How New York City lost 100km of pedestrian-friendly open streets

NEW YORK • When city life was throttled by the pandemic, cars were removed from five blocks of 31st Avenue in the New York City neighbourhood of Astoria, Queens, to make way for fresh-air strolling and socialising.

This was a newly minted "open street", part of an initiative rolled out by New York City in 2020 to give cramped apartment dwellers more room to spread out. Friends reunited over coffee and takeout. Families barbecued on portable grills. Children rode bicycles without having to look out for cars.

But Astoria is a packed neighbourhood with many car owners and businesses. Eventually, as the city reopened, traffic sneaked back as drivers squeezed past the barriers. So last year, the five blocks of open streets on 31st Avenue were reduced to two, and the area became more of a plaza.

Now the tables and chairs come out only on weekends. Still, the two blocks fill up regularly. Neighbours sit and read, work on laptops, do yoga, play cornhole.

"It would be unusual to walk past and not see people," said Mr Cormac Nataro, 28, a digital content strategist who lives nearby.

The city's Open Streets initiative, which bans or restricts traffic at designated hours up to seven days a week year-round, became one of the few bright spots during the pandemic. But 21/2 years later, this ambitious experiment has turned out to be much harder to maintain than expected.

City officials are looking for ways to improve the programme, which reached a peak of 133km of open streets, but is now down to slightly more than 32km , according to a recent New York Times analysis.

Manhattan has the most open streets, with 14km, followed by Brooklyn, with 12km, and Queens, with 4.8km . The Bronx and Staten Island each has less 0.8km. Officials said they were in the process of adding 8km around the city.

"Coming out of (the pandemic), people really thought of open streets as a civic movement," said Mr Adam Ganser, executive director of New Yorkers for Parks. "I'm worried it's withering on the vine. We need to prioritise this."

Across the country, the enthusiasm for car-free streets has waned as businesses have reopened and people have resumed their lives outside of their homes, which means more cars on the roads.

Oakland, California, which set a national standard with its temporary, pandemic-era "slow streets", phased them out this year, while nearby Berkeley wound down its "healthy streets" last year. Chicago replaced its "shared streets" with other initiatives, including expanded outdoor dining and a series of one-day open boulevards.

New York City, on the other hand, made the open-streets programme permanent last year after a handful of breakout successes, including 34th Avenue in Queens, Vanderbilt Avenue and Berry Street in Brooklyn, and Dyckman Street in Manhattan, a result of the tireless efforts of residents, community groups, businesses and transportation and open-space advocates. But many other open streets have struggled, been scaled back or been scratched entirely.

A popular Italian-style piazza in Arthur Avenue in the Bronx went from three blocks in 2020 to one block in May so that 90 curbside parking spots could be freed up.

"People drive to us," said Mr Peter Madonia, chair of the Belmont Business Improvement District, which tries to balance the open street with the needs of businesses and customers. "We still have a piazza, it's just smaller."

In Jackson Heights, Queens, and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the open streets have drawn a backlash from some residents who say they make it more difficult to drive, find parking and get deliveries. They also create gridlock on surrounding streets, residents say.

Greenpoint drivers essentially took back two open streets on Driggs Avenue and Russell Street after metal barriers were vandalised, run over and dumped into Newtown Creek.

"The more open streets there are, the harder it is for drivers to navigate," said assemblyman David Weprin, a Queens Democrat who has received complaints about the programme. "There are still parts of New York City where people rely on their cars and it's becoming increasingly anti-car in the city."

Others argue that with traffic deaths surging, open streets make navigating the city safer for pedestrians and cyclists. They can also bring health and environmental benefits, especially to poor neighbourhoods with few parks.

Many of the initial open streets were planned for on paper but never really took off, city officials said. They also realised that others, such as Carlton Avenue in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn, were needed instead to carry traffic as the city recovered, and that people still had access to other open streets close by.

In some cases, officials added, there have been lasting changes even when open streets have not worked out. Cars in Parkside Avenue, a major east-west Brooklyn route, now share the roadway with a protected bike lane, for example. Parking spots in 70th Road in Forest Hills, Queens, continue to be used for outdoor dining.

The city spends about US$7 million (S$9.6 million) annually on open streets, including nearly US$1 million on activities and programming, like a pop-up circus that has performed around the city. It gave out US$20,000 in grants to help cover operations and programmes on 88 open streets this year, and provides barriers, tables and chairs for many sites.

In Astoria, 31st Avenue has been busier than ever. Hundreds of people descend on its two car-free blocks for play dates, clothing swops and free bike repairs. Nearly 60 local artisans sell items such as candles, soaps and board games at a monthly market, in exchange for making donations - totalling US$2,500 to US$3,000 - to the Astoria Food Pantry.

"Almost every weekend, we have more people," said Mr Nataro, a volunteer who is happy with the shorter open street. "For us, it was definitely sacrificing quantity for quality."

NYTIMES