, even with all the pain, even with all the challenges, we are not going to bring New York City back the way it was. We're going to bring it back in some ways that are different and better."
He added, "What I want to see from this [panel], less about the immediate restart decisions we have to make in the coming weeks, more about how we think in the months and years ahead. I want to see ideas on how we maximize mass transit, minimize use of automobile, think about this in terms of fighting global warming and pollution, think about it in terms of fighting congestions, think about it in terms of equity for communities."
De Blasio's sentiments about the future dovetailed with the former Bloomberg-era NYC DOT Commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, who writes, "We can bring back cities without bringing back the traffic, the congestion, the pollution, and the 1.3 million people who die in traffic crashes every year."
Tagged
social distancing
COVID-19
open streets
coronavirus
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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