NYC 'Open Streets' Program Falls Short Of Potential, Study Finds

NEW YORK CITY — New Yorkers by-and-large flocked to walk, bike and dine on the city's new "Open Streets," a new study found.

But many pedestrian- and bicycle-only thoroughfares fall short — literally.

About half the New York City's "Open Streets" are roughly the length of a city block and most stretches dot the city in an unconnected patchwork that stifles their full potential, according to a new study by Transportation Alternatives.

The study's conclusion is right in the name: "The Unrealized Potential of New York City’s Open Streets."

"We found that Open Streets are ripe with potential, but in general, suffer from management challenges, subpar and scant materials used to delineate car-free spaces, inequitable locations scattered without an understanding of need, and lengths far too short to contribute meaningfully to transportation networks," the study states.

Mayor Bill de Blasio announced the Open Streets program in April amid rising coronavirus numbers and calls to give cooped up New Yorkers safe, socially-distance spaces to go outside. He initially resisted giving over streets to pedestrians and bicyclists, but committed to setting up 100 miles across the city.

The city now has about 70 miles of Open Streets scattered across neighborhoods. De Blasio has also changed his tune, becoming a booster for their potential to give spaces for children to playand New Yorkers to dine.

But Transportation Alternatives — a group that advocates a shift from using streets for automobile traffic toward more biking, walking and public transit — outlined ways the city could go farther.

Take open dining. The city's outdoor dining program has proved popular but thousands of restaurants are restricted to using sidewalk and parking spaces for their customers, creating potentially unsafe cramped spaces, the study states.

A much better solution would be to close certain streets to car traffic and them up to outdoor dining, the study states.

"This is especially important in light of the fact that New York City’s streets already dedicate over three-quarters of space to moving and parking cars and less than one quarter is dedicated for sidewalks," the study states.

Open Streets overall fall short in terms of vision, the study found. The program until recently didn't include many streets in minority communities and has too many near parks, where they're needed the least, it states.

Among its findings:

• Half of citywide Open Streets are 0.16 miles or less in length
• 37 percent of New Yorkers live within walking distance of an Open Street.
• They average 0.22 miles in length, excluding "pop-up" bike lanes
• Only 7.88 miles of the proposed 18.07 miles of "pop-up" bike lanes have been implemented.

What's more, the streets don't connect or provide corridors for other forms of transportation, according to the study. Paris, for example, similarly closed 60 miles of streets but concentrated on closing its most traffic-clogged thoroughfares.

"Compare this to New York’s disconnected and limited Open Streets segments, which are largely located on some of the least-used streets in the city, and thus are unable to contribute meaningfully to the transportation network," the study states. "Paris is also using this moment to shift the city’s transportation priorities, and with promises to eliminate a majority of all on-street parking in the city center and make every street bicycle-friendly by 2024."

A better Open Streets program, with permanent stretches instead of "disconnected series of public space islands," can help drive New York City's recovery, the study argued.

They can allow retail and cultural institutions to reopen, as well as drive more tourism to the city, it states.

"By opening streets to people citywide, public health will improve as pollution declines, public space can be equitably distributed, countless lives will be saved by the reduction in traffic crashes, which cost the City $4 billion annually," the study states.

Read the whole study here.