How North Brooklyn advocates brought steady, transformative change to their streets
Since the pandemic inspired a reimagining of city streets, North Brooklyn has emerged as a hotbed of street improvements and people-centered streets. Catalyzed by dedicated neighbors and organizations rallying together, many separate Open Streets, public plazas, street redesigns and activations have grown in the neighborhood, creating a network of people-centered spaces and a sense that North Brooklyn is reclaiming their streets and their community. Together with the support of the North Brooklyn Parks Alliance, these leaders are showing all of us the power of collective and cross-collaborative local action, reimagining street-level space in truly visionary ways. As a result, the vision and evolution of the North Brooklyn streets are defined by a sense of safety, community, and togetherness.
This kind of transformative change doesn’t happen all at once; it’s a product of bright ideas, incremental change, and steadfast advocacy. And it’s this impressive progress that inspired us to honor a host of North Brooklyn advocates at our Public Space Awards on Thursday, February 29th! We’ll be giving the advocates you’ll read about below the Most Inspiring Neighborhood Vision award for the way their separate work across the North Brooklyn area combines to create a truly transformative idea of the way their neighborhood’s streets and public spaces can better care for local residents.
Read all about these impressive New Yorkers below – and then get your ticket to join them in the room on Thursday, February 29th! You’ll get the chance to raise a glass to North Brooklyn’s advocates as well as many other movers and shakers who are creating change at the local and citywide levels.
-
A chance amid the pandemic
The covid-19 pandemic creates new opportunities across the city to reimagine the way New York’s streets are used for daily life. Early efforts pop up on Driggs Street, Berry Street, West Street, Russell Street, and Sharon Street. Although not all these Open Streets continue today, they inspire new interest in livable streets; many of the leaders of North Brooklyn’s public spaces today get their start with these early Open Streets.
2020
-
McCarren Park as a hub
A community focal point since the neighborhood’s beginnings, McCarren Park becomes a hub for protests, rallies and community gatherings in the summer of 2020. The renewed energy at the park shows residents the power and potential of local public space.
Summer 2020
-
The birth of Banker's Anchor
North 15th Street between Nassau and Banker, directly adjacent to McCarren Park, finds new life as a vibrant public space at this time, hosting mutual aid services like a free fridge and clothing swaps. As energy around this space grows, the community begins to refer to it as Banker’s Anchor.
Summer 2020
-
Growing volunteer movement on Berry St
Berry Street, a central thoroughfare through the area, becomes the focus of volunteer and community efforts because of its central location in the neighborhood. A robust crew of volunteers manages the Open Street on Berry Street, providing all the setup, maintenance, clean up and other staffing needed to run the popular public space. Their efforts inspire other community members to join the work for people-centered space on Berry Street and beyond.
2020
-
Application for a public plaza
Local advocates apply to DOT to make Banker’s Anchor an official public plaza, marking a huge step forward as the North Brooklyn volunteers pursue permanent changes to their streets.
June 2021
-
Early Bedford Slip
Inspired by the exciting developments at Banker’s Anchor, local advocates begin considering the potential for people-centered space at the intersections of Bedford, Nassau & Lorimer. Known as Bedford Slip, the area is one of the most-used corridors by pedestrians in the city. Local businesses activate available space here for markets, dining, and more.
September 2021
-
A block party at Cooper Park
The community efforts on Sharon Street continue to gain momentum, inspiring a popular block party adjacent to Cooper Park as well as permanent bulb-outs with planters and seating.
Fall 2021
-
Programming and permanent redesign of Berry St
Strategic planning for long term programming and permanent street redesigns begins at Berry Street. An initial redesign proposal omitted the southern portions of Berry Street, potentially reducing the Open Street’s size, but eventually community support coalesces around a more comprehensive plan.
2022-2023
-
A permanent redesign of Banker's Anchor
Banker’s Anchor gets permanent redesigning, a public plaza treatment protected with planters and boulders, cementing the corridor as a safe, enriching community hub.
2022-2023
Today, these separate projects combine to create a network of vibrant, community-minded, people-centered public space. They host Halloween parades, Earth Day celebrations, outdoor dining, pop-up stores and everyday gatherings, all made possible and safe by the permanent street improvements that community leaders have advocated for.
Make McGuinness Safe
North Brooklynites have always known that McGuinness Boulevard is dangerous and hostile to the surrounding environment. Essentially a six-lane highway running through the middle of a community, it is perhaps the epitome of Robert Moses’ destruction of livability and neighborhood safety in the name of car culture. But advocacy really got underway in May 2021, when beloved local PS 110 teacher Matthew Jenson was killed in a hit and run crash while crossing the boulevard.
His death underscored what residents had long known – one of the most dangerous corridors in Brooklyn was running right through their neighborhood. Responding to this tragedy, the PS 110 community, neighborhood advocates, and elected officials came together to secure $39 million and a commitment from the city of New York to do a comprehensive redesign of McGuinness Boulevard.
Since then, fierce advocates have been pushing for ongoing, bold changes to radically improve the safety of McGuinness Boulevard. And they’ve had to be fierce, because the process has been marked by setbacks, delays, and frustrations as much as it has been by community collaboration, victories, and validation.
Due to local advocates, officially organized under the name Make McGuinness Safe, McGuinness Boulevard had become a city priority by June 2022. At that time, DOT proposed three plans for a full boulevard redesign. The moderate plan, a road diet, was ultimately chosen and received over 9,000 neighborhood signatures in support. But the situation was still tenuous; by mid-2023, the Adams administration began to signal a lack of commitment to the proposed safety plan, citing the need to do more outreach. Ultimately, in deference to car drivers, the administration and DOT threatened to significantly weaken the redesign. Yet again, advocates rallied – mounting a monumental organizing effort, the Make McGuinness Safe members led teach-ins, community engagement, rallies and online campaigns to get a satisfactory plan over the finish line by the end of 2023.
By February 2024, 30% of the redesign has been completed. DOT projects it will begin work on the remaining 70% of the planned improvements by Spring 2024. North Brooklyn advocates are eager to get the planned changes implemented as soon as possible, but every day’s delay is another day the community is in danger. And there’s plenty of room for the plan to go much further toward creating a truly safe, people-centered street – like implementing a greenway that would connect to several key points in the neighborhood. Going forward, the Make McGuinness Safe advocates hope that their vision for a better future on McGuinness can inspire similar changes elsewhere, and become a model for how to transform arterial highways in the city and beyond.
We would like to thank Kevin LaCherra and Brent Bovenzi for sharing their time and insights about their fellow neighborhood leaders & all their inspiring accomplishments over recent years.
Photos are courtesy of Solveig Entwistle, Kevin LaCherra, Brent Bovenzi, and the North Brooklyn Open Street Community Coalition.
If you are interested in learning more about the amazing organizers and volunteers working to make North Brooklyn the vibrant place that it is, check out their website and socials below.
Banker’s Anchor
Bedford Slip
Make McGuinness Safe
North Brooklyn Open Streets
North Brooklyn Parks Alliance
And you can celebrate their community work by joining us all at the Second Annual Public Space Awards on Thursday, February 29th, where they will receive Most Inspiring Neighborhood Vision Award. It’ll be a fun night full of New York City lights and leaders. Get your ticket today! We look forward to seeing you there.
