Car-Free Plaza To Replace Road Where Driver Killed Baby: DOT

BROOKLYN, NY — A Brooklyn street where a 3-month-old baby was killed in a wrong-way crash last year will be turned into a pedestrian-only plaza after some debate, the Department of Transportation announced.

Gates Avenue between Fulton Street and Vanderbilt Avenue is slated to become Apolline's Garden Plaza in homage to Apolline Mong-Guillemin, the baby who died on the block when a reckless driver careened into her stroller, DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a neighborhood meeting last month.

In the wake of the crash, advocates called for long-sought traffic safety policies and upgrades, including turning the short, one-way street into a car-free zone dubbed "Apolline's Garden."

A petition on behalf of the garden garnered nearly 2,000 signatures, and a group of neighbors worked with an urban planning firm to submit a proposal for the plaza, which the DOT signaled support for, Streetsblog reported.

Neighbors, however, weren't all as on board, with some pushing back agains the plan in a town hall meeting since it will eliminate six to eight parking spots in an already-hard-to-park neighborhood, the Brooklyn Reader reported.

In response, the DOT reportedly said it will create additional neighborhood parking to offset the loss, and Rodriguez said the plan marks a positive change for the neighborhood overall.

"In order to make big changes in society, we can’t change only laws, but we have to change the culture," he said, according to Streetsblog.

"Traffic violence is a solvable crisis and I’m committed to carrying out Mayor’s Adams’s safety vision [by] expanding pedestrian plazas and open streets," he added.

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