Vanderbilt Avenue
“As a Brooklynite, I know that Open Streets like Vanderbilt Avenue have already illustrated how this city, through the determined and combined involvement of residents and restauranteurs, can thrive in this recovery,” said DOT Commissioner Hank Gutman.
“On Vanderbilt Avenue between August and November 2020, neighborhood organizers sectioned off five blocks so restaurants could spread out their outdoor seating. The effect was transformational. On weekends, jazz singers serenaded diners. Kids snaked through the streets on their bikes. One couple even got married on the asphalt. But organizers were overwhelmed by the prospect […]
Vanderbilt Avenue was one of the open street successes last year. It will return this year — again, thanks to a massive fundraising and volunteer effort. View the entire article on Streetsblog
“Many restaurants along Vanderbilt say it was a lifeline. ‘It just absolutely beyond changed everything,’ says Ellen Fishman, who owns Amorina, a low-key neighborhood pizza joint. She estimates business was up at least 25 percent above where it would have been during a normal, non-pandemic summer.” Read the entire article at Grub Street
New York City’s Open Streets program emerged last year as a rare bright spot in a 2020 filled mostly with despair and frustration. Read the entire article at Bklyner.
“Restaurants on Vanderbilt Avenue reported a 54% jump in customer visits in August when Open Streets first launched compared to July—that translated into 45% increases in both revenue and staff hired last summer, according to the Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council,which is leading the program in the neighborhood.” Read the entire article at Crain’s New […]
“It was at the height of the pandemic in New York City — Restaurants were hemorrhaging cash and restless residents were getting sick of their tiny apartments — when a few organizers in Prospect Heights had the idea to close off the busy thoroughfare of Vanderbilt Avenue to traffic.” Read the entire article at Politico