New 'Street Seats' Coming To Park Slope's 7th Avenue

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Slopers taking a stroll down 7th Avenue will soon have a new place to stop and rest. The avenue will get its first installation of public "street seats" this year, community board members recently decided.

Community Board 6 voted 16 to 13, with one abstention, in favor of the new seating installation, which lets the city's Department of Transportation partner with local businesses to offer public seating in the warmer part of the year. The newest spots will be set up in front of Pokeworks at its 258 7th Avenue location, owned by Michael Pennartz and Oleg Rud.

The six-foot wide seating will be open from March until December in front of the Poke bowl chain. It will be accessible for those with disabilities and will include moveable furniture, according to the community board's presentation.

Street Seats is a citywide program that began in 2015.

"(Street Seats is meant) to transform underused streets into vibrant, social public spaces between the months of March through December," according to DOT.

The seats are installed in the roadbed along the curb line or on wide sidewalks and can be used by anybody from the public, even those that are not a patron of the business they are in front of.

The partner, in this case Pokeworks, is responsible for the maintenance and storage of the street seats.

Community Board 6 said in their presentation that the seats create a more active street life and help calm traffic and provide greater visibility.

The new seats will join another installation at Park Slope's. 5th Avenue in front of Sky Ice. That spot was renewed for three seasons by the board back in 2017.

There are currently eight street seat locations in Brooklyn and eight in Manhattan.

Photo from GoogleMaps.