PLAZA SWEET: Mamdani To Convert Streets Into Rome-Style ‘Piazzas,’ Starting in Paladino and Ariola’s Districts

APRIL 1 — He wants a piazza the action!

Mayor Mamdani will announce on Wednesday that his Department of Transportation will close off dozens of intersections to create car-free, Roman-style piazzas — and the first wave of the plazas will be in the districts of car-championing, Italian-American Republican Council members Vickie Paladino and Joann Ariola.

“How could they object to bringing one of the best things about Italy to New York?” a city source told Streetsblog.

As part of the April 1 announcement later today, DOT will unveil several designs, all of which will repurpose concrete previously devoted to parking spaces and travel lanes to create safe public space. The common denominator will be keeping cars out of the newly created piazzas through the use of planters, bollards and, in some cases, statues of great American heroes such as Frederick Douglass and historical figures from Italy such as Leonardo da Vinci and Julius Caesar.

“Italian cities are such a pleasure to visit because of their great public space, where tourists and residents alike can stroll, have a cup of coffee or just read a book without worrying about or being disturbed by car traffic,” Mamdani said in a statement released to Streetsblog in advance of the April 1 announcement. “And I can’t think of a better place to start than in the districts of two such justifiably proud Italian-American lawmakers.”

DOT sources said the agency would target unusually large intersections that are have previously attracted rambunctious drivers who like to do stunts and blast loud music. A gang of drivers took over one such intersection in Malba late last year.

Paladino and Ariola may have a different take, given their recent opposition to anything that takes space away from car drivers. Paladino famously opposed a greenway expansion into her district, and Ariola recently trolled her own constituents by driving on a roadway in Forest Park that residents tried to keep car-free.

Ariola co-chairs the Council’s Italian Caucus with Frank Morano (R-Staten Island). “I have always been immensely proud of my family’s Italian roots,” she said in a statement last week that did not, however, mention her love of piazzas.