The citywide Open Streets program was designed to ease the isolation of the pandemic by expanding outdoor public spaces.
The Department of Transportation is seeking feedback on the Avenue B corridor, where activities take place between Sixth Street and 14th Street.
NYC DOT has been conducting community outreach to better understand how the Avenue B Open Street is used, and how the community wants to see these corridors used in the future.
NYC DOT is currently collecting feedback from the community for a design proposal for the Avenue B Open Street. Members of the community are invited to review the design proposal materials ...
Here's a look at a preliminary concept...
The biggest proposed changes would occur between Seventh Street and 10th Street, which will better prioritize pedestrians and cyclists, expand public space and add amenities. Specifically, Avenue B between Eighth Street and Ninth Street would be a pedestrian plaza, with "dedicated space for programming, markets and more."
You can find the feedback form at this link. And go here for the design proposal. Tomorrow (Sept. 30) is the deadline to submit your feedback.
The Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition is the DOT's community partner and volunteer group overseeing the Open Street of Avenue B.
Photo via @loisaida_oscc
The city needs to redesign Avenue B all the way down to Houston, remove free car parking and create Loading Zones, Bioswales, plant more trees. The narrowness of the street makes it a perfect people/ riders priority street. This is such a missed opportunity to redesign only the 3 blocks next to the park.
ReplyDeleteFully agree. It would be nice to then use it. Currently the three block barriers are ignored by speeding cars, that makes it a scary stretch.
DeleteAgree with Choresh Wald above and the current proposal is a step in the right direction.
ReplyDeleteAny vehicle access, including dedicated bike lanes, needs speed bumps.
I'm curious about FDNY input on this. My understanding was they need Ave B open and the plaza proposed between 8th and 9th looks like it would be a problem.
Yes to speed bumps.
DeleteI think they are required by code to maintain proper emergency vehicle access etc
ReplyDeleteThe city can’t provide enough help to keep our park in good condition. How is it possible that they can add an entire public avenue and a plaza? And security to ensure it doesn’t get defaced and became a late night party space or place to shoot up?
ReplyDeleteThey can’t even come up a solution for the current problem of open streets which is that they are not safe!! We stopped using them finally because drivers would yell at us or drive fast. Let’s put some resources into our *current public spaces*. Just say no to this DOT proposal. Ps I am an active member of this community and educated in city planning. This is all for show for the DOT.
Make sure you share your opinion (either way) http://bit.ly/avebworkshop
I don’t think Avenue B has to be shut down and restricted anymore than it has been already. There is a park there for people to use in a huge variety of ways. Why does this have to be extended into the street?
ReplyDeleteBecause it is dangerous to get TO the park. Avenue B needs speed bumps all along the park.
DeleteAgree with many of the comments. This is a poorly thought-through proposal — the city should focus on improving the infrastructure and facilities in Tompkins Square Park itself.
ReplyDeletePlease, no 'plaza blocks' as they bring people walking and cycling together in a dangerously ambiguous way.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comments... for or against, be sure to leave your feedback on the DOT form linked to in the post. DOT officials likely aren't reading the comments section here.
ReplyDeleteThe argument that the Park's Department isn't maintaining Tompkins Square, which basically means cleaning the bathrooms, is a separate issue from DOT designating a plaza. The cops have the resources to shut down quality of life violations in the park, they just aren't doing that these days. Parks has the resources to clean the bathrooms, they just aren't doing that. If either agency doesn't have those resources they should make that case.
ReplyDeleteper @8:41am : For bicycles - the current definition somehow includes gas burning two stroke delivery vehicles with top speeds of 50mph that happen to have two wheels - to have access to pedestrian plazas the only thing that works is speed bumps. Or else the electric Citibikes come through at traffic speed no matter what.
Precisely though. DOT isn’t going to be responsible for ensuring that the plaza or open streets are cared for during after hours. If people make a ruckus or turn it into a shooting up plaza at night, the police won’t take care of that either…just like the park. The point is, back to basics DOT, he the basics right for
DeleteA change before challenging yourselves with something that many in the community don’t want. Yo, everyone, answer the survey that Grieve linked to…pls.
A should be one way south and B should be one way north between 14th and Houston
ReplyDeleteThe closing off of Avenue B has done very little in terms of fostering community for the actual community that works/commutes/lives here. What it has done is make mobility and ease of transit for residents much harder. Traffic is a mess with trucks, cars, and drivers who cannot negotiate each other clearly and safely due to the street barriers. There have been a many a near accident with cyclists, pedestrians, and vehicles on a daily basis. Most drivers will not pick up on Avenue B because the traffic barricades are unclear and they are afraid of tickets. Not to mention the motorized bikes that disregard all traffic rules. The neighborhood has been loud enough, littered with enough garbage, glass, and needles and mentally ill humans who desperately need help. If you live here, you see this daily. If you live here, you are constantly crossing the street to avoid engaging with numerous humans who desperately need mental healthcare. The funding should go to those crucial human issues, not creating open plazas and blocking off streets for those who need to get to work or walk throughout the neighborhood. I have lived in the East Village east of Avenue A on and off since 1999 and this is some of the cruddiest it has been. Please spend the money on social causes not plazas. Furthermore, I sincerely question why there needs to be a plaza when there is literally a park across the street, Tompkins, with ample seating and recreational spaces to enjoy. There is absolutely no reason to have a plaza on the periphery of a park. Please do not make Avenue B more difficult for even the most able bodied of residents and please assist the community with initiatives that actually benefit the community. Ones that make it safer and more livable. It unconscionable to spend money on an initiative like this one. This is not benefiting the people who live here.
ReplyDeleteWell said. I hope you've also shared this feedback via the DOT form: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/avebworkshop
DeleteIt’s so ridiculous!!! Like hey we have an avenue let’s just block off a part of it? DOT needs to go back to being DOT. It’s so weird.
DeleteI do agree that the city should take care of the infrastructure it currently can’t properly maintain. I’m not against public plazas per sae.
ReplyDelete@FLW You write "The closing off of Avenue B has done very little in terms of fostering community for the actual community that works/commutes/lives here. "
ReplyDelete[citation needed]
I live here and the closings, both north and south, have made Avenue B much safer. Ever since east 10th street became a two way street between B and C, that's some years before 1999, the 10th and B intersection has been a gauntlet of scary left turns at speed (though the change was initially very convenient).
As for cars not picking up, it's interesting that besides speaking for the community, you are also a spokesperson for the cabbies, ride-share and car service drivers. Anecdotally I don't find this to be true. The truck double parking and deliveries between 10th and 14th have always been a problem and now they have to drive slower during the day.
Regarding fostering "community" I don't know what you mean or propose. Some of the shows in front of the church have been good. If by "community" you mean people yelling at each other during the alternate side swap I can't help you as that's not an Avenue B issue.
The argument, brought up often in this thread, that these funds should be diverted to solving homelessness, forcing the Parks Department to clean the bathrooms, regulating restaurant sheds, building public housing or dismantling Citibike stations is naive at best. The idea that a small piece of the DOT installation budget would roll over to site specific homeless services or Parks maintenance or that a .001 percent increase in the NYPD budget would have a extra cops on Avenue B policing crazy electric bikers is, being polite, funny.
Advocate for the services you want. If you're against this or all dedicated pedestrian space then advocate against it without changing the subject. I'm for the Avenue B plaza (and, yes, I filled out the survey)
Agree with @6:15pm Anonymous. Open Streets on Avenue B has brought people together to experience music, family programs, arts, local vendors...all the things that I want as part of a community. Could Open Streets be improved, yes. This proposal seems to make an effort to move in that direction.
ReplyDeleteBeing angry about the state of the park or motorized bikes or many of the other complaints listed in the comments is fair. However, blocking an improvement in the Open Streets program is not going change those other issues.
The barriers on Avenue B have been ineffective, cars slalom around them at speed while trying to make the next light. Slowing traffic in a residential area is a great idea, the proposed plan has components that should be much more effective than flimsy barriers.
ReplyDeleteOMG why is the city obsessed with making every street into a loud circus?? People LIVE here. We don't want to always come home to, walk through a parade of loud music, crowds of people, etc. There's a park where people can gather. This isn't coney island or the jersey shore. It's a residential street where people live in those apartments. Isn't it enough to have every single restaurant take over our sidewalks, parking spots? Isn't it enough to have to endure constant music from the restaurants loud wifi speaker outside, or the drunk 20-somethings who seem to think the entire neighborhood wants to hear about her job? I'm so sick of it all. I've lived here for 15 years and never have seen people act so gross, selfish and animal like. What's happened to east village. All we care about is loud music and partying. So basic!!!!
ReplyDeleteMuch agreed with 10:07. This will in the end slow down high speed traffic and make safer streets for walking and biking rather than with the flimsy barriers. Other comments on here are some who might need to consider a move to the burbs
ReplyDelete