Mayor Bill de Blasio had been reluctant to adopt the open streets model growing in popularity around the world and in the United States, but Monday morning changed all of that.
New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio "committed to opening up 100 miles of streets for socially responsible recreation during the COVID-19 crisis," according to breaking news reported by Gersh Kuntzman this morning. Mayor de Blasio's commitment expands on a proposal previously working through the City Council to convert 75 miles of street in the city to open streets to pedestrians and people on bikes during the pandemic.
The announcement comes one day after the New York Times editorial board called on the city to open more recreational space for people during the stay-at-home-orders of the pandemic.
Planetizen will continue to update this post as more details become available.
Update: more background on the politics leading to the announcement, and the details of how the City Council was planning to choose open streets, are available in an article by Caroline Spivack.
FULL STORY: BREAKING: De Blasio Commits to 100 Miles of ‘Open Streets’
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