Part Of Forest Park To Close To Traffic To Aid Social Distancing

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS — Portions of three streets that weave through Forest Park will close to traffic Saturday to give New Yorkers more room to follow social-distancing rules, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

Freedom Drive between Park Lane South and Myrtle Avenue, East Main Drive between Metropolitan Avenue and the Overlook parking lot, and West Main Drive between the bandshell and golf course lots will be open only to pedestrians and cyclists.

The mile-long stretch of road in Forest Park is among 40 miles of city streets that will open in May to allow for greater social distancing, according to City Hall. Seven miles of streets in and near city parks open Saturday, two days earlier than originally planned.

"Our parks have played a critical role in maintaining public health during this crisis," de Blasio said. "But we cannot afford to have a high demand for open space create unhealthy situations. That’s why we’re opening streets and offering more options for New Yorkers to get outside safely.”

Barricades and signs will alert drivers to the closures and the NYC Department of Transportation, FDNY, NYPD and local community groups will be responsible for enforcing them, according to DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg.

De Blasio, who spent weeks resisting calls from local officials and advocates to pedestrianize streets, signed on to the open-streets plan only after City Council Speaker Corey Johnson warned he would bypass City Hall and get the state's help to make it happen.

If the Mayor won’t open streets to New Yorkers, who so desperately need safe public spaces right now, the @NYCCouncil will look to @NYGovCuomo for leadership on this issue. We are prepared to work with the State to make this happen. https://t.co/PhDIXfbeG6
— NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson (@NYCSpeakerCoJo) April 26, 2020

At the beginning of April, the mayor canceled a pilot program that pedestrianized four short stretches of road across the city, saying that the streets were underused and needed too many police officers to enforce the closures.

"The problem with the additional street closures is you have to attach enforcement to them," de Blasio said at the time. "If don't attach enforcement to them, we're very concerned they become new gathering points and we do not want to seem to be solving one problem by creating a new one."