NYC To Aid Social Distancing With Traffic Ban On Miles Of Streets

NEW YORK, NY — New York City will open up 40 miles of city streets in the next month to provide New Yorkers with safe spaces to spend time outdoors and maintain social distancing as warm weather returns to the city for spring, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.

City Hall reached an agreement with the City Council — which was pushing a plan to force the city to pedestrianize streets — with a goal to eventually open 100 miles of city streets for pedestrian use, de Blasio said.

"I've said consistently we want to see if there's new approaches, but we have to make sure they are safe and there will be enforcement," de Blasio said Monday.

"City Council came forward, I believe it was Wednesday, with a vision of how we could come up with a plan to open up more streets, do it over time and do it in a way that was responsive from the core concerns we have heard from the NYPD, for example, about safety and enforcement."

To keep up to date with coronavirus developments in NYC, sign up for Patch's news alerts and newsletter.

The city will begin to create more space for New Yorkers by opening streets in and around parks, which are seeing increased crowding as the weather gets warmer, de Blasio said. Some streets will be shut off entirely, while others will employ expanded sidewalks, similar to the city's safety plan for the Rockefeller Center area during the holiday season. The City Council, mayor's office and city Department of Transportation will all work together to identify which streets will be pedestrianized, de Blasio said Monday.

The mayor's previous effort to open streets to New Yorkers lasted just 11 day. De Blasio cut the pilot program — which created car-free zones on Bushwick Avenue, Park Avenue, 34th Avenue in Queens and Grand Concourse in the Bronx — citing enforcement problems and objections from the New York Police Department.

De Blasio said Monday that safety enforcement will remain a focus of the city's new plan, but he did not elaborate on the exact ways the NYPD will be involved in enforcing street closures. In addition to the NYPD, the city will rely on "community partners" such as business groups — a solution introduced by the City Council — to make sure pedestrianized streets stay safe and free from drivers.

"If you create a situation where there are not protections and is not enforcement, you could put people in danger," de Blasio said. "Obviously, the goal of an open street or safe street kind of structure is that people can enjoy it, and experience the virtue of it and the social distancing without having a new danger from vehicles," de Blasio said.

On Sunday, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson signaled that he was ready to approach New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo to open city streets if de Blasio continued to delay on the policy.

"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," Johnson tweeted. He added an opinion piece from the New York Times arguing that closing streets to cars should be a priority to help "save summers" during the pandemic.

A bill introduced by the City Council last week during the body's first remote meeting proposed opening up 75 miles of city streets for pedestrian use. Other elected officials have proposed opening 16 streets on Manhattan's west side and opening up Broadway from Union Square to Central Park.

“If we’re going to adhere to physical distancing guidelines while we’re getting exercise and fresh air, we need more open space," Transportation Alternatives spokesman Joe Cutrufo said in a statement. "The devil is in the details, but it’s good to see the mayor is coming around on this."

Coronavirus In NYC: Latest Happenings And Guidance

Email PatchNYC@patch.com to reach a Patch reporter or fill out this anonymous form to share your coronavirus stories. All messages are confidential.