Pedestrians & Sidewalks

NYC Plaza Program - Round I Plazas

DOT received 22 applications for the first round of the NYC Plaza Program from not-for-profit organizations in all five boroughs. Applications were reviewed and evaluated according to the City's strategic goals as presented in PlaNYC and site-specific criteria, including:

• Open space - whether or not the neighborhood lacked open space
• Community initiative - the extent to which the applicant had developed a community plan, consensus for the site, and garnered local support
• Site context - the proposed site's relationship to surrounding land uses and businesses, proximity to transit, the presence of significant view corridors or historic sites, and pedestrian activity
• Organizational capacity - the extent to which the applicant is willing and able to program activities, maintain, operate and manage the plaza once it is built
• Income eligibility - applicants received additional points for proposals located in neighborhoods that qualify as low- or moderate-income

Eight projects are underway in Manhattan and Brooklyn.

Fulton Street & Marcy Avenue–existing and proposed.

Brooklyn

Fulton Street & Marcy Avenue

Bedford Stuyvesant Restoration Corporation
Just off the bustling commercial corridor of Fulton Street, the Marcy Avenue plaza will narrow the width of Marcy Avenue between Fulton and MacDonough Streets to create 8,000 square feet of new pedestrian space in the heart of Bedford Stuyvesant. This project dovetails with the Bedford Stuyvesant Gateway Streetscape project by the Mayor’s Office of Comprehensive Neighborhood Economic Development and the NYC Economic Development Corporation, which is redesigning Fulton Street from Bedford Avenue to Troy Avenue.

Myrtle Avenue between Grand Avenue and Emerson Place

Myrtle Avenue Brooklyn Partnership
The Myrtle Avenue plaza will create 25,000 square feet of new pedestrian space by reconfiguring two blocks of a four-block service road. The new plaza will provide a pedestrian refuge for residents of Clinton Hill and for the students of Pratt Institute. Enhancements include improved crossings and bus stops, and the planting of many more trees and plants.

Knickerbocker & Myrtle Avenues

Ridgewood Bushwick Senior Citizens Council
Along an active commercial strip in Bushwick, the removal of and redesign of a slip lane at Myrtle Avenue will add 2,000 square feet to the Knickerbocker plaza. The public space will enhance the waiting area for the elevated Knickerbocker Avenue subway station (M train), above the site.

Humboldt Street between Moore Street and Varet Street

Brooklyn Economic Development Corporation
Adjacent to one of the City’s historic LaGuardia-era public markets, the Humboldt Street plaza will create an additional 7,000 square feet of outdoor seating and additional market space.

Manhattan

West side of Park Avenue between 41st and 42nd Streets

Grand Central Partnership
The project will create a pedestrian plaza on the west side of Park Avenue, between E.41st and E.42nd Streets. Adjacent to historic Grand Central Terminal and Pershing Restaurant, the plaza will provide commuters and tourists with an additional 8,000 square feet of outdoor space in one of the City’s busiest commercial districts.

Hamilton Place & Broadway between 136th and 138th Streets

Heritage Health & Housing, Inc.
Located in Hamilton Heights at Broadway and West 137th Street, the project would add 14,000 square feet of pedestrian space by removing a slip lane and adding it to a redesigned Montefiore Park. The plaza will provide a destination at a vibrant pedestrian corridor and gateway for City College students who commute from the 137th/City College subway station (1 train).

West 175th Street between Broadway and Wadsworth Street

Washington Heights and Inwood Development Corporation
The 175th Street plaza will transform a public market, La Plaza De Las Americas, into a 10,000 square foot permanent pedestrian plaza. Adjacent to a historic, 3,200 seat theater, United Palace, the public space will be designed to create a town square similar to those found throughout Latin America.

Forsyth Street between Canal Street and Division Street

Renaissance Economic Development Corporation
The Forsyth Street plaza will provide additional sidewalk space along the western portion of Forsyth Street to enhance the street environment currently alongside and underneath the Manhattan Bridge. In addition, the project will create an upper plaza on a vacant portion of property adjacent the bridge’s off-ramp so that residents and cyclists traveling off the bridge can enjoy public open space that looks down upon Forsyth Street and the surrounding neighborhood. In total, the project provides up to 10,000 square feet of new public space.

Design Process

DOT and it's non-profit partners seek to create public plazas that will be active local destinations. With community input through public visioning workshops, DOT and its partners will create a vision for each plaza that complements the architecture, culture, and history of the surrounding neighborhood. Through the Department of Design and Construction, professional design teams that include landscape architects and engineers will synthesize the conceptual designs and community comments through a collaborative design process with DOT and the nonprofit groups. Contingent upon existing levels of funding, design for round one plazas is expected to begin in 2009 with construction slated for 2011.