More Outdoor Dining & Play Street Locations

Mayor de Blasio today announced 21 more locations for outdoor dining options as part of a City initiative that combines the Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs, while adding more seating in more outer-borough pedestrian plazas. The Administration is also adding four more locations in three boroughs for Play Streets, an initiative the City launched in July to provide children with safe, structured activities on Open Streets during summer weekdays.

Today’s announcement brings restaurant seating options to 16 more car-free streets on weekends for select corridors, with most of the new locations starting the evening of Friday, August 15, 2020. New plaza locations with exclusive seating, collective dining, and open public seating include Westchester Square in the Bronx and Hillel Plaza in Brooklyn, along with Corona Plaza, Diversity Plaza, and the 71^st Avenue Plaza in Queens. Last month the Mayor announced that the City would extend in-street dining through October instead of ending it by Labor Day, giving more than 9,500 participating restaurants two extra months to serve diners in safe, socially distant outdoor spaces.

“Rebuilding a fairer and better city means using our urban landscape creatively, and I am proud to build on the success of our Open Streets program,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “New Yorkers have sacrificed so much during this crisis and they deserve the opportunity to safely enjoy their neighborhoods and communities.”

“Communities from across New York City are seeing the benefits Open Restaurants has upon its businesses and the joy it brings to residents, which is why we are continuing to see more and more streets open up to outdoor dining,” said Deputy Mayor Laura Anglin. “By continuing to give restaurants innovative ways to serve their customers, we are not only helping to save these jobs and businesses but also providing New Yorkers a small sense of normalcy.”

“We are so excited to see the Open Streets: Restaurants and Play Streets initiatives continue to grow, bringing new recreation opportunities and outdoor dining locations to our Open Streets and pedestrian plazas in all five boroughs,” said DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg. “We thank Mayor de Blasio and our many agency and community partners for keeping up the hard work and helping New Yorkers stay prosperous, healthy and socially active in the fresh air as we emerge step by step from the CoViD crisis.”

“Our City continues to benefit from the ever-popular Open Streets and Open Restaurants programs,” said Jonnel Doris, Commissioner of the NYC Department of Small Business Services. “As more restaurants get involved, we continue to see the great benefit these initiatives bring to our city and to the people who patronize these businesses.”

New Open Streets: Restaurants Locations:

Organization	On Street	From Street	To Street	Borough
3^rd Avenue BID	Alexander Avenue	Bruckner Boulevard	E. 134^th Street	BX
Park Slope 5^th Avenue BID	5^th Avenue	Sterling Place	Berkely Place	BK
Prospect Heights NDC	Vanderbilt Avenue	Pacific Street	Atlantic Avenue	BK
99 Favor Taste	61^st Street	7^th Avenue	8^th Avenue	BK
Chinatown BID	Bayard Street	Mott Street	Mulberry Street	MN
Calabria Restaurant dba Il Brigante Restaurant	Front Street	Peck Slip	Beekman Street	MN
34^th Street Partnership	32^nd Street	6^th Avenue	Broadway	MN
Broadway	32^nd Street	31^st Street	MN
Casa Nomad restaurant and Akin Hospitality Group	Broadway	W. 29^th Street	W. 31^st Street	MN
Mari Makan, LLC	Spring Street	Mott Street	Elizabeth Street	MN
Peasant	Elizabeth Street	Spring Street	Prince Street	MN
120 Marcus Meets Malcolm	W. 120^th Street	Malcolm X Boulevard	Mt. Morris Park W.	MN
Flatiron 23^rd Street Partnership	Broadway	W. 28^th Street	W. 29^th Street	MN
Flatiron 23^rd Street Partnership	Broadway	W. 21^st Street	W. 22^nd Street	MN
Friends of Diversity Plaza	37^th Road	75^th Street	74^th Street	QN
The Angiuli Group	Minthorne Street	Bay Street	Victory Boulevard	SI

The first round of Open Streets: Restaurants locations, announced July 2^nd, focused on streets that were already participating in the Open Streets program, and on corridors represented by organizations that have worked with DOT on street closures in the past. The second tranche announced, July 17, 2020, added 26 new locations. A third round, announced on July 31, 2020, included 15 locations. Today’s announcement brings the citywide total to 76 participating streets and 9 pedestrian plazas.

The hours of operation for this new expanded seating option for restaurants will be from 05:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. on Friday nights, and noon to 11:00 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays.

New Play Streets include locations in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Staten Island, in partnership with the Police Athletic League and the Staten Island Open and Play Streets Coalition:

Neighborhood	Boro	Street	From	To	Partner	Start Date	End Date	Days	Times
Morrisania	BX	170^th Street	Webster Avenue	Park Avenue	PAL	TBD	09/04/20	M, T, W, Th	12:00 p.m. – 05:00 p.m.
Red Hook	BK	Wolcott Street	Richards Street	Van Brunt Street	PAL	08/01/20	09/04/20	M, T, W, Th	12:00 p.m. – 05:00 p.m.
Port Richmond	SI	Hill Street	Tompkins Street	Warren Street	SIOAPSC	08/27/20	08/27/20	Th	12:00 p.m. – 04:00 p.m.
Port Richmond	SI	Henderson Avenue	Alaska Street	Broadway	SIOAPSC	09/03/20	09/03/20	Th	12:00 p.m. – 04:00 p.m.

At Play Streets locations, children participate in independent crafting and art projects that include making kaleidoscopes, birdhouses, rhythm drums, and cloud climbers. Giant board games such as Connect 4 and Jenga are also available. Sports drills include basketball, frisbee, softball, wiffle ball, kickball, and laser tag. Reading corners, dance classes, cardio and yoga exercises are also be provided. All programming is creatively designed to meet social distancing guidelines.

Play Streets locations are launching on a rolling basis until September 4^th. Hours vary by location, but will generally be from 10:00 a.m. to 05:00 p.m. and include streets adjacent to NYCHA developments as part of the Mayor’s Action Plan for Neighborhood Safety. Vehicles are not permitted to enter the streets during the hours of the full street closure. Organizing Partners will be responsible for setting up barricades and posting signage, as well as restoring the Open Street condition at the end of their programming. They will also post No Parking signage with days and times ahead of starting their activations.

The following Open Streets will be changed or removed from the program:

Change	Boro	Original	New
Shorten One Block	Brooklyn	Willow Street (Middah to Pierrepont)	Willow Street (Middah to Clarke)
Remove	Brooklyn	2^nd Place (Smith Street to Henry Street)	None
Move & Shorten Two Blocks	Brooklyn	Livonia Avenue (Mother Gaston to Powell)	Livonia Avenue (Powell to Junius)
Remove	Brooklyn	Butler Street (Gregory Place to 4^th Avenue), Gregory Pl (Baltic Street to Butler Street)	None
Remove	Manhattan	Margaret Corbin Drive (Ft. Washington to Cabrini Boulevard)	None

Under Open Streets, pedestrians and cyclists are free to use the roadbed of each street. No through traffic is permitted, with remaining vehicle traffic limited to local deliveries, pick-ups/drop-offs, necessary city service, utility, and emergency vehicles only. Such drivers are alerted to be hyper-vigilant and to drive at 5 mph along these routes. Regular Open Streets operate from 08:00 a.m. to 08:00 p.m., with timing varying slightly depending on staff availability.

If you have questions about Open Streets or would like to request an Open Street in your community, please contact your NYC DOT Borough Commissioner’s office.