This City Block Is Central Brooklyn's Only Open Street

BROOKLYN, NEW YORK — The launch of a long-awaited "open streets" plan won't give many Brooklynites much more room to stretch out and protect themselves against the coronavirus.

Just 0.05 miles of street running through Callahan-Kelly park will close starting Monday, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced.

That's exactly one extra city block for walkers and cyclists Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and Brownsville to safely social distance.

"New Yorkers deserve safe ways to enjoy the warm weather while we fight through this crisis, and I’m proud of my team for jumping into action with this first group of open streets,” de Blasio said in a statement. "Our parks have played a critical role in maintaining public health during this crisis. But we cannot afford to have a high demand for open space create unhealthy situations. That’s why we’re opening streets and offering more options for New Yorkers to get outside safely."

To keep up to date with coronavirus developments in Bed-Stuy, sign up for Patch's news alerts and newsletter.

Advocates and several city officials, notably Council Speaker Corey Johnson, have pressed de Blasio to open up city streets amid the coronavirus outbreak. Doing so would give New Yorkers extra space to socially distance and alleviate crowds seen in many city parks, notably Prospect Park, they argued.

But de Blasio proved cool toward the idea. He quickly scuttled a limited open streets experiment and only came around after the City Council pushed a plan to effectively force street closures.

De Blasio plans to open up 40 miles of city streets this month and 100 miles overall. His announcement Monday covered the first 7 miles, all concentrating in and near city parks.

That means Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and Brownsville residents could get more room to stretch and spread out in the future. But for now, they only get an extra 0.05 miles on Sackman Place running through the park between Fulton and Truxton streets.

And how long does it take to walk 0.05 miles? One minute, according to the Walking Englishman walk time calculator website.

The city plans to open up just over a half-mile of streets around Prospect Park, among otherclosures.

Coronavirus In NYC: Latest Happenings And Guidance

Email PatchNYC@patch.com to reach a Patch reporter or fill out this anonymous form to share your coronavirus stories. All messages are confidential.