Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Plazas

Empire Boulevard Reconstruction Will Create Two Plazas

By Stephen Miller | Sep 18, 2015 | 1 Comment

Dangerous intersections at each end of Empire Boulevard, which stretches east-west across the southern edge of Crown Heights, are set for some major new pedestrian space. A street reconstruction project will reconfigure the area where Empire Boulevard, East New York Avenue, Remsen Avenue, and Utica Avenue converge. There, DOT will reroute traffic, creating a new pedestrian plaza. Similar changes […]

Times Square Coalition: Keep the Plazas, Regulate Naked People

By Brad Aaron | Sep 17, 2015 | 16 Comments

The Times Square Alliance and a coalition of electeds has a plan to address complaints about Times Square without destroying the hugely successful pedestrian plazas. The centerpiece of the proposal is to legally redefine the Broadway plazas as a public space with three regulated zones: “civic” zones for public seating areas and programmed events; “flow” zones for pedestrian throughput; […]

Watch New Yorkers Using the 33rd Street Plaza With Streetfilms

By Stephen Miller | Sep 14, 2015 | 8 Comments

Catch it while you can. Before the temporary plaza on 33rd Street at Seventh Avenue closes on October 3, Clarence Eckerson Jr. of Streetfilms stopped by to grab video of New Yorkers enjoying some breathing room in one of Midtown’s most crowded corners. The plaza was installed in July, along with a temporary sidewalk extension on 32nd Street between […]

Meet the People Breathing Life Into NYC’s Overlooked Public Spaces

By Stephen Miller | Sep 11, 2015 | No Comments

There are two dueling visions of public space in New York City. On one side, tabloid columnists and the police commissioner believe that any problems encountered in Midtown’s public spaces — whether homeless men or hustling desnudas — should be fixed by replacing space for people with good old-fashioned car traffic. On the other side are residents and […]

How City Hall Can Improve NYC’s Public Spaces Instead of Tearing Them Out

By Stephen Miller | Sep 4, 2015 | 2 Comments

While recent comments from Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton about potentially yanking out the Times Square plazas have caused an uproar, a much deeper and more substantial debate over plazas has been simmering for months. Public space advocates and plaza managers say the city’s rules governing who can do what with plaza space are cumbersome […]

Resolved: Manhattan Community Board 10 Rejects Bradhurst Plaza

By Stephen Miller | Sep 3, 2015 | 13 Comments

It was loud. It was messy. And in the end, Manhattan Community Board 10 decided against turning a short section of Macombs Place in Harlem into a car-free public space. Supporters of the proposal spent years trying to get CB 10’s backing but came up a few votes short last night. DOT won’t proceed with the project without […]

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