Mayor Announces Citywide Community Parks Initiative

$130 million secured to invest in 35 under-resourced parks throughout NYC. On October 7, 2014, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Department of Parks & Recreation Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver announced a $130 million investment in 35 community parks throughout the five boroughs. This is the first phase of a multi-faceted program to support investment in the most under-resourced parks and communities, known as the Community Parks Initiative. The Mayor’s capital budget raised $110 million … <Read More>


Study Finds 2022 Fifth Avenue Holiday Open Streets an Economic Success

On October 10, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the ‘Open Streets’ holiday initiative along Fifth Avenue in Manhattan last holiday season was an economic success. During the initiative, the Department of Transportation and the Fifth Avenue Association created pedestrianized stretches of Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, West 49th Street, and West 50th Street between 12:00 pm and 6:00 pm on select Sundays in December.


City Planning Announces “Walkshop” Walking Tours Along Cross Bronx Expressway

On August 22, 2023, the Department of City Planning announced a series of “walkshops” along the Cross Bronx Expressway to discuss the city’s ongoing efforts to address negative impacts of the expressway on the health of local residents. The tours will be in collaboration with the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene and both the city and state Departments of Transportation. Members of the public will have the opportunity to see existing conditions of the … <Read More>


Jackie Robinson Park Playground Tennis Courts Receive a Million Dollar “Green” Makeover

On June 23, 2023, the New York City  Department of Environmental Protection (DEP), the Parks Department, and the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) announced the completion of newly renovated tennis courts at Jackie Robinson Park in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. The DEP-funded project necessitated $1,000,000 in capital and involved painting the courts vibrant purple and blue colors, upgrading them with new surfacing and nets, and installing green infrastructure.



Shabbos Open Streets Are Coming to Staten Island

The Department of Transportation and the Council of Jewish Organizations of Staten Island partner to launch two new Open Street locations during Shabbos. On May 31, NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced that the agency will be launching two new Open Street locations in Staten Island. The Open Streets will be located in the Castleton Corners neighborhood, one on Suffolk Avenue, between Queen Street and Harold Street, and the other on Vermont Court, … <Read More>