Rhinelander Avenue in Morris Park, Bronx, one of many streets open to pedestrians and cyclists under the Open Streets program. Image Credit: CityLand
The plan will aim to add 100 miles of open streets, widened sidewalks and protected bike lanes. Note: This article has been updated to continuously reflect the added streets as those announcements are made. Please continue to check back for further updates.
On April 27, 2020, the Mayor’s Office announced a plan along with Council Speaker Corey Johnson to implement street closures, sidewalk widening, and the addition of bike lanes as part of the City’s response to the COVID-19 outbreak. The plan aims to close off streets to cars to provide more space for social distancing for pedestrians and cyclists as the weather gets warmer and more people are expected to go outside. (more…)
NYU superblock development as originally proposed. Credit: NYU
Modifications include reducing building heights and below-grade space, and eliminating the proposed commercial overlay for the “Loft Blocks” and hotel use in the “Zipper Building.” On June 6, 2012, the City Planning Commission modified New York University’s proposal to expand its Greenwich Village campus. NYU’s proposal included developing four new buildings on two superblocks divided by Bleecker Street and bounded by West 3rd Street, West Houston Street, Mercer Street, and LaGuardia Place. The southern superblock contains three landmarked 30-story buildings designed by I.M. Pei and used for NYU faculty housing (Silver Towers 1 and 2) and middle-income affordable housing (505 LaGuardia Place). The superblock is also occupied by a supermarket at the corner of Bleecker Street and LaGuardia Place, and NYU’s Coles Gym along Mercer Street. The northern superblock is occupied by NYU’s two, nearly 600-foot-long, Washington Square Village apartment buildings, and a one-story retail strip along LaGuardia Place.
NYU estimates that the project would take 19 years to complete. The project’s first phase would focus on the southern superblock. NYU planned to replace the supermarket with a 178-foot tower providing space for a public school and an NYU dormitory. Coles Gym would be replaced with the “Zipper Building,” a block-long building featuring a four- to five-story plinth with six staggered towers in a zippered pattern that rise (more…)
