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

Let's all hang and talk about how to bring these great ideas to life.

Last month we shared our Livable Streets priorities for 2026 — three practical and proven ways to realize safer, more social, and more joyful public space on the Upper West Side.

Now we want to get together and talk about it! 

Join us on Saturday, February 28, from 11am to 1pm at The Calaveras NYC on Columbus Avenue.

We’ll provide some food and drink; you’ll bring your enthusiasm for walkable, bikeable, transit friendly urbanism; and we'll get into just how we can make these changes a reality on the Upper West Side starting this year. 

🏫 Have a kid in school and want to help organize a SCHOOL STREET? Come talk to us. (And bring your kid!) 

🚲 Wish the Upper West Side had a LOW-STRESS BIKE NETWORK so everyone could get around more easily? Us too. Let's discuss.

🌳 Dream of living on a street that feels more like a community space and less like a roadway and parking lot? That's called a LOW-TRAFFIC NEIGHBORHOOD. It's a thing. Let's chat about bringing them to our neck of the woods.

The time is now for these simple, transformative ideas to flourish on the Upper West Side, and you can help make them happen.

Let us know if you can join us by filling out the RSVP form below. Hope to see you there!

UWS Livable Streets Social Hour 

Saturday, February 28, from 11am to 1pm

The Calaveras NYC, 949 Columbus Ave (btwn 106th & 107th)

We’ll be downstairs. All ages are welcome!

Livable Streets News You Can Use 

The city was awash with sneckdowns for days after the big storm and deep freeze a few weeks ago. What is a sneckdown? It's nature's way of showing us just how little space motor vehicles actually need to safely maneuver on the streets, and how much more room there could be for people if we took it back. This video is a great on-the-street explainer .   WATCH >

The snow exposed just how unprepared Lyft was to keep its more than 2,000 Citi Bike stations clear and accessible for those who needed a bike after the snow stopped. That's a big task, to be sure, but if we can clear streets for cars and trucks, we can also prioritize essential cycling infrastructure, which Citi Bike has become for many New Yorkers.   READ >

Speaking of unprepared, what was up with the mountains of snow blocking curb cuts and bus stops? We get that this was a major snowfall and it stuck around longer than usual. But slow snow clearing means many people can't fully participate in society for days. It's likely this will come up at next week's City Council hearing on the city's snow response.  READ >

Take Action and Make Change

Sign some letters while you're here. It will only take a minute and you'll be glad you did.

✅  ADD YOUR NAME: Support Kids Riding Bikes to School Through Central Park 

Join more than 200 of your neighbors from more than 80 schools who have already signed our letter demanding that the Central Park Conservancy and Parks Department provide legal ways for children and families to ride bikes through Central Park to school and activities. 

✅  SEND A LETTER: Reimagine West 72nd Street

West 72nd Street desperately needs a makeover. Help make it happen by sending letters to Upper West Side elected officials and the Department of Transportation, urging them to immediately prioritize a people-first "complete street" redesign of West 72nd Street.

✅  SEND A LETTER: Fully Fund School Streets

School Streets can transform how NYC school students experience their commute and their school day. Send a letter to your Council Member and the Mamdani Administration calling for dedicated funding for School Streets and permanent plaza blocks in every borough. Our kids deserve joyful public space when they’re at school, not traffic congestion and parked cars.

✅  SEND A LETTER: Bring Low-Traffic Neighborhoods to NYC 

Take a few minutes and write a letter to your elected officials and the Department of Transportation and urge them to bring Low Traffic Neighborhoods to New York City. Residential streets should be for community, not for cars and trucks cutting through on their way to someplace else.

Items of Interest

🔘  Vive la révolution du vélo! 

🔘  Cycling in old age is all around good for you (more reason to build for it).

🔘  Speaking of building for it: cycling infrastructure literally pays for itself, and them some.

🔘  Three of the top five cycling cities in North America are in Canada (and neither of the other two are New York City).

🔘  Speaking of Canada…Victoria BC impressively tripled cycling rates in just a decade. 

🔘  On the flip side, here's how not to increase cycling. 

🔘  Sneckdowns in the New Yorker! 

🔘  Another thing about all that snow: it really exposes our priorities with public space.

🔘  London is the latest target of Big Tech + Big Auto’s robot car fixation.

🔘  Related, here's reason #537 why robot cars are a distraction: instead of building our communities so teens can get around independently on a bike, we're are putting them in Waymos.

🔘  On a brighter note, nearly 60% of Americans are are open to living car-free, if we'd just let them.

Happenings in and Around Local Streets

🤝 Learn How to Start a Block Association | Thursday, Apr 30 | 6pm – 7:30pm 

One way to enjoy great street happenings is to manifest one yourself. Forming a block association is a great way to do that, while also strengthening ties to your neighbors and your community. Council Member Gale Brewer’s office is co-sponsoring a workshop, along with the Upper West Side Coalition, to help explain what a block association is and how to organize one and be effective once you've done it. RSVP at the link above. Goddard Riverside Community Center (593 Columbus at 88th St)

Pass it On

“A livable street is like a good friend: it gives you energy, it helps bring you together, and it connects you with members of the community.”

— Bruce Appleyard, author of Livable Streets 2.0, putting it poetically. 

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New York, NY 10013
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