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DOT Secures Federal Grant to Add More Sidewalk Seating
A federal grant will bring more public benches to NYC sidewalks, DOT announced yesterday.
September 23, 2015
Times Square Coalition: Keep the Plazas, Regulate Naked People
The Times Square Alliance and a coalition of electeds has a plan to address complaints about Times Square without destroying the hugely successful pedestrian plazas.
September 17, 2015
Meet the People Breathing Life Into NYC’s Overlooked Public Spaces
There are two dueling visions of public space in New York City. On one side, tabloid columnists and the police commissioner believe that any problems encountered in Midtown's public spaces -- whether homeless men or hustling desnudas -- should be fixed by replacing space for people with good old-fashioned car traffic. On the other side are residents and advocates working hard to improve public space in communities across the city, using shoestring budgets and their own street smarts.
September 11, 2015
Giving Up on Public Spaces Is Exactly What NYC Did in “The Bad Old Days”
Normally Streetsblog would just ignore Steve Cuozzo's rant yesterday about the evils of giving New Yorkers more room to walk and sit. But yanking out public space is a surprisingly credible threat these days, so here goes.
September 9, 2015
How City Hall Can Improve NYC’s Public Spaces Instead of Tearing Them Out
While recent comments from Mayor de Blasio and Police Commissioner Bill Bratton about potentially yanking out the Times Square plazas have caused an uproar, a much deeper and more substantial debate over plazas has been simmering for months.
September 4, 2015
Resolved: Manhattan Community Board 10 Rejects Bradhurst Plaza
It was loud. It was messy. And in the end, Manhattan Community Board 10 decided against turning a short section of Macombs Place in Harlem into a car-free public space. Supporters of the proposal spent years trying to get CB 10's backing but came up a few votes short last night.
September 3, 2015
This Is What Harlem Plaza Supporters Will Be Up Against at CB 10 Tonight
Neighbors have fought for years to get Manhattan Community Board 10 to support creating a small plaza by Frederick Douglass Boulevard and 150th Street. Tonight that proposal is up for a vote at a general board meeting of CB 10 for the first time.
September 2, 2015
32nd Street Finally Has Enough Space for Walking. Will It Last?
New pedestrian zones near Penn Station have given people more breathing room on some of the most crowded streets in the city. Will they stay or will they go after a trial period wraps up in October?
September 1, 2015
Here They Are — The Sad Benches Where No One Wants to Sit
Last week, Gracen Johnson over at Strong Towns introduced the phrase "places I don't want to sit" to describe the lousy, leftover public spaces where someone has plopped down a bench or two as an afterthought. The seating, in these cases, helps crystallize how unsalvageable our public realm becomes when everything else is planned around moving and storing cars. Who would actually want to sit there?
August 31, 2015