'Paseo Park' Redesign Along 34th Avenue Finished In Time For Halloween

QUEENS – A road in Jackson Heights, one of the areas with the least park access in the city, was officially transformed Monday into an "Open Street" designed to provide safer street access to children.

More than 1.3 miles of 34th Avenue are part of the Department of Transportation’s redesign of the street, which adds more shared street blocks centered near schools, bike lanes and areas with full pedestrianization.

The road is New York City's longest open street.

“This is a response to an outcry from the community for more space and more safety and safe spaces from traffic violence,” Dawn Siff, co-founder of Friends of 34th Avenue Linear Park, told Patch.

The project began amid the pandemic in 2020 when residents from Jackson Heights turned a car-centric corridor into a family-focused street. Crashes involving pedestrians dropped 41.7 percent since the start of the open street.

DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez was joined by other lawmakers, including Queens Borough President Donovan Richards, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at 34th Avenue, between 79th Street and 80th Street.

The road will also participate in the city’s “Trick-or-Streets” program, which is set to activate nearly 100 streets for Halloween to steer clear the road of cars on Halloween from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m.

A small group of New Yorkers is against the project. At Monday’s ceremony, city officials were met with boos and shouts from a rowdy crowd.

“Change is hard, and there are always going to be people that are going to have feelings about the change,” said Siff.

The open street at Jackson Heights includes “shared streets,” where local car traffic is allowed, but kept to slow speeds, as well as “full plazas,” where no cars are permitted in both directions.

Five blocks in Queens will be activated as open streets during Halloween.

Click here for a full list and map of Trick-or-Streets locations.