Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Plazas

This plaza on Myrtle Avenue took ten years to become a reality, but it was an immediate hit. "As soon as there were seats, people were sitting in them," said BID director Meredith Phillips Almeida. Photo: Myrtle Avenue Revitalization Project

It Took DDC Six Years to Build This Clinton Hill Plaza

By David Meyer | Jan 22, 2018 | 7 Comments

The project was one of the first public space improvements identified by NYC DOT's plaza program, then became a poster child for the dysfunctional capital construction process at the Department of Design and Construction.

NYPD Surrounds Flatiron Plaza With Concrete Barriers, Because Terrorism

By David Meyer | Jul 18, 2017 | 51 Comments

Sometime between Thursday night and Friday morning, NYPD surrounded Flatiron Plaza, where Broadway crosses Fifth Avenue, with concrete barriers. Similar barriers could be coming to public spaces throughout the city in the name of NYPD's counterterror initiatives.

DDC construction delays for projects like Robert Clemente Plaza in the Bronx can inflict a lot of pain on surrounding businesses. Photo: Steven Fish

NYC Businesses Losing Patience With DDC Plaza Construction Snafus

By David Meyer | Feb 3, 2017 | 2 Comments

The same local business groups that publicly supported the city's plaza program often take a huge hit from the Department of Design and Construction's lengthy and unpredictable construction process.

Broadway and 43rd. After photo: David Meyer

The Times Square Plazas Are No Longer a Construction Zone

By David Meyer | Jan 3, 2017 | 10 Comments

Before 2009, Times Square was a hellish place to walk. Pedestrians outnumbered vehicles nine to one but were confined to just 10 percent of the street space. The creation of car-free plazas on Broadway changed the equation, and now those plazas are a permanent fixture of the street.

The new pedestrian plaza at the Myrtle-Wyckoff transit hub will save lives. Photos: David Meyer

Families for Safe Streets and DOT Cut the Ribbon on Myrtle-Wyckoff Plaza

By David Meyer | Dec 2, 2016 | No Comments

The plaza, on the block of Wyckoff Avenue between Myrtle and Gates, is the centerpiece of a major safety project that will reduce conflicts between drivers and pedestrians at an intersection where three people were killed by motorists since 2009.

DOT Moves Ahead With Redesign of Deadly Myrtle-Wyckoff Intersection

By Brad Aaron | Sep 21, 2016 | 1 Comment

DOT is moving ahead with a new plaza and safety improvements at the intersection of Myrtle Avenue, Wyckoff Avenue, and Palmetto Street on the border of Brooklyn and Queens, the Ridgewood Times reports, with work slated to start today. The project got a thumbs up from one of the neighboring community boards and a thumbs down from the […]

Show More Stories