New York City offers most open streets of any American city; exceeds 40-mile target by end of May
Open Streets will be visible on Google Maps
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced today that New York City will open 13 more miles of streets to pedestrians and cyclists for the Memorial Day weekend starting tomorrow, May 23rd. The new locations bring New York City's total to 43 miles of open streets since the program was first announced in April, surpassing its original target of 40 miles by the end of May.
Google has added the previous 30 miles of Open Streets into Google Maps, allowing drivers using online navigation to steer clear of these streets; today’s new Open Streets will be added to Google Maps in the coming days.
New York City now has more miles of open streets than any other city in America.
“New Yorkers deserve space to safely enjoy the outdoors in their own neighborhoods,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “Thanks to hard work from a host of City agencies, we’ve beaten our Open Streets goal for this month – and made our city a national leader in expanding public space as we fight COVID-19.”
“As we reach a pivotal milestone in our Open Streets program, it has been heartening to see the positive responses from communities and New Yorkers across the City as they enjoy these open spaces safely,” said Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin. “We will continue to work with our local partners, elected officials, BIDS, and countless City agencies, to further identify streets and neighborhoods to help New Yorkers get outside while maintaining social distancing.”
Nearly nine miles of the new Open Streets will be placed in neighborhoods across the city and managed by local precincts; 1.8 miles will be managed by local partners; and another 2.7 miles will be adjacent to parks.
Local Partner Management
|
Partner Boro Street From To Mileage
Red Hook Initiative BK 9th St Henry St Hicks St 0.08
9a-6p Sat
Village Alliance MN University Pl. 13th St - 4th St 0.41
8:30a-1:30p Sun
Village Alliance MN MacDougal 4th St - 8th St 0.15
8:30a-1:30p Sun
Hudson Sq BID MN Greenwich St Canal - Spring 0.08
10a-4p all days
Alliance for
Downtown NY MN Pearl St State St - Cedar St 0.46
11a-3p all days
Chinatown District MN Doyers St Pell St - Bowery 0.05
10a-7p all days
Alliance for
Kips Bay MN 2nd Ave Service Rd 33rd - 30th St 0.13
8a-8p all days
Bedford Stuyvesant
Gateway BID BK Arlington Pl Macon - Fulton St 0.07
Thurs 10-2p
Times Square
Alliance MN Broadway 47th St - 53rd St 0.30
8a-8p all days
Times Square
Alliance MN Broadway 42nd St - 41st St 0.05
8a-8p all days
Total mileage 1.78
Neighborhood Boro Street From To Mileage
|
Bed-Stuy
|
BK
|
Somers St
|
Rockaway Ave
|
Fulton St
|
0.11
|
Williamsburg
|
BK
|
S 9th St
|
Berry St
|
Driggs Ave
|
0.17
|
Williamsburg
|
BK
|
Grand St
|
Roebling St
|
Marcy Ave
|
0.16
|
Prospect Heights
|
BK
|
Underhill Ave
|
St. Johns Pl
|
Bergen St
|
0.32
|
Prospect Heights
|
BK
|
Carlton Ave
|
Park Pl
|
Bergen St
|
0.18
|
South
Richmond Hill
|
QN
|
120th St
|
94th Ave
|
Liberty Ave
|
0.53
|
Greenwich Village
|
MN
|
Jones St
|
Bleecker St
|
W 4th St
|
0.09
|
East Village
|
MN
|
Ave B
|
6th St
|
14th St
|
0.39
|
Manhattan Valley
|
MN
|
103rd St
|
Broadway
|
Riverside Dr
|
0.16
|
Chelsea
|
MN
|
22nd St
|
8th Ave
|
7th Ave
|
0.16
|
Gramercy
|
MN
|
Irving Place
|
16th St
|
20th St
|
0.18
|
Kensington
|
BK
|
Chester Ave
|
Ft. Hamilton Parkway
|
Church Ave
|
0.32
|
Fort Greene
|
BK
|
Willoughby Ave
|
Washington Park St
|
Hall St
|
0.41
|
Crown
Heights
|
BK
|
Park Pl
|
New York Ave
|
Kingston Ave
|
0.29
|
Crown
Heights
|
BK
|
Troy Ave
|
St. Johns Pl
|
Eastern Parkway
|
0.10
|
Rego Park
|
QN
|
99th St
|
Horace Harding
|
66th Ave
|
0.52
|
Sunnyside
|
QN
|
50th Ave
|
48th St
|
44th St
|
0.19
|
Forest Hills
|
QN
|
66th Rd
|
110th St
|
Grand Central Pkwy
|
0.15
|
Prospect
Heights
|
BK
|
Lincoln Pl
|
Washington St
|
Bedford Ave
|
0.41
|
Bed-Stuy
|
BK
|
Macon St
|
Arlington Pl
|
Tompkins Ave
|
0.40
|
Boerum Hill
|
BK
|
State St
|
3rd Ave
|
Smith St
|
0.50
|
Homecrest
|
BK
|
16th St
|
Ave R
|
Moore Pl
|
0.11
|
Moore Pl
|
16th St
|
17th St
| |||
Brooklyn
Heights
|
BK
|
Willow St
|
Middagh St
|
Pierrepont St
|
0.33
|
Seaport
|
MN
|
Front St
|
Beekman St
|
Peck Slip
|
0.08
|
Harlem
|
MN
|
117th
|
Morningside Ave
|
5th Ave
|
0.70
|
Chelsea
|
MN
|
21st St
|
9th Ave
|
10th Ave
|
0.16
|
Hells Kitchen
|
MN
|
51st St
|
9th Ave
|
10th Ave
|
0.16
|
Harlem
|
MN
|
138th
|
Lenox Ave
|
Adam Clayton Powell Blvd
|
0.15
|
Williamsburg
|
BK
|
N. 3rd St
|
Kent Ave
|
Metropolitan Ave
|
0.32
|
Brownsville
|
BK
|
Williams Ave
|
Liberty Ave
|
Atlantic Ave
|
0.11
|
Castle Hill
|
BX
|
Pugsley
|
Bruckner Blvd
|
Turnbull Ave
|
0.20
|
Maspeth
|
QN
|
60th Street
|
Laurel Hill Blvd
|
47th Ave
|
0.12
|
Forest Hills
|
QN
|
Ascan Ave
|
Queens Blvd
|
Austin St
|
0.07
|
Park Slope
|
BK
|
Butler St
|
Gregory Pl
|
4th Ave
|
0.14
|
Gregory Pl
|
Baltic St
|
Butler St
| |||
Bay Ridge
|
BK
|
Colonial Rd
|
86th St
|
83rd St
|
0.16
|
Jamaica
|
QN
|
107th Ave
|
159th St
|
160th St
|
0.03
|
Jamaica
|
QN
|
108th Ave
|
159th St
|
160th St
|
0.03
|
Jamaica
|
QN
|
159th St
|
108th Ave
|
109th Ave
|
0.12
|
Jamaic
|
QN
|
109th Ave
|
159th St
|
160th St
|
0.03
|
Total mileage
|
8.76
|
Adjacent Park Roads
|
In April, the Mayor and Council Speaker Corey Johnson announced that 40 miles of streets citywide would be opened by the end of May to allow greater social distancing, with a plan to expand to a total of 100 miles in the weeks and months ahead.
Under Open Streets, pedestrians and cyclists can use the roadbed of each street. No through traffic is permitted, with remaining vehicle traffic limited to local deliveries, pick-ups/drop-offs, necessary city service, utility, and emergency vehicles only. Such drivers are alerted to be hyper-vigilant and to drive at 5 MPH along these routes. Open streets hours will be from 8:00 AM to 8:00 PM but may vary slightly depending on staff availability.
The City has also begun installing 9 miles of additional temporary dedicated cycling space, building on this March's addition of lanes on a section of Manhattan's 2nd Avenue and on Smith Street in Brooklyn. This week, crews began work on lower Broadway in Manhattan, 38th and 39th Streets in Manhattan, Crescent Street in Queens and Flatbush Avenue in Brooklyn. These temporary projects, which use barrels, signage, and other barriers, may be phased into permanent bike lanes as city resources come back online and as DOT gathers additional feedback from affected community boards and elected officials.
“As the beautiful spring weather arrives, we invite New Yorkers to now safely enjoy over 40 miles of Open Streets and new bike lanes in neighborhoods across the city, including Brownsville, Brooklyn, Jamaica, Queens, and Castle Hill in the Bronx,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We thank the NYPD and our sister agencies, BIDs and community groups as well as elected officials who have together helped us reach this point. We have more miles to come and continue to call on other neighborhoods that want an Open Street to let us know, even if you don’t have a formal community partner.”