16 APRIL 23, 2020 RIDGEWOOD TIMES WWW.QNS.COM
Cyclists ride through Times Square during evening rush hour, during the outbreak of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in New York City on April 15,
2020. REUTERS/Bryan R Smith
City Council seeking up to 75 miles of open streets
BY ROBERT POZARYCKI
RPOZARYCKI@QNS.COM
@ROBBPOZ
Weeks after Mayor Bill de
Blasio launched and then
quickly canceled an “open
streets” program, the City Council
wants to overturn that decision with
a bill that would close up to 75 miles
of roadways for public recreation
amid the coronavirus pandemic.
City Council Speaker Corey Johnson
and Manhattan City Councilwoman
Carlina Rivera announced
Friday new legislation that would
open city streets to pedestrians and
cyclists across the five boroughs.
The bill will be introduced on
Wednesday during the City Council’s
first-ever remote stated meeting.
During a press conference on
April 17, de Blasio said he hasn’t yet
seen the details of the legislation,
and he wanted to speak with City
Council representatives further. Yet
he also indicated that he didn’t want
to enact policies that counteract
efforts to ensure public safety, or
misuse public resources.
The legislation comes weeks
after the de Blasio Administration
nixed its pilot program that closed
a handful of New York City streets
to vehicular traffic so nearby residents
could use them for exercise
and fresh air.
The pilot program, aiming to
alleviate crowding problems in city
parks, launched days after a March
22 press conference during which
Governor Andrew Cuomo publicly
shamed the city for ignoring social
distancing calls.
But just two weeks after it
launched, the open streets program
was abruptly canceled on April 6.
The Mayor’s office said not enough
people were using the closed streets
to warrant both the roads’ closure
and the use of police officers to keep
the roadways shut.
De Blasio alluded to those reasons
during his remarks Friday.
“We do not create a situation where
people think they can walk in the
middle of the street but in fact there’s
still vehicles there,” the mayor said.
“We can not create a situation where
emergency vehicles and crucial deliveries
can’t get through. We can not
create a situation where we need to
use enforcement personnel we still
don’t have enough of, drawing them
off of all the things that are crucial.”
De Blasio said his team would
“look at how things evolve, maybe the
situation opens up over time and we
have other options.”
Even so, Johnson and Rivera
maintained that the need for open
street space will be more crucial in
the weeks ahead, especially with the
arrival of warmer weather.
“New Yorkers don’t have the street
space they need to maintain proper
social distancing, which we know is
essential in this public health crisis,”
Johnson said. “While we want
to work collaboratively with the
administration to open streets, this
issue is so important and so urgent
that we are taking legislative action
to make it happen ourselves. Other
cities across the country and around
the world have demonstrated that
this is doable. There is no reason we
can’t do this here.”
The legislation includes a target
of closing 75 miles of streets across
the five boroughs, though it’s not
clear exactly which streets would
be affected.
“For years, New York City led
the nation in developing innovative
solutions to our biggest urban
challenges,” Rivera said. “And as
the weather gets warmer and more
New Yorkers seek brief respites
from stuffy, cramped and often unair
conditioned homes, we have to
provide them with outdoor spaces
where they can properly social distance,
and our parks just can’t do the
job alone.”
Twelve other City Council members
publicly voiced their approval
for the open streets bill on Friday:
Ydanis Rodriguez, Fernando Cabrera,
Daniel Dromm, Costa Constantinides,
Ben Kallos, Peter Koo, Brad Lander,
Stephen Levin, Mark Levine, Carlos
Menchaca, Keith Powers and Antonio
Reynoso.
Transit activists also voiced support
for the measure, including
Transportation Alternatives Executive
Director Danny Harris.
“Streets account for roughly 80%
of New York City’s public space, and
their ambitious open streets program
will give 75 miles of streets
back to people, their rightful owner,
when New Yorkers desperately need
them,” Harris said. “We call on the
City Council and the mayor to implement
this plan without delay, and,
over time, to expand the program to
support the needs of all New Yorkers.
Transportation Alternatives
stands ready to support our city in
providing safe space for residents
who must be out and continuing to
lead the nation on our approach to
safe and open streets.”
Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications
director for the Riders
Alliance, added that opening more
streets to pedestrians would have
the additional effect of increasing
safety for essential workers commuting
to and from their jobs.
“For transit riders, open streets
mean safer passage to and from subway
and bus stops,” Pearlstein said.
“Open streets can also reduce crowding
on subways and buses, enabling
people with short trips to walk or
cycle to their destination safely rather
than pack onto public transit.”
With additional reporting by Alejandra
O’Connell-Domenech.
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