Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Community Boards

Brooklyn CB 2 Endorses Fowler Square Plaza, With Evaluation Period

Image: Google Maps

In a meeting Wednesday evening, Brooklyn Community Board 2 endorsed plans to try out a new pedestrian plaza at Fort Greene's Fowler Square. A short, lightly-trafficked block of South Elliott Place, between Fulton Street and Lafayette Avenue, will be reclaimed for pedestrians, allowing the existing square to be connected with the adjoining block. The vote was 28 to 4, according to District Manager Rob Perris.

The plaza had garnered support from the community board before, but a small group opposed it on the grounds that the street closure would inconvenience drivers too much by forcing them to go a block or two out of their way. One opponent, who also invested a lot of energy trying to undermine nearby Putnam Plaza, posted flyers calling the Fowler Squre plaza a land grab by the "greedy 1%."

The community board, apparently, disagreed. Pedestrian space and pedestrian safety are resources everyone in the neighborhood benefits from.

The Fowler Square plaza will be built with temporary materials for now, and DOT plans to monitor its success after it is installed in May. The department will be measuring traffic in the area and pedestrian usage of the new space.

Time-lapse photography of the before and after conditions will provide animated evidence of how people move through the space with and without automobiles, said board member Mike Epstein.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Sean Duffy’s ‘Great America Road Trip’ Wants You to Drive to Central Park

Sean Duffy's "Great American Road Trip" encourages Americans to drive to sites in the most transit-rich and car-choked parts of the country.

July 3, 2025

Ex-DOT Official Warns NYC’s ‘Counterproductive’ E-bike Speed Limit Will Curb Biking, Safety

The mayor is working overtime to undo the decade of gains for cycling in the Big Apple, a former de Blasio administration official told Streetsblog.

July 3, 2025

Thursday’s Headlines: Just the News Edition

Things are slowing down for summer, but not entirely. Here's the news.

July 3, 2025

DOT Boss Defends Adams’s ‘Vision Zero’ Record As Agency Fights A Bike Lane in Court

Traffic fatalities are down and the DOT is taking a victory lap — even as it argues against a protected bike lane in court.

July 2, 2025

Cyclist Arrested After Crash with Electric ‘One-wheel’-Style Unicycle

Carolyn Backus is charged with fleeing the scene of a crash causing serious injury, but the details are murky.

Wednesday’s Headlines: Return of Summer Streets Edition

Summer Streets is back and bigger than ever. Plus more news.

July 2, 2025
See all posts