The city claims the play
street was never meant as
a permanent amenity, and
that it’s special designation
was offi cially revoked in
2014. However, in an act of
constructive incompetence,
bureaucrats neglected to remove
the “play street” sign
located at the entrance to
Fourth Street near Fifth Avenue
until a few weeks ago.
Civic gurus involved in
advocating for and planning
out the play street say the
Department of Transportation
never declared the strip
as temporary, and that locals
had pushed for the Fourth
Street’s development into
a woonerf, a Dutch sharedstreets
concept that employs
various traffi c calming measures
to pedestrianize roadways.
“For all intents and purposes
it would have been
an intensely shared street
where pedestrians would essentially
set the tone and
pace for the area,” said Craig
Hammerman, who served as
district manager of Community
Board 6 during the planning
process for the street.
Reverting Fourth Street
into faculty parking was certainly
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not part of the plan,
Hammerman said. Overnight
parking for residents
had been discussed during
the planning process, with
the understanding that it
would be cleared of cars during
the day.
“That was not supposed
to be full of teacher parking
ever,” he said. “That was part
of the agreement.”
Even before the play street
was eliminated, Price continued
the push to further pedestrianize
Fourth Street,
saying the famed stroller
capital of Brooklyn needs as
much public space as it can
get. She has since created a
petition demanding the city
reinstate the roadway’s status
as a play street.
“JJ Byrne is overcrowded,
MS 51 right there has over
1,200 students — any amount
of public space would help
add a sense of safety,” Price
said. “We need all the public
space we can get.”
She envisions the street as
an extension of Washington
Park, creating a totally carfree
zone that connects the
school with the green space.
In reality, however, the
street has become more less
kid friendly over the years,
according to Park Slope bike
advocate Doug Gordon, who
said cars started piling into
Fourth Street in 2017, when
the de Blasio administration
orchestrated a massive election
year placard giveaway
to the powerful Council of
School Supervisors and Administrators
union in 2017,
reversing a Bloomberg Administration
order that lowered
the number of placards
from 63,000 to around
11,000.
“The mayor deserves most
of the blame here,” said Gordon.
“Unfortunately, since
kids lack a powerful political
union, they lost out.”
Gordon lamented the
city’s effortless ability to promote
the interests of drivers
over children, comparing the
play street’s sudden disappearance
with the grassroots
slog locals went through to
get the space pedestrianized.
“The process for turning
space for people into space
for cars requires none of
that and can be done quickly
without local input,” Gordon
said. “We need to fl ip the
equation.”
While the play street sign
was removed, “No Standing
Anytime” signs remain
in place, although Brooklyn
Paper found the street was
stuffed with cars sporting
Locals wonder what happened to their play street. Photo by Ben Verde
Department of Educationissued
placards during visits
on Jan. 14 and on Jan. 11.
A Department of Education
spokeswoman said they are
working to clear teachers’
cars from the area.
“All school staff must follow
parking regulations and
signage and we’re working
with the school and the Department
of Transportation
to address the matter,” said
Miranda Barbot.
Play street
Continued from page 1
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