Create 24/7 'Open Streets' In NYC, Groups Tell De Blasio

NEW YORK CITY — The newest additions to New York City's streetscape are already due for significant changes, a coalition of community groups told Mayor Bill de Blasio.

A new open letter from 63 community groups urged de Blasio to not only continue the city's "Open Streets" program, but also expand it.

They recommended a sweeping set of changes, from setting up full-time 24/7 Open Streets, connecting them, reducing speed limits and providing resources to volunteer groups.

"Open Streets allowed us to rethink how we use our streets, not just as space for transportation and storage of vehicles, but as space to meet our neighbors and stroll, socialize, dance, and relax safely," the letter states. "Prioritization for motor vehicles in our public space has resulted in thousands of senseless deaths and injuries caused by traffic violence, and respiratory illness caused by carbon pollution. By prioritizing people, our streets can instead serve as playgrounds for children, a reprieve for parents looking for fresh air, and a place for local businesses to attract more customers. "

New York City now has the largest open street program in the world — a remarkable achievement considering the effort didn't begin until after the coronavirus pandemic.

De Blasio initially was lukewarm to the idea of turning over street space to pedestrians and cyclists instead of cars. But he eventually embraced the idea, significantly expanded them and paired them with restaurants for outdoor dining.

Safe streets advocates like Transportation Alternatives — which led the Open Streets Coalition that sent the open letter to de Blasio — welcomed the program, but were quick to note problems and press for ever-more-expansive changes.

The letter noted many neighborhoods such as the South Bronx and Staten Island's North Shore still don't have corridor-wide open streets.

"Even more, some Open Streets that were open in 2020 have since been closed," the letter states. "While some have received confirmation that they will return this spring, the fate of others is uncertain."

It also urged de Blasio to tap into federal stimulus funding to help the program — a move Hizzoner previously said he'd do to help lower-income neighborhoods maintain their open streets.

Here are the letter's recommendations:

• After assessment by the New York City Department of Transportation, determine which Open Streets can be shifted to 24/7 full-time operation;
• Codify into law the reduction of the speed limit on Open Streets to five miles per hour;
• Dedicate resources to volunteer groups that manage open streets, with an emphasis on lower-income communities, as volunteer-led Open Streets are unsustainable and inequitable;
• Connect Open Streets into a useful transportation network, bringing residents to retail corridors, transportation hubs, and open park space;
• Provide amenities, such as signage, benches, chairs, planters, and improved barriers, to provide for a safer and more inviting experience;
• Implement permanent street safety measures and provide more sophisticated barriers to prevent through-traffic on Open Streets;
• Limit and optimize commercial vehicle use, such as encouraging freight and for-hire vehicles to make pick-ups and drops on side streets, and creating loading zones to discourage double parking;
• Provide daily programming to encourage Open Streets usage by the local community, including exercise classes, educational programming, arts and cultural performances, and more.
• Improve traffic calming measures on Open Streets: Restaurants corridors;
• Allow businesses in the Open Storefronts program to utilize the roadway on non-Open Streets.

Read the full letter here.