WWW.QNS.COM RIDGEWOOD TIMES AUGUST 27, 2020 13
A call to study Astoria streets for Open Streets, Open Restaurants program
BY RICHARD KHUZAMI
It has indeed been a summer for
the ages. We are living in times
unique in history, and we are all
discovering new ways to live, to view
our communities.
Often in times of stress, everything
gets accelerated. It becomes
an opportunity to try new things,
unimaginable just a few years before.
These opportunities are often
created to cure ills to our society.
In Astoria, one of our biggest
assets and best attractions are our
cafes, restaurants and bars. But the
COVID-19 pandemic has hit us hard.
We at the Old Astoria Neighborhood
Association (OANA) have prioritized
helping small businesses,
especially in hospitality, survive
this time of turmoil. Businesses that
have a special place in our community
are closing, and the losses can
be unrecoverable!
We applaud the city of New York
for creating their Open Restaurant
program, which allowed restaurants
and bars to serve outside, therefore
protecting the public from the dangers
of contagion in indoor environments,
but allowing these businesses
income to survive. And, they did this
with a minimum of time-consuming
regulation, allowing business to sign
up and start operating immediately.
However, since then, the bureaucracy
has struck back, and started
fining and over-regulating these
same businesses, often for issues
that should be enforced by the
government. They do not have the
power of issuing summons, etc., so
how can they be expected to change
behaviors?
Beyond this, we at OANA worked
most of the summer to organize local
restaurants to take advantage of
the Open Streets, Open Restaurants
program offered by the city. This
program actually closes streets with
a large presence of restaurants in
order to facilitate their business in
a safe manner.
In a general matter of urban life,
the move to reduce vehicular traffic
in favor of pedestrians and personal
transport (bicycles, skate boards,
mopeds, etc.) is gaining steam. As
of Aug. 17, the city has granted such
status to 76 open streets and nine
pedestrian plazas allowing restaurant
use.
This street closure includes an
available 15-foot corridor for service
vehicles (recently, a firetruck had to
turn back on 30th Avenue as it could
not get through because of traffic).
In partnership with the 30th Avenue
Business Association, OANA
OP-ED
successfully signed up 20 restaurants
on 30th Avenue to apply for
this program. It took a month of hard
outreach, and we greatly appreciate
those who helped us. We were encouraged
by the city and elected officials
to proceed with this project.
Regretfully, in the end we were unsuccessful
in closing 30th Avenue to
traffic. The stated reasons were traffic
concerns and unruly customers.
However, we disagree with this and
believe closing the avenue to traffic
would accomplish the following:
• Greatly increase safety, eliminating
the possibility of a vehicle
crashing into restaurant barriers,
and saving lives.
• Eliminate the fumes of gridlocked
vehicles. None of us wants a
side of carbon monoxide with their
pizza!
• Most of the rowdy behavior
which afflicted Astoria was caused
by individuals who paraded their
vehicles around in order to impress!
This is the same crowd we have dealt
with for years on Shore Boulevard
in Astoria Park. And when they
closed Shore Boulevard to vehicles,
everyone moved up to the Business
District. Without vehicle access,
these people have no interest in the
neighborhood (they stopped coming
to Shore Boulevard). If we had closed
Steinway and 30th Avenue to traffic,
many of the problems would have
been eliminated.
• Increase area for social distancing,
more pedestrian friendly, and
hopefully a more family-orientated
destination.
• Increase the number of outdoor
tables for the restaurants.
We only asked for closure from 5
p.m. to midnight Friday and Saturday,
and from noon to midnight on
Sunday. We want to make sure we
minimally affect other retail on the
avenue.
The city has seen fit to close another
avenue, not for increasing
commercial viability, but to increase
outdoor space for individual residents.
We are not opposed to this in
general, as long as it is done within
a plan that includes its effects on
the entire neighborhood. And this
should not eliminate the possibility
of other deserving neighborhoods
and commercial districts to reap
the benefits of street closures. Also,
closure every day from 8 a.m. to
8 p.m. seems a bit excessive. We
wonder how this has affected local
business.
Therefore, we call upon the city
of New York to take a more holistic
approach for all of Astoria the next
time the program is rolled out. The
city should determine the best times
and locations so that next year’s Open
Streets, Open Restaurants program
(promised by the mayor) can equally
be enjoyed by all.
The media has called Astoria one of
the best neighborhoods in the world;
let’s make sure our legacy is not the
destruction of this.
Richard Khuzami is president
of the Old Astoria Neighborhood
Association.
SNAPS
DRIVING THROUGH CUNNINGHAM PARK
PHOTO SUBMITTED BY HAIFA BISRAJ
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