Public Space
Streetsblog Basics
Giving Up on Public Spaces Is Exactly What NYC Did in “The Bad Old Days”
Normally Streetsblog would just ignore Steve Cuozzo's rant yesterday about the evils of giving New Yorkers more room to walk and sit. But yanking out public space is a surprisingly credible threat these days, so here goes.
September 9, 2015
How City Hall Can Improve NYC’s Public Spaces Instead of Tearing Them Out
While recent comments from Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton about potentially yanking out the Times Square plazas have caused an uproar, a much deeper and more substantial debate over plazas has been simmering for months.
September 4, 2015
Resolved: Manhattan Community Board 10 Rejects Bradhurst Plaza
It was loud. It was messy. And in the end, Manhattan Community Board 10 decided against turning a short section of Macombs Place in Harlem into a car-free public space. Supporters of the proposal spent years trying to get CB 10's backing but came up a few votes short last night.
September 3, 2015
This Is What Harlem Plaza Supporters Will Be Up Against at CB 10 Tonight
Neighbors have fought for years to get Manhattan Community Board 10 to support creating a small plaza by Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 150th Street. Tonight that proposal is up for a vote at a general board meeting of CB 10 for the first time.
September 2, 2015
32nd Street Finally Has Enough Space for Walking. Will It Last?
New pedestrian zones near Penn Station have given people more breathing room on some of the most crowded streets in the city. Will they stay or will they go after a trial period wraps up in October?
September 1, 2015
Here They Are — The Sad Benches Where No One Wants to Sit
Last week, Gracen Johnson over at Strong Towns introduced the phrase "places I don't want to sit" to describe the lousy, leftover public spaces where someone has plopped down a bench or two as an afterthought. The seating, in these cases, helps crystallize how unsalvageable our public realm becomes when everything else is planned around moving and storing cars. Who would actually want to sit there?
August 31, 2015
Turn Times Square Back Into Traffic Hell? Tell Bratton and de Blasio: No Way
Since Mayor Bill de Blasio won't rule out the threat of removing the Times Square plazas, first raised by Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, it's time to take action. Two petitions are circulating to urge the mayor not to give Times Square back to cars.
August 28, 2015
Tony Avella Goes Berserk Over Community-Backed Flushing Plaza
State Senator Tony Avella held a press conference this week to denounce a pedestrian plaza proposed for the Murray Hill section of Flushing. He's afraid it will lead to unbearable traffic congestion. Too bad he's conjuring nightmare scenarios about something that's not even in his district: State Senator Toby Stavisky, who actually represents the plaza site and the blocks surrounding it, backs the plan. So do local council members.
August 14, 2015
Street Seats and Bike Lanes Come to Brownsville and East New York
Livable streets improvements are rolling out for residents of Brownsville and East New York. Two new Street Seats have popped up just blocks from each other on Pitkin Avenue and Mother Gaston Boulevard. Meanwhile, DOT is installing the neighborhood's latest round of bike lanes.
August 12, 2015
Eyes on the Street: 33rd Street Plaza Comes to Life
There is now a plaza at Penn Plaza.
August 11, 2015