Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Plazas

Eyes on the Street: Fowler Square Plaza Opens in Fort Greene

By Noah Kazis | May 11, 2012 | 7 Comments

Fort Greene’s newest public plaza opened today and Brownstoner was on the scene to capture the moment. The plaza, which reclaimed space for pedestrians on a short, lightly-trafficked block of South Elliott Place between Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue, connects the sidewalk to an existing public triangle. Even though construction only finished today (because the […]

Big Sidewalk Extensions Coming to Bowling Green

By Noah Kazis | May 8, 2012 | 2 Comments

Pedestrians at the southern-most tip of Manhattan are getting a lot more space to walk, thanks to a DOT proposal [PDF] first reported by DNAinfo last week. New sidewalk extensions along Whitehall Street, as well as a new plaza at the famous statue of the bull at Bowling Green, will make conditions safer for people […]

Willoughby Plaza, Already a Hit, Gets a Capital Upgrade

By Noah Kazis | Apr 18, 2012 | 4 Comments

Downtown Brooklyn’s Willoughby Street plaza, located just off Adams Street, was the forerunner of New York City’s current efforts to reclaim roadways as pedestrian spaces. Built in 2006, before Janette Sadik-Khan took over the city Department of Transportation, the city used now-familiar ingredients — concrete planters and folding chairs — to close the block to […]

Brooklyn CB 2 Endorses Fowler Square Plaza, With Evaluation Period

By Noah Kazis | Apr 13, 2012 | 1 Comment

In a meeting Wednesday evening, Brooklyn Community Board 2 endorsed plans to try out a new pedestrian plaza at Fort Greene’s Fowler Square. A short, lightly-trafficked block of South Elliott Place, between Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue, will be reclaimed for pedestrians, allowing the existing square to be connected with the adjoining block. The vote […]

The Jackson Heights Plaza Is Growing on Some Local Merchants

By Noah Kazis | Apr 11, 2012 | 8 Comments

A package of enhancements and adjustments to the new pedestrian plaza on 37th Road in Jackson Heights — the object of a high-profile backlash from a group of local merchants this winter — is winning over some of the skeptics. DOT has placed new planters and seating to spruce up the plaza and give it more color, […]

Eyes on the Street: An Unnecessary Takeover of the 14th Street Plaza

By Brad Aaron | Apr 5, 2012 | 12 Comments

In March, The Uni posted photos of a behemoth advertising installation in the pedestrian plaza on 14th Street and Ninth Avenue. Here it is as of late last week. We received reports that today it’s coming down. For a solid two weeks, most of the plaza was reserved for cosmetics samples as passersby were blasted […]

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