Parks
Streetsblog Basics
CHEKPEDS: Check Up on Far West Side Proposals Tonight
The Clinton Hell’s Kitchen Coalition for Pedestrian Safety (CHEKPEDS) has issued an alert regarding a meeting tonight to review Hudson Yards boulevard and park design proposals.
September 22, 2008
Study Provides a New Vision for Allen and Pike Street Malls
Residents of the Lower East Side and Chinatown have been fighting for improvements to the Allen and Pike Street pedestrian malls for more than a decade. Now, with the city's Parks Department set to begin a $5.4 million renovation of the malls below East Broadway, their wait for meaningful action might be nearing an end.
September 19, 2008
How Would You Reinvent Grand Army Plaza?
This morning officials announced the winners of the "Reinventing Grand Army Plaza" competition, a contest that drew 200+ proposals for transforming the gateway to Prospect Park into a public space worthy of its landmark status. A jury composed mainly of designers, planners and community advocates selected four designs to receive cash prizes, while winnowing the entrants to a field of 30, to be displayed on-site through October 13. Members of the public will be able to vote for their favorites via text message, with results announced on October 8.
September 12, 2008
Streetfilms: Portland’s Pioneer Courthouse Square
According to the Project for Public Spaces (PPS), Portland, Oregon's Pioneer Courthouse Square
is one of the Top 10 greatest public spaces in the U.S. & Canada. I
couldn't agree more. Affectionately referred to as the city's "living
room" the charming and versatile block was once slated to be a parking garage in the 1960s. Thankfully the residents didn't let that happen.
July 10, 2008
Streetfilms: Hiking the Heights
If you spend much time in upper Manhattan, you know it's blessed with hundreds of acres of parkland, much of which serves to showcase the area's naturally rugged terrain. To help bring attention to this sometimes overlooked resource while promoting public health, an organization called CLIMB (City Life is Moving Bodies), in conjunction with Creative Arts Workshops for Kids, hosts an event called Hike the Heights, an "urban safari" through parks from Morningside Heights to Inwood. Streetfilms correspondent Mark Read has the lowdown.
June 24, 2008
Petrosino Square to Expand Into Lafayette Street
Alan Gerson extolls the value of using underutilized traffic lanes for park space, with Friends of Petrosino Square founder Georgette Fleischer, Parks Borough Commissioner Bill Castro and CB 2 Chair Brad Hoylman
June 12, 2008
T.A.: Car-Free Central Park Would Ease Neighborhood Congestion
A study released this week by Transportation Alternatives undercuts the claim that closing Central Park's loop drive to cars would increase traffic on the streets of Harlem. To the contrary, findings indicate that loop entrances on 110th street at Malcolm X and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevards "act as traffic magnets," drawing vehicles onto neighborhood streets from more appropriate routes like the FDR, Harlem River Drive and the West Side Highway.
June 12, 2008
SE Prospect Park Re-Design Includes Some Restrictions on Cars
A new Prospect Park skating rink and recreational facility will come with a smaller parking lot and improved bike access, reports neighborhood blog Hawthorne Street. The plan to re-design the southeast area of Brooklyn's flagship park, unveiled at a public meeting this Monday, will also restrict car access at one entrance, but stops short of doing away with the current rink's parking lot altogether. It remains to be seen whether the re-design will address the hazardous entrance at Parkside and Ocean.
May 22, 2008