Open Streets Program

On April 27, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that New York City would be closing parts of designated streets to vehicular traffic over the coming months to allow more space for pedestrians and cyclists in order to promote social distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. Under an agreement with the City Council, the initiative, known as “Open Streets,” is scheduled to close at least 40 miles of streets to vehicular traffic in May (including approximately 21 miles as of this writing), with the ultimate goal of 100 miles in the coming months. Vehicle traffic on Open Streets is limited to local deliveries, pickups/drop-offs, necessary city service vehicles, utility vehicles and emergency vehicles. Temporary barricades are erected and removed daily by community partners (such as business improvement districts) or, in some cases, by city employees to ensure that traffic is limited during certain hours.

New York City follows a number of cities in the U.S., including Oakland, Boston and Minneapolis, that have converted roadways from use by motor vehicles to use by pedestrians and cyclists, seeking to provide more space for social distancing at a time when auto use has significantly declined because of governmental stay-at-home orders. According to The New York Times, car traffic in New York City declined by approximately 60 percent in March, while use of the city’s bike share program (Citi Bike) surged by approximately 67 percent in March.^[1] It is possible that the Open Streets program, or portions thereof, may be retained after the lifting of Governor Andrew Cuomo’s PAUSE executive order. During a City Council meeting on May 11, Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Polly Trottenberg stated that an interagency group is looking at the possibility of allowing outdoor café use on Open Streets. The concept is also being explored by the City Council and the NYC Hospitality Alliance.^[2]

The current list of Open Streets can be found here: https://www1.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/pedestrians/openstreets.shtml.

The DOT borough commissioners, community boards or local council members should be contacted to determine whether specific streets are under consideration. Requests to have streets considered for the Open Streets program are made by reaching out to openstreets@dot.nyc.gov or by filling out an online survey. 

Please feel free to contact Kramer Levin’s Land Use Department if you have any questions about the Open Streets program.

^{[1] https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/09/nyregion/nyc-coronavirus-empty-streets.html, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/14/nyregion/coronavirus-nyc-bike-commute.html}

^{[2] https://www.crainsnewyork.com/op-ed/reopen-new-york-restaurants-european-cafe-sensibility}