Jackson Heights’ 34th Avenue Open Streets Compromise
group calls for modifi cation of the program as it stands
BY GABRIELE HOLTERMANN
A group of Jackson Heights residents
of the 34th Avenue Open Streets
Compromise gave a voice to some of
the avenue’s residents against the
program as it stands, marching down
the popular open street from Junction
Boulevard to 69th Street on Saturday,
May 22.
They called on city officials to meet
them halfway on the Open Streets initiative
that the City Council inked as
permanent at the beginning of May.
The group agrees that the initiative
served a purpose during the height
of the COVID-19 pandemic, allowing
New Yorkers to enjoy the outdoors
while safely maintaining a social distance.
But they also said that while 34th
Avenue, which is closed off to traffic
12 hours a day, has peak hours of
high activity, the avenue isn’t used
much for outdoor recreation most of
the time. The group believes that with
the availability of sidewalks and bike
lanes, it doesn’t make sense to block
off a two-sided avenue.
They said it’s added to the traffic
pressure on Northern Boulevard and
35th Avenue, an argument some Jackson
Heights residents have brought up
many times before during community
meetings. The Department of Transportation
(DOT) has previously said
they will study how and if it the Open
Street has affected the traffic Northern
Boulevard and surrounding corridors.
The group is also asking to shorten
the length of 34th Avenue’s Open
Street, which currently spans 26
blocks along the avenue, and demand
the DOT conduct another survey to
find out how the Open Street initiative
truly affects the residents of the
avenue.
DOT conducted a survey in December
and January that had more than
2,000 participants (93 percent of them
from Jackson Heights and nearby),
and found 45 percent said they use the
avenue daily.
Kathy Farrem, a 40-year-old Jackson
Heights resident, made it clear
that they are not against Open Streets.
However, she feels that the concerns
of many of the residents weren’t taken
into account when the City Council
voted to make the Open Streets initiative
a permanent fixture of city life at
the beginning of May.
She said that many in the community
are seniors without access to
computers and don’t know how to use
modern technology, therefore, they
didn’t know about the online meetings
and couldn’t raise their concerns.
“We have almost a thousand
people that have signed up,” Farrem
said about their group. “So, there
are at least a thousand people in this
neighborhood that are not happy and
haven’t really been heard.”
Jackson Heights residents marched down 34th Avenue on May 22, calling for a compromise on the Open Streets initiative.
Farrem said they want a
compromise, and want the hours in
particular to be “adjusted.”
Farrem also pointed out that moving
the barriers was especially challenging
for elderly drivers and said
that Access-A-Ride won’t drive up to
her neighbor’s front door anymore
and that she has to walk to the corner
to catch her ride.
Carlos Cortes, the president of
Southridge Cooperative Section IV,
a cooperative apartment complex
in Jackson Heights with close to
4,000 residents, said that none of the
residents were consulted before the
City Council made the Open Streets
initiative permanent.
He also took issue with Assembly
member Jessica González-Rojas
and her support of turning 34th Avenue
into a linear park, spearheaded
by 34th Avenue Linear Park. The
idea has also received the support of
Queens Borough President Donovan
Richards.
But Cortes called it an “audacity”
that González-Rojas, who he said “finally”
met with representatives of
34th Avenue Compromise on May 21,
never bothered consulting the residents
on 34th Avenue and asked them
for their input.
In response, a spokesperson for
Assemblywoman González-Rojas’ office
said they have met with different
stakeholders about 34th Avenue,
including a representative of the
Southridge Cooperative.
“‘Audacity’ was not one of the
TIMESLEDGER | Q 10 NS.COM | MAY 28-JUNE 3, 2021
words used during our meeting with
the compromise group, which we felt
was respectful and productive,” the
spokesperson told QNS. “The Assembly
member made it clear she wants
to hear various perspectives and
listened to several ideas.”
Cortes is concerned that once
34th Avenue is turned into a park,
residents will have to deal with an
influx of homeless people and drug
addicts who have nowhere to go. He
is also concerned about “unlicensed
vendors.”
“We’re already starting to see a
lot of vendors like you see on Junction
Boulevard. If they want to have
vendors, they should be able to put
them in a specific area, you know,
where maybe they have a flea market
section, but not the entire avenue. It
should be regulated,” Cortes said.
“And right now, nobody’s talking to
their shareholders, to the people who
live here.”
Caroline Flores-Oyola, an organizer
with 34th Avenue Compromise,
was part of the contingency that had
a meeting with González-Rojas on
May 21.
Flores-Oyola appreciated that
the assemblywoman took the time
to meet with them but said she felt it
“was a little bit of a, ‘Let’s listen to
you because you say we don’t listen,’
kind of thing.”
Flores-Oyola emphasized that she
wants people to understand that her
group — while against the linear park
— is not “anti-Open Streets,” because
everyone understands and appreciates
the benefits of the initiative.
“A lot of our residents are elders.
They’re seniors, and I just think that
it’s absurd that a lot of these people
who have bought their apartments,
they are homeowners, have not been
considered in this decision,” Flores-
Oyola said. “So today, we’re walking
for compromise to show that
we do have numbers. We are not a
minority.”
William Gorton, who shared that
he doesn’t own a car and depends
on public transportation, didn’t
feel a linear park would benefit the
neighborhood.
“I’ve been here 21 years. A park is
normally a plus. We have a park as
part of the building, which is a plus,”
Gorton said. “A park, which is part of
a street, is not a plus. That’s one of the
big issues.”
Thirty-fourth Avenue Open
Streets, often referenced as a model
for what the program should look like
citywide, has been a popular addition
for many other residents and local
elected officials in the area. Last fall,
hundreds rallied to not only make
the program permanent but extend
it even more blocks, citing a lack of
parks and open space in the area.
Community meetings to plan the
34th Avenue Open Streets program
sponsored by DOT and local officials
took place virtually in February and
March, and are still ongoing.
Additional reporting by Angélica
Acevedo.
Photo by Gabriele Holtermann
/NS.COM
