Streetfilms: A New Play Street for Jackson Heights

Streetfilms newcomer Robin Urban Smith brings us this romp through a new play street in Jackson Heights. Located in a neighborhood with little access to park space, the 78th Street Play Street effectively extends Travers Park out past the curb every Sunday for 20 weeks.

Neighborhood groups Jackson Heights Green and Friends of Travers Park put a lot of time and effort into getting the play street off the ground. "This is the only play street I know of that’s organized by grassroots groups," said Elena Madison, one of the volunteers behind it (the events are usually organized through the Police Athletic League).

This Sunday will be the third time 78th Street turns into a play street, with Williamsburg Walks and Montague Summer Space rounding out the weekend’s car-free action.

  • Cathy

    If the neighborhood is short on parks, why make a play street next to an already existing park? Wouldn’t it be better in an area that doesn’t have one within walking distance?

  • I think the logic is to expand the present park space. It’s heavily used and could stand to be bigger to accommodate all the people, so this is a way to make Travers Park temporarily bigger.

  • 78th Street is uniquely suited for a playstreet/pedestrian plaza in this area; It’s closing has no impact on auto access. On one side of the street is a park; On the other are the sides of a business and an apartment buidling, and the back of a school.

    We are looking at other parcels in the area to expand the playground into a larger park and have successfully worked to win construction of a youth-size baseball field about a half-mile away on city park property.

    To read more about what we are doing to make Jackson Heights a more environmentally sustainabley neighborhood, check out The Green Agenda for Jackson Heights website at http://thegreenagenda.webs.com.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Queens Residents Launch Campaign for Bike Lanes Connecting Parks

By Stephen Miller |
Northern Queens residents who want to safely bicycle to nearby parks are trying to convince the city to install new bike lanes in neighborhoods from Astoria to Corona. It all started with a post by Sergio Peçanha to a Jackson Heights neighborhood forum about two weeks ago. With Travers Park and the adjacent 78th Street play street set for reconstruction soon, Peçanha wanted […]

Trick or Treat in the Street

By Ben Fried |
We interrupt our post-Sandy coverage to bring you these pictures from Halloween last night at the 78th Street Play Street in Jackson Heights. The Jackson Heights Green Alliance put on the event, “Trick or Treat in the Street,” and Streetfilms’ Clarence Eckerson sent over these photos. This is the kind of thing residents can do in the […]

Jackson Heights Embraces 78th Street Play Street and Makes It Permanent

By Noah Kazis |
“It’s just a street. It’s asphalt. It doesn’t look like anything,” said Jackson Heights resident Donovan Finn of the block of 78th Street between Northern Avenue and 34th Avenue. “But it feels like something.” Finn’s neighbors, it seems, agree. Two years ago, Jackson Heights residents and City Council Member Daniel Dromm won a hard-fought battle […]

Eyes on the Street: 78th Street, Jackson Heights, 8:15 PM

By Ben Fried |
The first 2010 installment of Summer Streets is tomorrow, and I can’t think of a better way to get in the mood than to check in on this inspiring grassroots victory for livable streets in New York City. These are pictures Clarence took last Friday at the 78th Street Play Street in Jackson Heights. The […]