Open Streets: Did You Know?
Image Courtesy of the New York City Department of Transportation.
On Wednesday, September 27th, the Neighborhood Preservation Center is excited to host a virtual program called Stopping Traffic: What Open Streets Mean for Neighborhoods, which will present a myriad of perspectives on NYC’s Open Streets initiative, and what it means for preserving neighborhoods. Community leaders from across the city, along with representatives from The Horticultural Society of New York (The Hort) and the Department of Transportation, will come together to discuss the concept’s past, present reality, and what the future might hold.
In preparation for this program, NPC’s board invited Kyle Gorman (Assistant Director of Public Space Partnerships & Programs at the DOT) to present an overview of the Open Streets initiative, and everyone in attendance was inspired by his dedication and enthusiasm for the program.
If you have questions about Open Streets, take a look at some of these presentation highlights before joining the discussion this Wednesday!
Did you know…?
The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT) manages roughly 6,000 miles of streets, which represents over 25% of all the usable land area in the city. In a way, that makes the DOT the city’s biggest landlord!
The DOT partners with many community groups to make public spaces safe for people walking and biking, and to create a high-quality public realm. Some of these groups will be featured in our upcoming program, including the 31st Ave Open Street Collective in Queens and Caldwell Enrichment Programs in the Bronx!
Open Streets is now a permanent program based on legislation that passed in 2021, a result of a greater need for outside space during COVID-19. There are three types of Open Streets: Limited Local Access (with bikers, pedestrians, and vehicles sharing space), Full Closure (no vehicle access except for emergency vehicles) and Full Closure: Schools (streets are temporarily closed to vehicles to allow for school programming. This has replaced the roughly 100-year-old Play Streets program).
The DOT has a major contract with The Hort to manage roughly 75 sites. The Hort provides daily maintenance, operations, technical assistance, and horticultural care for partners that may not have the capacity.
In addition to the Open Streets program, the DOT also manages Street Seats, Shared Streets, and Plaza initiatives, along with neighborhood partners and groups like The Hort.
The application for community groups who want to participate in Open Streets in 2024 will be out this October - keep an eye out!
RSVP today for Stopping Traffic: What Open Streets Mean for Neighborhoods. The program will begin at 7:30pm ET, and will feature a panel discussion followed by a brief Q&A. Read more and register here!