DOT: Nine New Public Plazas in the Works

marcy_fulton_09.jpgBefore and after: Fulton St. and Marcy Ave. Image via DOT.

DOT has announced its selections for round one of the NYC Plaza Program, which invites non-profits throughout the boroughs to propose the development of new public spaces. According to DOT, applicants were chosen based on organizational and site-specific criteria, with special consideration given to areas with low- to moderate-income populations. A total of nine projects in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx were selected. The complete list is posted on the DOT website. Here’s a taste:

  • Brooklyn: Fulton Street & Marcy Avenue; Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, applicant. Just off the bustling commercial corridor of
    Fulton Street, the Marcy Avenue plaza will narrow the width of Marcy
    Avenue between Fulton and MacDonough Streets to create 8,000 square
    feet of new pedestrian space in the heart of Bedford Stuyvesant. This
    project dovetails with the Bedford Stuyvesant Gateway Streetscape
    project by the Mayor’s Office of Comprehensive Neighborhood Economic
    Development and the NYC Economic Development Corporation, which is
    redesigning Fulton Street from Bedford Avenue to Troy Avenue.
  • The Bronx: Boston Road & E. 169th Street; South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, applicant. By removing a slip lane this project will
    expand McKinley Square by 8,000 square feet.  This will allow the
    community to enhance a farmers market and create a town center for the
    neighborhoods of Morrisania and Clermont. The removal of the slip lane
    will allow children arriving by bus to walk to nearby PS 63 without
    having to cross a street, reducing conflicts between pedestrians and
    vehicles.
  • Manhattan: Forsyth Street (between Canal Street and Division Street); Renaissance Economic Development Corporation, applicant. The Forsyth Street plaza will provide
    additional sidewalk space along the western portion of Forsyth Street
    to enhance the street environment currently alongside and underneath
    the Manhattan Bridge. In addition, the project will create an upper
    plaza on a vacant portion of property adjacent the bridge’s off-ramp so
    that residents and cyclists traveling off the bridge can enjoy public
    open space that looks down upon Forsyth Street and the surrounding
    neighborhood. In total, the project provides up to 10,000 square feet
    of new public space.

DOT, along with the Department of Design and Construction, will work with the applicants to develop site plans. Construction is expected to begin in 2011, as funding allows.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Jay Street Protected Bike Lane Plan Clears Brooklyn CB 2 Committee

By David Meyer |
Last night, DOT presented its proposal for a protected bike lane on Jay Street in downtown Brooklyn to the Community Board 2 transportation committee [PDF]. Jay Street is the main approach for the Brooklyn side of the Manhattan Bridge bike path. During a 12-hour weekday period, DOT counted 2,400 cyclists on Jay Street, with bikes accounting for […]

Public Takes to Plazas in East New York and Fort Greene

By Stephen Miller |
This weekend, three Brooklyn plazas became hubs of neighborhood activity. In East New York, Saturday evening saw a community tree lighting, along with local performers and community organizations, at New Lots Triangle on Livonia Avenue. In prior years, the tree was situated in a tiny patch of asphalt between three streets, but in 2011 DOT expanded the plaza […]

DOT’s Fear of Community Boards Leads to Bike Lane Gaps in Brooklyn

By Stephen Miller |
Disjointed street design changes coming to Kingston Avenue and Brooklyn Avenue illustrate how DOT’s sheepish approach to bike lane implementation interferes with the development of a connected bike network. At Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy, these north-south routes connect with Tompkins Avenue and Throop Avenue, which both have bike lanes. But for years, the bike lanes didn’t extend south […]

Bed-Stuy CB Freaks Out Over Adding Pedestrian Space to Fulton and Utica

By Stephen Miller |
Creating more space for pedestrians at a dangerous, crowded transfer point between bus lines and the subway — sounds like a no-brainer, right? Not at Brooklyn Community Board 3, where the default position is to reflexively reject even the smallest street safety change. Fulton Street and Utica Avenue are both dangerous streets that the de Blasio administration has targeted […]