Monday’s Headlines: Paseo Park Is Ready For Its Closeup
Like de Tocqueville in the early American republic or Thucydides in the middle of the Peloponnesian War, Streetfilms auteur Clarence Eckerson Jr. is a chronicler of history who was right there at the right time.
When Covid-19 laid waste to the city, Eckerson was embedded in Jackson Heights and Corona — where he lives — at the very moment when the de Blasio administration figured out something vital: car-free streets could help mitigate the trauma of the pandemic by providing a way for people to recreate safely.
With his camera in one hand and a handlebar in the other, Eckerson spent the next five years as part Edward Gibbon, part Howard Zinn documenting the open street idea from its first days as a cop-heavy security zone to its ultimate flourishing as one of the city’s great public spaces.
The result is Eckerson’s first feature-length Streetfilm, “Close Encounters of the 34th Avenue Kind: The Story of NYC’s Best Open Street.” It’s a must-see not only for residents of the Covid-ravaged neighborhoods, but for anyone who cares about how a single street redesign can prompt a colossal transformation of an entire neighborhood.
Eckerson has been showing the completed film to insiders, but now it’s your chance to see it. On Tuesday, June 9, LaGuardia Performing Arts Center in easy-to-access Long Island City will host a free screening at 6:30 p.m. All you need to do is register here.
In other news:
- The state legislature just wrapped up its “least productive” session of Gov. Hochul’s tenure. (Gothamist)
- … but lawmakers still found time to pass their bill requiring two person train operation on subways, which Gov. Hochul already vetoed last year. (CBS New York, amNY)
- Manhattan pols don’t trust Trump’s Penn Station machinations. (amNY, Gothamist, Streetsblog)
- Will Hudson River tunnel fires cause chaos for World Cup commuters? (Gothamist)
- The driver of an FDNY truck responding to an emergency struck and killed a pedestrian in the Bronx late Friday night. (PIX11)
- NYPD called off tonight’s Knicks watch party outside MSG. (NY Times)
- Queens officials have a laundry list of concerns about the MTA’s operations in Woodside. (Queens Eagle)
- New York City’s Greenmarkets turn 50 this year. (Bushwick Daily)
- A driver struck and killed a “stunt loving” motorcyclist on Staten Island. (Daily News)
- Someone allegedly stabbed multiple people at Penn Station on Sunday. (Gothamist)
- A driver struck and dragged a photojournalist outside the ICE Delaney Hall immigration facility in New Jersey. (NBC New York)
- A driver plowed right into a McDonald’s in the Bronx. (PIX11)
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