Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
DOT

Plaza de Las Americas Reclaims Space for People in Washington Heights

The plaza will add pedestrian space and create a permanent home for vendors and a farmers market. Image: DOT/DDC
The plaza will add pedestrian space and create a permanent home for vendors and a farmers market. Image: DOT/DDC
The plaza will add pedestrian space and create a permanent home for vendors and a farmers market. Image: DOT/DDC

The city broke ground this morning on a new plaza in Washington Heights set to open early next year. The project will transform an extra-wide asphalt block into a permanent public space hosting vendors and a farmers market.

Officials break ground on a new pedestrian plaza on 175th Street in Washington Heights this morning. Photo: DOT/Flickr
Officials break ground on a new plaza on 175th Street in Washington Heights this morning. Photo: DOT/Flickr
Officials break ground on a new pedestrian plaza on 175th Street in Washington Heights this morning. Photo: DOT/Flickr

Plaza de Las Americas is located on 175th Street between Broadway and Wadsworth Avenue. The project, which was selected in the first round of the plaza program in 2008, is sponsored by the Washington Heights and Inwood Development Corporation. Construction is funded by $5 million from the city's budget.

The 14,000 square foot space, between a supermarket and a historic theater, has been used by a farmers market since 1980 and a vendors market since 1994. The new plaza will give vendors access to electricity and water for the first time. The plaza will also feature trees, lighting, benches, tables, chairs, and a fountain by artist Ester Partegás, according to a DOT press release. The paving materials and patterns aim to evoke the plazas of Latin America and the Caribbean.

The project will also likely have traffic safety benefits: Since 2009, four motor vehicle occupants, five pedestrians, and one cyclist have been injured at Broadway and 175th, according to DOT data. The city has identified Broadway as a Vision Zero priority corridor.

"La Plaza de Las Americas will not only give our street vendors a beautiful, tree-lined venue to sell," Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez said in the release, "but also our neighborhood a new focal point."

Today, 175th Street is an extra-wide asphalt expanse. Photo: Google Maps
Today, 175th Street is an extra-wide asphalt crossing. Photo: Google Maps
Today, 175th Street is an extra-wide asphalt expanse. Photo: Google Maps

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

Friday’s Headlines: Hotoween Edition

The unseasonably warm weather reminds us that it's foolish that the city turned outdoor dining into an April to November thing. Plus other news.

November 1, 2024

FDNY Truck Driver Fatally Strikes Bronx Delivery Worker — 22nd Cyclist Killed this Year

A cyclist was killed by an FDNY truck responding to an emergency in Park Slope.

October 31, 2024

Shalloween: Cars Are Haunting our Trick-or-Treaters, But DOT Protects Only a Few

This one-day respite from killing machines is only a reminder of the horrors haunting our streets the rest of the year.

October 31, 2024

Opinion: Lack of Regional Leadership Prevents Progress on Unified Metro NYC Rail

New York, New Jersey and Connecticut must create a new regional rail entity before Amtrak spends $18 billion on Penn Station.

Thursday’s Headlines: Lawyers Against Bike Lanes Edition

Mayoral candidate Jim Walden has no regrets about his past fighting the Prospect Park West bike lane. Plus more news.

October 31, 2024
See all posts