Eyes on the Street: A Safer, More Sociable Boulevard Takes Shape

By Ben Fried
Aug 31, 2009

A reader sends this view of Pike Street, taken from the Manhattan Bridge bike path late last week. You’ll notice the square of light pavement connecting two mall segments. That’s the intersection with Monroe Street, one of four locations slated for pedestrian plazas in DOT’s most recent plan for Pike and Allen Streets [PDF]. A center median protected bike path running from Houston Street down to the water — the first of its kind in New York City, I believe, depending on how you categorize the Sands Street bike path — is also in the works. DOT’s project presentation characterizes these changes as interim
improvements that can help generate support for further funding and
more permanent construction.

The pedestrian and bike improvements on this corridor are the result of a painstaking bottom-up process that Sarah wrote about last September. Residents have been clamoring for safer walking, safer biking, and more welcoming public spaces on Allen and Pike for a long time. Soon, they’ll be able to enjoy the benefits of more humane streets. (We have a request in with DOT to find out when the project will wrap up.)

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Tonight: Support Major Ped and Bike Improvements at CB3 Meeting

By Ben Fried | Feb 11, 2009

Pedestrian plazas would reclaim six intersections connecting the Allen and Pike Street malls. Apologies for the last-minute heads up, but livable streets supporters in Chinatown and the Lower East Side won’t want to miss this action at Community Board 3 tonight. A DOT project to expand pedestrian space and add center median protected bike paths […]

Traffic Injuries Plummet on Allen and Pike After Bike-Ped Overhaul

By Ben Fried | Jun 15, 2010

Evidence continues to mount that NYCDOT’s street reclamation projects are making New York a safer city for walking and biking. The latest statistics come from Allen and Pike Streets, where DOT installed four pedestrian plazas and the city’s first center-median protected bikeway late last summer. The project followed a long campaign by local community groups […]

Eyes on the Street: Public Space Upgrades for Allen and Pike in Progress

By Noah Kazis | Jul 25, 2011

Crews are currently at work turning the new pedestrian plazas and protected bike lanes on Pike Street and Allen Street into more attractive, long-term fixtures of the Lower East Side. The new construction will add landscaping and higher-quality materials, helping the local community achieve the vision developed for Allen and Pike Streets in a multi-year […]

DOT’s Astoria Park Safety Plan Calls for 3 Protected Bike Lanes

By David Meyer | Jan 21, 2016

Last June, a hit-and-run driver killed 21-year-old Betty DiBiaso at the intersection of 19th Street and Ditmars Boulevard, next to Astoria Park. The loss of DiBiaso prompted a neighborhood-wide discussion about the need to improve street safety around one of Queens’ most visited parks, and on Tuesday night DOT showed Queens Community Board 2 its proposals for the area […]

More Details From DOT’s Plan to Add Protected Bike Lanes to Queens Blvd

By Stephen Miller | Mar 31, 2015

Here’s a closer look at DOT’s plan to add protected bike lanes and pedestrian safety measures to 1.3 miles of Queens Boulevard. DOT will be presenting these slides tonight to the Queens Community Board 2 transportation committee [PDF]. The top image shows the proposed layout on blocks where drivers can exit the central roadway to access the service […]

CB 2 Panel OKs Hudson Street Bike Lane Upgrade, Bowery Ped Safety Tweaks

By Stephen Miller | Apr 4, 2014

Last night, Manhattan Community Board 2’s transportation committee unanimously supported two safety measures: one to upgrade a bike lane on Hudson Street, and another to tweak pedestrian improvements at the car-clogged intersection of the Bowery and Delancey Street. Almost two-and-a-half years after asking DOT to upgrade the faded buffered bike lane on Hudson Street to a […]