With Fewer Than 40 Schools Participating in Open Streets, Transportation Alternatives and Open Plans Launch Toolkit to Expand & Demystify Program
Streets near public schools have 57% more crashes than other streets during the 8 a.m. hour, according to data from Streetsblog.
Advocates and local officials host virtual teach-in debuting toolkit on Monday, January 23
NEW YORK — Safe streets advocacy organizations Open Plans and Transportation Alternatives today launched a “School Streets Toolkit”, providing students, parents, educators, and administrators guidance to create car-free spaces at their school. The toolkit aims to bring clarity to what can be an onerous and opaque application process for under-resourced school communities. Fewer than 40 New York City schools have an active “School Street” — just a fraction of the city’s more than 1,800 public schools.
The Open Streets for Schools program, managed by NYC DOT, enables public, private, and charter schools to use adjacent streets for arrival and dismissal operations, recess, outdoor learning, and community meetings. This space is urgently needed. Streets near schools are significantly more dangerous than average, according to a 2022 analysis by Streetsblog. There are 57% more crashes and 25% more injuries per mile on streets near schools than on the city’s other streets.
The organizations will celebrate the toolkit’s launch with a virtual town hall on Monday, January 23 at 6 p.m. Council Members Chi Osse, Erik Bottcher, Shekar Krishnan, and Lincoln Restler will give remarks before organizers and schoolstreets allies offer testimonials and answers to frequently asked questions. Teachers, administrators, parents, students, and organizers are invited to attend the event to learn more about how they can use the toolkit to create safe and joyful car-free space. The event is free with registration.
“When I connect with schools across the five boroughs, there’s one constant - students need more open space for play, safety, accessibility, and learning,” said Sabina Sethi Unni, Schools Coordinator at Open Plans. “But almost every school that I’ve talked to doesn’t know the Open Street program is an option. We need everyone to know about the program and to feel empowered with the tools necessary to successfully apply. Ideally, all our neighborhoods would designate car-free space for children. Until then, our toolkit is an organizing document to help people understand that schools urgently need Open Streets and that the application process is doable, especially with our help.”
“All New York City students should have access to high quality, car-free open spaces — full stop,” said D’Shandi Coombs, Schools Organizer at Transportation Alternatives. “We’re launching our School Streets Toolkit to make it easier for people to bring Open Streets to their schools, whether they’re an educator, administrator, parent, or organizer. Bringing more Open Streets to schools will keep our students safe while providing new spaces to learn and play. Our toolkit helps make this process transparent.”
"My success story is that [without an Open Street] my son’s school would have zero outdoor space. There was nowhere else they could have gone. We met our goal. That is my success story,” said Noelia Plaza, former P.S. 222 parent.
Being struck by a car is the leading cause of injury-related death for New York City children under 14, a population that includes some 1.5 million young New Yorkers. Closing streets to cars, however, prevents crashes and saves lives. The Safe Routes to Schools program, which converted car space at 124 high-risk intersections near schools in New York City into daylighting, sidewalk widening, and pedestrian safety islands, brought a 44% decrease in injuries for school-age children at those intersections, along with an 11%increase in students walking or biking to school.
The free School Streets Toolkit provides:
Information on the benefits of School Streets to the school community
Step-by-step guidance about the application process
Best practices for building a successful application
Guidance on collecting relevant data and application materials
How to diversify methods of communication to gain community support
Methods schools can use to secure and gather resources for their Open Street
Toolkit available online and as a printable PDF.
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For Immediate Release
Press Contact:
press@transalt.org
chelsea@openplans.org