Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Plazas

Do You Walk in NYC? Then You Don’t Matter to CBS2’s Marcia Kramer

By Ben Fried | Apr 7, 2010 | 20 Comments

Kramer explains the horror of giving pedestrians more space. No one warps a two-minute segment about New York City pedestrian improvements quite like CBS2 reporter Marcia Kramer. The venerable TV newser, who’s perfected the art of windshield perspective journalism, fired a salvo against the city’s public plaza program on the 6 o’clock broadcast yesterday. This […]

What Should Happen at Myrtle Avenue’s New Plaza? The Public Weighs In

By Noah Kazis | Feb 8, 2010 | 5 Comments

A two-block pedestrian plaza is coming to Myrtle Avenue in Clinton Hill, replacing an underused service road between Grand Avenue and Emerson Place. Last Friday, the local business improvement district unveiled eight potential ideas for the site (check out the BID’s Flickr stream to see them all) and asked viewers for their feedback. Myrtle Avenue […]

Times Square Then and Now: A Streetfilms Retrospective

By Clarence Eckerson Jr. | Feb 5, 2010 | 10 Comments

Mayor Bloomberg is expected to announce his verdict on Times Square’s new pedestrian spaces very soon. Will the changes be permanent? This morning Bloomberg told radio host John Gambling that we’ll find out sometime next week. In the meantime, it seems like the media has decided to fixate on rumors that Midtown traffic speeds may […]

What’s Next at Grand Army Plaza?

By Noah Kazis | Jan 12, 2010 | 7 Comments

The asphalt expanse where Flatbush and Vanderbilt Avenues meet at the north end of Grand Army Plaza. Photo: Google Street View We missed it in the run-up to the holidays last month, but this item in the Brooklyn Paper is worth a longer look. DOT has announced its intention to implement some safety fixes at […]

NYPD Sidewalk Hogs Make Way for Bike Parking and Benches (Updated)

By Ben Fried | Nov 30, 2009 | 13 Comments

Elizabeth Press sends these shots of the northeast corner of Hoyt and Schermerhorn in downtown Brooklyn. In what may be a first for New York City, this nifty little DOT reclamation includes bike racks installed on the roadbed, not the sidewalk. (Update: DOT confirms that yes, this is something new for the city.) More on […]

Times Square BID Leader on the Art of Street Reclamation

By Matthew Roth | Oct 29, 2009 | No Comments

This used to be the scene of gridlocked traffic. Photo: berk2804 Seven years ago, when Tim Tompkins took over as president of the Times Square Alliance, one of New York’s largest BIDs, security and cleanliness were the top concerns. Despite incessant traffic and "pedlock," few decision-makers were focused, at first, on the vision of Times […]

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