Lower East Side Quality of Life Improvement Plan

  

The Lower East Side Quality of Life Improvement plan is a multi-agency plan to improve quality of life for New Yorkers living in one of the city’s densest nightlife districts. The plan is focused on a 6-block area on Orchard and Ludlow Streets between Houston and Delancey on Manhattan’s Lower East Side.

Improvements will reduce traffic and pedestrian congestion on the street and make garbage sweeping routes more effective. Nightlife patrons will also see a new etiquette campaign encouraging them to be more respectful aware of their surroundings.

Residents and businesses often complain of late-night horn honking and loud voices as traffic stops due to double-parked cars dropping off and collecting passengers on narrow streets.

The plan addresses residents' and businesses’ concerns and make their neighborhood more livable, and was designed with the support and input of the community and businesses and has the buy-in of residents, business owners, workers, and local officials.

Read the full Press Release here

 

The plan includes the following elements: 

 

New parking regulations to ease traffic congestion, reduce noise

• DOT implementing “No Standing” rules overnight: from midnight to 6am on the west sides of Ludlow and Orchard streets, and 7pm to 7am on the east sides, seven days a week.
• Removing parked cars overnight eases congestion, honking and other noise.

Download: Alternative street parking map

 

Sanitation sweeper schedule coordinated with bar closing times for greater effectiveness

• Street sweepers will now operate between 3am and 6am, to better capture all the litter dropped by late-night patrons of bars and restaurants.
• The old schedule from midnight to 3am was less efficient, because many streets were swept before closing time, leaving hours for patrons to drop litter.

 

Lower East Side Partnership and Council Member Chin supporting clean-up effort

• The Business Improvement District (BID), the Lower East Side Partnership, will provide an additional 200 hours of street cleaning services per week, seven days a week.

 

Increased regulation of for-hire vehicles

• TLC will increase patrols to moniter any unlicensed for-hire vehicles double parking and making unauthorized pickups.
• A 10-person squad of TLC officers and supervisors will conduct random patrols between 11pm and 3am at least once every Friday and Saturday night.

 

“Night Owl” etiquette campaign urging patrons to be more considerate (Download: Posters)

 

Download: LES Plan Infographic