DOT: Nine New Public Plazas in the Works

Before and after: Fulton St. and Marcy Ave. Image via DOT.

DOT has announced its selections for round one of the NYC Plaza Program, which invites non-profits throughout the boroughs to propose the development of new public spaces. According to DOT, applicants were chosen based on organizational and site-specific criteria, with special consideration given to areas with low- to moderate-income populations. A total of nine projects in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx were selected. The complete list is posted on the DOT website. Here's a taste:

• Brooklyn: Fulton Street & Marcy Avenue; Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation, applicant. Just off the bustling commercial corridor ofFulton Street, the Marcy Avenue plaza will narrow the width of MarcyAvenue between Fulton and MacDonough Streets to create 8,000 squarefeet of new pedestrian space in the heart of Bedford Stuyvesant. Thisproject dovetails with the Bedford Stuyvesant Gateway Streetscapeproject by the Mayor’s Office of Comprehensive Neighborhood EconomicDevelopment and the NYC Economic Development Corporation, which isredesigning Fulton Street from Bedford Avenue to Troy Avenue.
• The Bronx: Boston Road & E. 169th Street; South Bronx Overall Economic Development Corporation, applicant. By removing a slip lane this project willexpand McKinley Square by 8,000 square feet.  This will allow thecommunity to enhance a farmers market and create a town center for theneighborhoods of Morrisania and Clermont. The removal of the slip lanewill allow children arriving by bus to walk to nearby PS 63 withouthaving to cross a street, reducing conflicts between pedestrians andvehicles.
• Manhattan: Forsyth Street (between Canal Street and Division Street); Renaissance Economic Development Corporation, applicant. The Forsyth Street plaza will provideadditional sidewalk space along the western portion of Forsyth Streetto enhance the street environment currently alongside and underneaththe Manhattan Bridge. In addition, the project will create an upperplaza on a vacant portion of property adjacent the bridge’s off-ramp sothat residents and cyclists traveling off the bridge can enjoy publicopen space that looks down upon Forsyth Street and the surroundingneighborhood. In total, the project provides up to 10,000 square feetof new public space.

DOT, along with the Department of Design and Construction, will work with the applicants to develop site plans. Construction is expected to begin in 2011, as funding allows.