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Working to Reclaim Public Space for the Public Good on the UWS

We really do. This is ridiculous. (Image: Streetfilms)

Changes to public space can generate strong feelings. 

We get it. Change is hard. There’s an undeniable comfort in what’s familiar, even when that familiar thing doesn’t serve us, or anyone, particularly well anymore. This sense of comfort (and its reactive opposite, fear) can make us protective to the point of resisting change of any kind, even when what's proposed is unequivocally for the better.

In this mindset, transformative changes to our streets—things that make the city more accessible and equitable, like curb extensions, bike and bus lanes, trash containerization—can sometimes get labeled as radical. 

Radical in common parlance tends to mean extreme, and it can be used as a cudgel by a few loud and fearful voices to stifle changes that would benefit us all. But at its most basic, radical simply means far-reaching and thorough. 

Thorough and far-reaching is a pretty decent way to describe our vision for West 72nd Street, and a new short video from Streetfilms nicely captures that spirit. 

Transforming six underutilized lanes for cars into a green, multi-modal, street for people connecting Central Park and Riverside Park...

Sounds pretty rational to us.

Livable Streets News You Can Use 

We talk a lot about daylighting, and for good reason: it's a simple and effective way to improve safety and comfort for everyone using our streets, especially pedestrians. Which is why we're so excited that CB 7 and CB 9 have joined sixteen other Community Boards across the city in calling on the DOT to follow state law and daylight at every single intersection.  READ >

Even as more New Yorkers of all kinds are using bikes to get around, city policies still treat riding a bicycle as a marginal activity. Case in point: the current Hudson River Greenway detour. Our greenways are the closest thing we have to all ages and abilities cycling infrastructure. When they're closed for repairs, temporary routes need to be comparably accessible.  READ >

Earlier this year the Social Life Project published a thoughtful take on Central Park's relationship to Midtown, or rather, how 59th Street acts as "a wall of fear and isolation" to any human moving between these two iconic parts of there city. Drawing on history and global precedent, they suggest how 59th Street could connect, rather than divide, public space. READ >

Take Action and Make Change

✅  CALL OR DROP BY IN-PERSON: Tell Gale Brewer No E-Bike Ban in Parks – Especially if you ride an e-bike, drop by CM Brewer's office this Thursday (10/17) at 5 PM, or call her office at (212) 873-0282, and tell her how critical your e-bike is to getting around the city and accessing recreation space.

✅  SEND A LETTER: Support a 'Complete Street' on W72nd – You've watched the video above, now send a letter to local elected officials and the Department of Transportation telling them you support a transformed West 72nd Street.  

✅  ADD YOUR NAME: Support Kids Riding Bikes to School Through Central Park – Whether you’re a parent, teacher, administrator, student, or ally, add your name to the letter asking to give kids legal ways to cross the park on a bike. 

✅  COMPLETE THE SURVEY: Give Feedback on the Columbus Ave Open Street – Before it returns in September, help the Columbus Avenue BID by giving feedback on the open street so far. Tell them what you like and what you’d like to see more of. 

Items of Interest

🔘  Would a Superblock work on the UWS?

🔘  The 96th St bus lane is happening (now with more loading zones).

🔘  Mini cars are much safer for those outside of the vehicle are basically illegal in the US.

🔘  Would a national memorial to victims of traffic violence change culture and shift policy?

🔘  Building communities for non-drivers benefits everyone.  

🔘  Speaking of non-drivers, neighborhoods that foster outdoor play tend to be cleaner, greener, easier to get around in, and have more community. 

🔘  Those picturesque plazas we all enjoy in Europe used to be covered in cars.

🔘  NYC has kicked the cars out before too.

Happenings in and around Local Streets

🌾  Manhattan Country School – Farm Festival, OCT 19 – Join the MCS community and neighbors for a zero-waste (!) street fair with live entertainment, food, games, crafts, a marketplace featuring farm fresh produce, and more. West 85th St, b/t Columbus & Amsterdam from 11 AM to 4 PM.

🚶🏽‍♀️ Columbus Avenue – Open Street, OCT 20 & 27 – There are just two more weekends left this season to enjoy a people-first, car-free Columbus Avenue. From 68th to 77th Streets for the next two Sundays. Street is open to people from 11 AM to 7 PM.

👻  W111th Open Street – Kimera Festival, OCT 26 – This delightful annual event is back with music, storytelling, a costume parade, haunted fountain, great food, and more. Amsterdam Ave between 110th and 111th. Festivities run from 2 PM to 8 PM.

🎃  LaSalle Open Street – Halloween Parade, OCT 31 – Stop by this annual children's halloween costume parade on the LaSalle Open Street. It's fun for the whole community, and especially great for kids and families. From 4 PM to 9 PM. 

🦇  West 102nd & 103rd Streets Block Assn – Volunteers Needed!, OCT 31 – If you're looking for a festive way to support some Halloween fun this year, there's plenty to do to make the 102nd and 103rd Halloween Parade a success. Volunteers needed from 2:30 PM to 10 PM. 

Pass it On

“I wouldn’t have been doing my job if I just polled people on what they already thought and went along with it.”

– Current U.S. Secretary of Transportation, Pete Buttigieg—formerly, “Mayor Pete”—on how vision and leadership are crucial in creating livable cities.  

377 Broadway, 11th Floor
New York, NY 10013

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