After weeks of resistance, the aNew York Mayor Bill de Blasio, has finally yielded to the Pressure and announced this Monday that city will close at least 65 kilometers of streets from the city to cars for gain space for pedestrians and cyclists and facilitate that they can maintain the recommendations of social distancing to stop the coronavirus while walking or exercising.
The car locks, which for the moment will only apply “while the crisis lasts”, in the words of the mayor, they will be carried out initially within parks and on nearby streets and the goal is that, as temperatures rise and the weather improves, expand to cover 160 kilometers, a small part of the more than 9,600 kilometers of roads that cross the city.
De Blasio’s announcement has been enthusiastically received by the proponents of the proposal, which is in line with similar measures being adopted in other cities around the world, including Barcelona. City Council President Corey Johnson has called the measure “a great starting point for the open conversation about how we share our public spaces during this pandemic and in the future post-coronavirus ”.
As the weather gets nicer we need to do everything in our power to keep our neighbors safe and healthy. This announcement is a great starting point for the ongoing conversation about how we share our public spaces during this pandemic and in a post-coronavirus future. 2/2
— NYC Council Speaker Corey Johnson (@NYCSpeakerCoJo) April 27, 2020
From Transportation Alternatives, a group that promotes promoting the use of bicycles in the city, has also ensured that it is “a big step in the right direction”.
Monday off to a bang with an #OpenStreets victory! @NYCMayor: “Over the next month, we will create a minimum of 40 miles of open streets. And as the crisis continues, the goal is to get up to 100 miles.” Great step in the right direction!
— Transportation Alternatives (@TransAlt) April 27, 2020
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And the state governor, Andrew Cuomo, who also defended the idea, has applauded De Blasio’s decision. “You have to be realistic about the situation of the people,” he declared in his daily press conference on the coronavirus. “We need open streets so that people can walk while maintaining social distancing ”.
Just three days ago, police officers and the Department of Transportation threw a jug of cold water on a proposal from the municipal council to close 120 kilometers of streets to cars, claiming that the plan was not viable for security reasons and because of the shortage of agents. These same arguments were used to reject the De Blasio measure, which at the end of March launched a pilot program that closed to car traffic alone two and a half kilometers of streets but what aborted in mere two weeks. The weather conditions then, however, were worse than now. And this Monday De Blasio has assured that “the municipal council is totally correct in saying that you have to keep looking for solutions“.
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