Debate Surrounds New Open Street Approved On Bed-Stuy's Lewis Ave

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A plan for a new Open Street on Lewis Avenue that has won approval of the city will now aim to shore up support among neighbors.

Organizers for the Open Street — which would close four blocks between Decatur and Hancock streets — told Patch this week they are working on putting together a task force to iron out details for the eight summer Saturdays it will run.

The task force comes after the Open Street plan, developed by the Bridge Street Development Corporation, was approved by the Department of Transportation. The plan has spurred a debate among neighbors and business owners both excited and concerned for it to join the neighborhood.

"We’ve received overwhelming support from the businesses that reside on Lewis Avenue ... as well as from many members of the Lewis Avenue community," Bridge Street told Patch. "As are the responses to many new initiatives coming to the streetscapes of our five boroughs, we have also heard from members who have expressed their concerns about something like Open Streets."

Bridge Street began plans for the Lewis Avenue Open Street after success at a similar program they ran with the merchants association on Tompkins Avenue last summer, which was chosen as one of the best outdoor programs across the city.

The Tompkins Open Street, known as "TAMA Sundays," let residents shop and dine outside between May and October.

Business owners along Lewis Avenue have said they think a similar program would help increase foot traffic to their shops, according to a report in BK Reader.

"We intend to provide the same vibrancy and sense of community for Lewis Avenue this summer," Bridge Street told Patch.

But some neighbors have contended the Open Street will increase traffic on surrounding streets, leave trash behind and exacerbate parking issues on the block, according to Bridge Street and a neighborhood Facebook group thread.

"Some of the issues we dealt with last year on Tompkins were the food cartons and liquor bottles left everywhere, including on peoples personal property. Drunk patrons of open streets sitting on our stoops. Double parked vehicles left along the cross streets for hours ... The list goes on," one neighbor wrote.

To help with the concerns, Bridge Street said they narrowed down the original plan for the Lewis Avenue Open Street to only eight Saturdays between June and August and have contracted waste removal company Foot Soldiers to keep streets clean during each event.

So far, the plan on Lewis Avenue will close traffic from 12 to 6 p.m. on eight Saturdays over the three months, excluding the holiday weekends of Juneteenth and July 4.

Live music and DJs will also be limited at the Lewis Avenue Open Street and the Department of Transportation will help put together a detour route when traffic is closed on the four blocks, the organization told Patch.

"We’ve listened and are addressing these challenges in multiple ways," Bridge Street said.