Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Plazas

City Begins to Reclaim Space for Pedestrians at Fordham Plaza

By Stephen Miller | Aug 28, 2014 | 5 Comments

The multi-year project to improve Fordham Plaza in the Bronx — a critical transit hub — entered its latest phase yesterday with the groundbreaking for a bigger and better public space for pedestrians. Each day, more than 80,000 pedestrians flow through Fordham Plaza, the crossroads of a dozen bus lines (including two Select Bus Service […]

“Is It Really The Parking?”: Ozone Park Merchants Spar With Plaza Supporters

By Stephen Miller | Aug 25, 2014 | 32 Comments

A new episode in a long-running conflict has cropped up in Ozone Park: A community group worked with the city to install a pedestrian plaza, but merchants, blaming poor sales on changes to traffic patterns, parking, and plaza upkeep, want the public space removed. A special forum hosted last Thursday by Queens Community Board 10 and DOT gave […]

Eyes on the Street: Bliss Plaza Shines Under the 7 Train in Sunnyside

By Ben Fried | Aug 11, 2014 | 8 Comments

Two weeks ago, Council Member Jimmy Van Bramer cut the ribbon on Bliss Plaza, a new public space created with a few simple changes to the area under the 7 train viaduct at 46th Street and Queens Boulevard. Clarence sends these photos of the plaza in action this weekend: A nicer sidewalk surface, a few […]

How One-Day Plazas and Bike Lanes Can Change a City Forever

By Tanya Snyder | Jul 29, 2014 | No Comments

This post is part of a series featuring stories and research that will be presented at the Pro-Walk/Pro-Bike/Pro-Place conference September 8-11 in Pittsburgh. Sam Rockwell rides his bike every day from his home in Minneapolis to his office at BlueCross BlueShield in Eagan, 12 miles away, where he spends his days plotting ways to get other people riding their […]

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William H. Whyte in His Own Words: “The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces”

By Clarence Eckerson Jr. | Jul 25, 2014 | No Comments

When I first got started making NYC bike advocacy and car-free streets videos back in the late-1990s on cable TV, I didn’t know who William “Holly” Whyte was or just how much influence his work and research had on New York City. A few years later I met Fred and Ethan Kent at Project for Public Spaces. I got a copy of […]

Bronx Advocates Push for New Pedestrian Plaza in Soundview

By Stephen Miller | Jul 15, 2014 | 3 Comments

Near the intersection of Morrison and Westchester Avenues in Soundview, just a block from the Bronx River Parkway, one block separates a forlorn green triangle from Parque de Los Niños and its well-used benches and baseball diamonds. Now, a local group is hoping to phase in public space upgrades to the area through DOT’s plaza […]

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