Image Credit: DOTOn October 11, 2023, the Department of Transportation announced the return of “Trick or Streets,” the Halloween-season expansion of the Open Streets program. Last year, “Trick or Streets” restricted car access on nearly 100 streets on Halloween night to provide more open space for pedestrian access when many families would be out for trick or treating.
On September 6, 2023, the Department of Environmental Protection announced the completion of a project to install new green infrastructure to help absorb stormwater and reduce chronic flooding to help Jamaica Bay.
On September 11, 2023, the City Planning Commission voted to approve the City of Yes for Carbon Neutrality zoning text amendment. The amendment is the first of the City’s three proposed City of Yes zoning text amendments to pass the City Planning Commission. The City of Yes amendments aim to remove or change outdated parts of the zoning text that hinder the development of housing, economic growth, or the implementation of green technology and infrastructure.
On June 15, 2023, Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez announced that the city’s popular Bronx e-scooter share program will expand to eastern Queens in 2024. The decision to expand the e-scooter share program follows the program’s early success, which saw over two million trips taken by 115,470 users in the Bronx since the program launched in August 2021.
On February 27, 2023, the New York City Department of Transportation announced an investment of $7 million to bring capital upgrades to Quisqueya Plaza in Inwood. Located on Dyckman Street between Broadway and Seaman Avenue, the plaza was the first Open Street location to become a permanent plaza in 2021.
The applicants are seeking an alternative rezoning after pushback from the community board. On February 1, 2023, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing for a mixed-use development at 58 Nixon Court in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The current site consists of four vacant lots between Nixon Court and Shore Parkway. Coney Island Hospital is located across Ocean Parkway from the proposed site. The applicants are represented by Erik Palatnik.