Deputy Mayor Meera Joshi, Operations: Good morning. Good morning everyone. I'm Mayor Joshi, deputy mayor of operations and I have the honor of overseeing our city's infrastructure, which includes our streets and our parks because they're part of the core that makes up New York City. This administration has been clear from the get-go that public space is the highest priority, not only for enjoyment for New Yorkers and for visitors, but because of the critical role it plays in our local economy.
And the champion of this work has been our mayor who's guided us through this with his dedication to expand public space. He's truly a man around town like no other mayor that we've seen. And he personally understands the fundamental need for New Yorkers to be outside, to create community on our streets, in our parks, on our plazas. This is where the world happens. And with that, I am very pleased to announce our mayor Eric Adams.
Mayor Eric Adams: Thank you so much and thank you deputy mayor. And as I was walking over a gentleman with a sign stopped me and stated that he wanted to talk with me about the McGuinness Boulevard redesign. And he stopped and we had a conversation and I appreciate that. He talked about his children in the area and all the others and he was willing to talk. And you contrast that with this character over here, it's a big difference.
But what we have to do is stay focused if we want to get these things done. And that's what we want to do. And so I appreciate you, sir, for stopping and just engaging in the conversation. I look forward to having a better conversation. So we are here today to deal with how do we redesign our streets in a real way. And if you listen closely, you have to understand why this is a great city because 8.5 million people, 40 million different opinions, and I love every one of all of those opinions.
That's the sound and beauty of this great city. And this is a mayor that enjoys all that comes with it, all that comes with it. And so being focused and discipline is what it takes to do these great projects. And so Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, who's here, our commissioner and a long time real supporter of safe streets. I have to take my hat off to Senator Gianaris and what Senator Gianaris has done throughout his time, not only as a lawmaker in Albany, and you are walking across my stage, in Albany, but what he has done throughout the years. So thank you. Thank you so much, Senator Gianaris.
And before I begin, I would like to wish a speedy recovery to the EMT from Mount Sinai Hospital. As we know yesterday, she was injured last night, right in the process of providing care for a person in need. Our hearts go out to her. She was stabbed several times. And so many like her are out there every single day taking care of New Yorkers under incredible difficult conditions. And I would like to personally thank her for the service that she served.
Now to today's news, the hundred of years Fulton Street and Downtown Brooklyn has been connecting New Yorkers to each other. Centuries ago, this was an Indian path to Hempstead planes in Long Island, and this very road connecting Brooklyn and Manhattan. Today it is Brooklyn's largest economic hub. Many people come here, they shop, they spend time here. I do a lot of shopping in this area and it is really one of the amazing places where you can bring New Yorkers together from all parts of life.
And as I said before, Brooklyn is the neighborhood of dreams and today we're bringing it to the future and building public space that working New Yorkers deserve. That is how we're doing it. We're delivering $8 million in green transportation and safety upgrades along Fulton Street and Flatbush, Downtown Brooklyn, including street state improvements like new trees and additional seating to create a more welcome, attractive retail corridor, as well as more protective bike lanes and a two-way dedicated bus lane.
We're also investing in a roadway and pedestrian safety upgrades, including a pedestrian priority shared street, near Atlantic terminal, connecting different forms of transportation, something that we always talked about because that's a hub of so many trains, so many stations, so much transportation's going there. So we're really excited about this. This is how we reimagine our cities, our neighborhoods, and revitalize our business district. It means more room to walk, to bike, to enjoy retail and restaurant safely.
And it means more room for opportunity for people to live in here. We have seen what happens when we open space for people like what we saw. Thousands of New Yorkers and tourists enjoy open streets on Fifth Avenue during the holiday season last year. I walked that block. I saw people out there shopping, spending time, really enjoying Fifth Avenue. And we are building more public spaces in every single borough through projects like the arches in Lower Manhattan, Broadway Junction, just a few subway stops from here.
Broadway Junction has been a blighted area for so many years. We are reinvigorating that area and we're excited about that. And so New Yorkers always asked me, why wasn't it always this way? And I say, open spaces fire up our economy and lead to safer streets for all. We are excited about this. This upgrade is brought about $375 million investment in vibrant public spaces that I announced in my state of the city address. And the build on the work that New York panel Governor Hochul and I convened last year, she has been a real partner.
While this is promise made, promises kept, we're delivering more public spaces to New Yorkers. This is how we make a concrete jungle a place for all people to live. And this is how we make our city more connected, safer and prosperous. I'm really excited about this announcement. I know you know it. For many years we've been talking about this downtown area and we want to continue to say ... What happened to my chorus? Keep going.
I like that, that chorus gives me my energy. So we've been talking about this for a long time. We're making it happen. And this is the great and beauty of New York. This is how we get things done. We get things done with all of the distractions. We stay focused, disciplined, and grind. That is who we are. That is who we continue to be. This is the greatest city on the globe, the greatest city on the globe, and it's going to get greater and greater every day. Thank you deputy mayor. Thank you team. Let's continue to make it happen.
Deputy Mayor Joshi: Thank you. In our dense and diverse city, it is amazing the work that we do working together and working quickly to bring more public space to everybody. So this is a project that brings together lots of different elements and it's in a place that's really special. Downtown Brooklyn, the midtown of Manhattan. And it's an amazing spot because it has a great mix of commercial and residential.
But as the mayor said, we're improving traffic safety at five intersections on Ashland Place and Navy Street. DOT is filling a critical gap in the bike's lanes network by installing bike lanes and pedestrian safety improvements. On Livingston Street, DOT will create a two-way dedicated bus only lane that will speed up commutes. A fleet place in Willoughby, DOT will be creating a new large pedestrian space adding asphalt art and installing new crosswalks across Willoughby. And the Parks Department is also doing critical work in this area, reinvigorating Fulton Street by adding new street trees and improving tree pits and adding seeding, all contributing to a more attractive street.
The collective impact of these infrastructure improvements combined with the city and the BIDs partnership to maintain them means that the backyard for every New Yorker just got bigger. And the ability of every New Yorker to move around this city if you don't own a car just became more frictionless. And I especially want to call out our elder population, we want them out and about. So we have a responsibility to make our streets as walkable as possible.
These improvements don't just benefit our travelers, they benefit our local business. Turns out we like to spend money when we're out and about, and more enjoyable and beautiful public spaces here in the city means more money for local businesses. I want to get to the thank yous. As the mayor said, we could not have done any of this without our leaders. At DOT Ydanis Rodriguez, our leaders at the Parks Department, Sue Donoghue. And a special shout out to our chief public realm officer Ya-Ting Liu, who has the enviable job of a corral of the many tentacles of government.
She's driven to get stuff done and she means it. I also want to give a heartfelt and deep thanks to the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership and President Regina Meyer. We cannot get anything done without partnerships. We are a combined city. We get stuff done in working together. And the commitment of the Downtown Brooklyn Partnership to see a new vision for the area and to maintain it is what we need to match with our infrastructure ability to make those changes happen. So I'm really pleased to introduce Regina Meyer. Thank you.
Regina Meyer, President, Downtown Brooklyn Partnership: Thank you. Deputy Mayor Joshi, this is so nice for you to recognize the great work of the partnership. And good morning mayor. I'm so happy you're here today. And good morning to everybody here on the crossroads of Downtown Brooklyn. Look at us here on Flatbush and Fulton Street in the middle of this incredible thriving downtown and working together to make it better.
I really also want to just welcome you all on behalf of our incredible memberships. We not only have a partnership, but we have three business improvement districts all working together. When we rezoned Downtown Brooklyn in 2004, we unlocked the potential of Downtown Brooklyn. In the decades since then, Downtown Brooklyn has become far more and far more complex. It's a vibrant mixed use neighborhood. It has a centerpiece of our borough. It's got over 45,000 residents at this point. And our tech and job base has grown phenomenally.
Our cultural district has blossomed as well as our educational base. And let's face it, we boast the iconic Fulton Mall right behind us and all of the riches of Brooklyn shopping right here across the street, City Point, Macy's and Junior's Cheesecake. People come here and they move here to Downtown Brooklyn and they stay. And that's what we're hearing. We're hearing that people come to Downtown Brooklyn and love staying and that is an incredible shot in the arm to us.
Even though we see a skyline transformed, we do know that the street level has not kept up. And that's why we retained big architects in WXY to work on our public realm action plan collaboratively with DOT and with parks, with all of the city to really, really hammer out what those details can mean in the future. And what our roadmap is together is creating a safer, more beautiful, greener downtown that serves everyone, pedestrians, cyclists, and everyone that comes here by train and bus.
Much of the work that you heard announced reflects the recommendations of this plan and I really, really want to thank DOT and all their staff for working with us year after year after year on thinking about how important these places are. The ever expanding network of shared streets really makes a difference to everybody working, living, and shopping down here. We see it every day on Fulton Street already. And there's more to be done and that's why we're celebrating here these announcements.
We do laud all the combination of these efforts because we want to stay competitive. We want to be on the forefront of innovation in Downtown Brooklyn. And that also means the forefront of innovation for city management using all of our creativity, technical know-how and the most innovative methods to make sure we stay pedestrian and transit oriented because we know that's the future for everyone in New York.
I'm so excited about these projects and the changes they'll bring. The refreshed street scrape in Fulton Street, will re-energize a district at exactly the right time. Through the health crisis, we were so aware that we stayed vibrant for all and we need to continue that trajectory and continue to invest in our great safe sidewalks that allow everyone to shop, as you mentioned, everyone to get to work and everyone to enjoy our city.
Mayor Adams, thank you so much for this commitment to Downtown Brooklyn and to getting New York City back to work and to getting things done. Your leadership on the new New York panel along with the governor and the team really made those points that we must keep all our commercial districts to thrive for all New Yorkers and I appreciate that so much. Special shout out to my partner as well, Sue Donoghue, who I've had the pleasure of working on for many years, and in many different other capacities.
It means so much that Parks Department is embracing the streets in the new street scrape of downtown. And as I mentioned already to DOT, the amazing staff there and chief public realm as officer. I also do want to mention the community board too. So glad that they have been with us and supported all of our work as well. Thank you, Lenny. Thank you, [inaudible].
And then of course my staff at Downtown Brooklyn Partnership who are here every day keeping Downtown Brooklyn clean. We work with the largest DOE fund contract in the City of New York to make sure our streets are clean 365 days a year. I am so proud of the work everyone does to make sure we have a bright downtown. So thank you again. Thank you.
Mayor Adams: We really want to hear from a real partner up in Albany who has really fought for red light cameras, bike lanes, for just really a real voice up in Albany. A lot of this stuff we can't get done without a partner in Albany. So Senator Gianaris would you say a few words?
State Senator Michael Gianaris: Thank you Mayor Adams. Good morning everyone. This is a great day for Downtown Brooklyn because these plans have been in the making for years and years and years, and we're finally going to see them come to fruition. And at the essence of what the city has announced today, what the mayor has announced today, what this team has announced today is we are reclaiming this space, which is already used by the public, truly for the public. We are making it more welcoming. We are making it more inviting. We are making it safer.
We are making Downtown Brooklyn a place that people want to come and spend time, they want to walk these streets, they want to stay on these streets, they want to shop these stores, these streets. This is now a hub. It's always been a hub, but now it's a more welcoming one and it's one that says that everyone can come here, everyone should come here. And what we're doing here in Downtown Brooklyn is so visionary and my dream, and I think many people here will share this, we can do this everywhere. And today is just a start. And so I really commend the mayor and his team for making this happen, for getting this done. And I look forward to seeing this come to fruition as well as seeing where we can take these possibilities in the future. Thank you.
Mayor Adams: Thank you.
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