Sunset BID fundraises for Open Streets
With no government funding on horizon, GoFundMe aims to bridge gaps
BY JESSICA PARKS
Sunset Park’s businessboosting
group is asking for
the community’s fi nancial
support to host open streets in
the neighborhood all summer
long — with the option of adding
another day of the weekend
if enough donations are given.
“No government funding has
been provided to pay for running
the Open Streets program,”
wrote David Estrada, executive
director of the Sunset Park
Business Improvement District,
on the fundraiser’s website, “so
we are fundraising from the
community, businesses, and the
program participants.”
The city launched the Open
Streets program in April 2020
in an effort to encourage social
distancing by blocking
off select roadways from most
traffi c and inviting residents
to use the space to enjoy the
outdoors and safely gather.
Neighborhood business improvement
districts and volunteer
groups typically facilitate
the program in their zones.
The Sunset Park BID participated
in the program last
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year, and its two employees are
looking forward to expanding
the program to three sections
of Fifth Avenue this year. On
Saturdays starting May 1,
three stretches — 39th to 42nd
streets, 45th to 47th streets
and 55th to 59th streets — will
be designated Open Streets
from 4 pm to 11 pm, according
to organizers, who hope that
with a little more funding, the
program can continue on to
include Fridays.
A GoFundMe launched
earlier this month aims to
bring in $38,000, which, if met,
would allow the BID a second
day of Open Streets, and provide
some extra cash to spend
on activities for the neighborhood’s
young’uns.
“We are just doing it pay as
you go,” Estrada said. “If we
raise enough money for Saturdays
through Oct. 30, we will
do that. If we raise even more
money than that, we will do
Fridays!”
As of April 30, the group’s
fundraiser has brought in
over $8,000 — enough to cover
Saturdays through early summer,
according to the head of
the BID. But, there is still a
long way to go, said Estrada.
“This means we are
pretty much paid for Saturdays
through at least the end
of July and maybe August,
if we mind our pennies,” Estrada
said.
The program will not be
extended to Sundays at the behest
of the strip’s merchants
and religious organizations,
whose patrons and parishioners
often rely on public transportation,
Estrada said.
“We are not going to do Sundays
out of respect for the religious
spaces on the avenue
and the retailers,” Estrada told
Brooklyn Paper. “They want access
to customers, seniors and
families who ride the B63 bus.”
Aside from some planned
activities for children, a bulk
of the BID’s funding will go
toward paying individuals to
monitor the Open Streets —
something, Estrada and other
program aides have said is too
much to ask of volunteers.
“I am going to employ people
to do this,” Estrada said.
“Volunteers will be used …
but I don’t feel it’s right to ask
someone to be outdoors at midnight
with police barriers and
oncoming traffi c if they are
not retained as an employee.”
Rather than some tangible
presence on behalf of the
city — from the Department
of Transportation, the NYPD,
or some other agency — locals
have been left to manage their
open streets by themselves,
often forming neighborhood
groups to patrol the pedestrianized
roadways and keep the
anti-car barriers in place.
But Estrada said he is expecting
to receive some city
funding, which coupled with
the donations will ensure a
successful program for the
community.
“We have a pretty ambitious
goal,” he said. “Now if
the city comes through with
anything, now we are really
talking a viable program.”
Open Streets in Sunset Park in 2020. Sunset Park BID
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