Cars will be banned from streets in four boroughs from Friday to Monday to give a bit more walking space to New Yorkers cooped up by the coronavirus crisis.
The opened streets will be:
· Manhattan: Park Ave. between E. 28th and E. 34th streets in Midtown.
· Brooklyn: Bushwick Ave. from Johnson Ave. to Flushing Ave. in Williamsburg.
· Queens: 34th Ave. from 73rd St to 80th St. in Jackson Heights.
· Bronx: Grand Concourse between E. Burnside and 184th St. in Fordham Heights.
The streets will be closed to cars and other vehicles from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.
Generally, through traffic will be allowed on cross streets, Mayor de Blasio’s office said. Service streets on the side of the Grand Concourse in the Bronx will be allowed to remain open.
City officials called the street closings planned starting Friday are an “initial pilot,” and that more sites may be added to the program in the coming days. De Blasio said on Tuesday he’d like to open “up to two streets per borough.”
The street openings come after Gov. Cuomo on Sunday asked de Blasio and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson to come up with a plan to reduce density in public areas across the city — including opening up some streets to pedestrians.
Johnson said opening up the streets is a good idea.
“Many of our sidewalks were crowded before this crisis even began,” said Johnson. “We need to be able to go for walks to maintain our sanity, while at the same time practicing social distancing. This is important for our overall health, and can be done while being sensitive to staffing needs of city agencies.”
[via NY Post]
