Department of Parks & Recreation

Eyes on the Street: The Petrosino Square Renaissance

SoHo's Petrosino Square was one of the first places identified by the New York City Streets Renaissance as a prime candidate for pedestrian reclamation. The western edge of the square, defined by Lafayette Street, used to give way abruptly to an inexplicable expanse of asphalt. No longer. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday, officials unveiled a new Petrosino. The square now extends 20 feet farther into Lafayette Street and 156 feet closer to Spring Street on the north. Stay tuned for a report from Streetfilms' Robin Urban Smith. (City Room also has a nice recap and great historical background on the square's namesake, Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino, a trailblazing New York City police officer murdered by the Sicilian mafia while on assignment in Palermo, Italy 100 years ago.)

By Ben Fried

11:58 AM EDT on October 14, 2009

Petrosino Square has nearly doubled in size. Photo: Elizabeth Press.

SoHo’s Petrosino Square was one of the first places identified by the New York City Streets Renaissance as a prime candidate for pedestrian reclamation. The western edge of the square, defined by Lafayette Street, used to give way abruptly to an inexplicable expanse of asphalt. No longer. At a ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday, officials unveiled a new Petrosino. The square now extends 20 feet farther into Lafayette Street and 156 feet closer to Spring Street on the north. Stay tuned for a report from Streetfilms’ Robin Urban Smith. (City Room also has a nice recap and great historical background on the square’s namesake, Lieutenant Joseph Petrosino, a trailblazing New York City police officer murdered by the Sicilian mafia while on assignment in Palermo, Italy 100 years ago.)

We have a few still shots for now, and some archival footage of the old Petrosino from the Streetfilms vault, featuring Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton and Project for Public Spaces’ Ethan Kent. Yes, they filmed this just four years ago:

After the jump, a shot from Robin showing the square’s spiffy new bike parking.

A view of the new Petrosino from Spring Street.

Ben Fried

Ben Fried started as a Streetsblog reporter in 2008 and led the site as editor-in-chief from 2010 to 2018. He lives in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his wife.