Unruly Crowds Spur Tompkins Open Street Changes, Neighbors Remain Wary

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — Celeste Dance thought the Tompkins Avenue Open Street getting canceled the last two weekends might mean a reprieve from loud music, unruly crowds and double parked cars she typically watches from her Putnam Avenue window.

But to the dismay of her and her neighbors, no such luck.

"People still showed up — it was huge," Dance told Patch, estimating that at least 1,000 people flooded Tompkins Avenue several houses down from her family's home both Sundays.

Dance watched — as she says she has each summer Sunday since the Open Street started last year — her Putnam Avenue block turn into a parking lot, bottlenecking traffic and forcing neighbors to wait hours to use their own cars.

It wasn't long before the crowds spilled onto the side streets, sitting to eat on her neighbor's stoops, stopping to pee between cars and on trees, dropping trash along the block or riding their motorcycles on sidewalks, she said. Music from a DJ set up at a local business lasted well into the night.

"It's frustrating," Dance said. "I have an 8-month-old daughter, these random noises scare her."

Dance, whose family has lived on Putnam for decades, wasn't the only one to notice.

For neighbors long-frustrated by the Tompkins Avenue Open Street, two unruly weekends unfolding despite the official event being canceled (for Memorial Day and for the launch of a new Open Street on Lewis Avenue on June 5) were the last straw.

"People are now showing up and causing these issues even though the TAMA Open Street has been cancelled the last two-three weeks — behavior that originated and was not managed due to the Open Street program," one neighbor wrote on a Facebook thread started about the Open Street.

"It is a disaster," wrote another. "We residents get no peace on Sundays ... This is getting out of control and nobody cares about what the people that live here are going through."

The frustrations have led the Open Street organizers, Bridge Street Development Corporation, to unveil several changes they say will help conditions for the rest of the summer.

Bridge Street has run the Tompkins Open Street with the Tompkins Avenue Merchant Association since it debuted last year. They have pointed to its ability to increase foot traffic to local businesses and the fact that it was chosen as one of best outdoor programs across the city in 2021.

The changes, unveiled at a meeting this week, include canceling DJ performances planned for the rest of the season, which neighbors say often last until late hours despite the Open Street closing at 7 p.m.

A bar where crowds gathered the last two weeks, Bed Vyne Brew, has agreed not to hire DJs on Sundays either and will be closed June 12 to help suss out the changes, organizers said.

Organizers said "family-friendly" activities and programs from local churches will instead be prioritized and local vendors, who must clean up at 6 p.m., will now get wristbands to prevent what neighbors say is the illegal sale of alcohol and marijuana.

More than 20 new garbage cans, one to two Port-a-potties and an increase in clean-up crews will also be added to the street, organizers said.

"We’re working closely with leadership at the 79th Police Precinct to crack down on the illegal sale of alcohol and cannabis and the proliferation of double-parking," Bridge Street wrote. "We need the community’s help just as much as we need the Precinct’s in order to ensure that Tompkins Avenue Open Streets is a safe and successful initiative for all parties involved. With everyone’s continued support, we can make this work."

A full list of changes can be found on Bridge Street's website.

But the tweaks haven't assuaged neighbors concerns just yet.

"We are very pessimistic," Dance said. "We’ll see what happens this coming Sunday."

Family who attended this week's meeting with Bridge Street were frustrated that the list of changes were handed out before any neighbors spoke, Dance said.

In her mind, Dance said, the biggest change she hopes to see is cutting back on the number of weekends for the Open Street, which runs nearly every Sunday between May and October.

"We’re all for having a good time — maybe once a month is okay — but every Sunday?" she said. "It's a nuisance."