Residents are starting to take to the streets ... for streets they can take to!
Jackson Heights and Corona residents blocked off portion of 34th Avenue from cars for a half-hour today — the most public example of neighborhoods starting to demand to be at the front of the line when Mayor de Blasio starts creating the 100 miles of open streets he promised on Monday.
As residents in orange vests manned an "Emergency Vehicles Only" barrier at 90th Street, residents of other neighborhoods were working the Zoom chats and Twitter to ask City Hall to keep their crammed in, coronavirus exasperated residents in mind for more open space.
Streetfilms posted a video of the Queens rally:
But at the same time, other neighborhoods were hoping to not be left out. This tweet came from the Third Avenue Business Improvement District in The Bronx:
.@ThirdAvenueBID is working closely with @NYC_DOT & @nycmayorsoffice in identifying streets to be closed to vehicular traffic in our area to achieve the administration's goal of 100 miles of street closures to promote safe #socialdistancing across the city.
— Michael Brady (@mbradybronx) April 28, 2020
We'll keep you posted pic.twitter.com/NvovEliaW1
Flatbush in Brooklyn:
Flatbush Ave has some terrible sidewalks. They're uneven & narrow (about 7 ft wide here thanks to construction) - so regularly not accessible and especially unsafe now. This is near a Whole Foods & Target, so lots of foot traffic. NYC needs #OpenStreets. (#FixFlatbush) pic.twitter.com/m4inVbvDPA
— Rachael Stein (she/her) (@rachaeljstein) April 28, 2020
And Gowanus in Brooklyn:
Gowanus and NYC needs #openstreets pic.twitter.com/jHw0ncN1kD
— Kathy Park Price (@KathyParkPrice) April 28, 2020
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer has already asked the mayor to open Broadway between Times Square and 14th Street — and possibly to Grand Street in Soho — and Hells Kitchen activists have called for 11 miles of roadways opened up in their neighborhood and Chelsea to the south.
Meanwhile, Park Slope activist Doug Gordon put up a barricade on a dead-end street two weeks ago and it has remained a play street since.
