Throughout the past month, Mayor Bill de Blasio has consistently expressed skepticism over calls to open up city streets to give pedestrians and cyclists room to maintain proper social distancing while getting fresh air during the pandemic -- an initial pilot program with a handful of open streets was canceled after less than two weeks because of concerns about NYPD resources being diverted to policing the new open spaces.
But after the City Council introduced a bill last week that would open up to 75 miles of streets for recreation, de Blasio has changed his tune: he announced on Monday that the city would open at least 40 miles of streets as we enter the summer, with the goal of opening 100 miles total.
“The City Council came forward with a vision for how we could open up more streets, do it over time, and do it in a way that’s responsive to the core concerns we've heard of the NYPD over safety and enforcement,” the mayor said during Monday's press conference. “Over the next month, we will create a minimum of 40 miles of open streets...and as the crisis continues, the goal is to get up to 100 miles."
De Blasio's announcement was short on details, but the mayor did explain where they would strategically begin opening streets: "The way we will do it is we're going to focus first on streets in and around our parks. Very concerned about the streets on the outside of parks that oftentimes we're seeing that immediate area getting crowded. That's an obvious opportunity to open up more space."
He added that they will look to expand some sidewalks, open streets in local areas which aren't necessarily near a major park, and expand bike lanes. “So the focus here will be to focus of course, same as we're doing so many things, on where the need is greatest," he said. "The first priority is the places hardest hit and then where it will have the most impact.”
De Blasio was asked later in the press conference about his previous concerns over NYPD resources being used to police the open streets. "I️ think there is an assumption in everything we do that we want to be very cautious about making sure drivers are constantly given the message to slow down," de Blasio said. "So that worldview makes us very cautious to trusting that if you create a situation where there are not protections or enforcement, that you could put people in danger."
But in his discussions with the council, it seemed logical to open places around parks, for example, because you can "capture the natural flow of people...one of the most important places to open might be where a lot of people are going anyway, and just give them more space as more and more people go there as it gets warmer. That also is actually more straightforward enforcement dynamic than if you're trying to open a bunch of places all over." He added that they would look to community partners to help ensure safety and social distancing compliance, but that there would be some enforcement of the spaces no matter what.
De Blasio said the streets will begin opening to pedestrian use "as quickly as possible through the month of May."
Over the weekend, the NY Times published an editorial urging officials to create safe public spaces for New Yorkers to go to this summer, and City Council Speaker Corey Johnson implied he would bypass the city and go to Governor Andrew Cuomo to get something done if need be.
Johnson thanked Cuomo, not de Blasio, by name in praising the plan this morning: “The NYC Council is thrilled our calls for open streets have been answered and looks forward to working with the administration to give New Yorkers the space they need to socially distance properly,” the speaker said in a statement. “As the weather gets nicer and this unprecedented crisis stretches on longer, we need to do everything in our power to keep our neighbors safe and healthy. This announcement is a great starting point for the ongoing conversation about how we share our public spaces during this pandemic and in a post-coronavirus future.”
Although former city officials, epidemiologists, and safe street activists have all argued that the council's plan to open up to 75 miles of streets throughout the five boroughs is achievable and necessary, DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg and NYPD Deputy Chief Michael Pilecki told the City Council on Friday that the idea wasn't feasible, saying it would require too much police personnel and posed too many dangers.
"Closing or restricting 75 miles of city streets is not the equivalent of a one day block party," Pilecki said, adding that New Yorkers would be "lulled into a false sense of safety and false sense of complacency" on the closed streets.
