What's Going On With Open Streets?

[FREE letter] Here's everything we know...

Mar 22, 2024

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Hi! How are you? I heard a rumor last week that Fifth Avenue’s Open Streets — the popular, pandemic-born program that closes blocks along Fifth Ave to traffic to create more public space — is canceled this year. This surprised me — Open Streets is one of my favorite weekend activities in the neighborhood. So, I spent some time this week talking to folks about what’s happening, and instead of an interview today, I thought I’d share what I learned. Next week, I’ll be back with my usual Friday issue, and you can find a big list of upcoming neighborhood events at the end of this email, plus some newsy links. Thanks for reading!

Earlier this month, Streetsblog reported that the Park Slope Fifth Avenue Business Improvement District, “the BID,” has pulled out of Open Streets. The BID ran Open Streets in Park Slope from 2020 to 2023 with financial support from the city (pandemic-recovery funds), the Department of Transportation, and the community. "The funding, a big chunk of it came from the city with [pandemic] recovery money that we got as a grant. And then we had [Department of Transportation] money, and we also raised money. All those pots of money have gradually dried up, so we don't actually have any money to do the program this year,” Joanna Tallantire, Executive Director of the BID, told Streetsblog.

Bricolage set up for service during Open Streets, May 2023

The BID’s move to pull out of Open Streets isn’t just a funding issue. The 2023 BID Strategic Planning Report states that the “annual planning and implementation [of Open Streets] is labor intensive for the BID, and requires a large portion of the BID’s staff time.” The report also points out that it’s not feasible for the BID to build new programs and improve existing ones while continuing Open Streets. As a two-person team supporting 540 businesses across 32 blocks of Fifth Avenue, it’s unsurprising that the organization can’t continue to justify running the program.

Although the BID is no longer heading up Open Streets, several upcoming events are planned throughout the year, including the Fabulous Fifth Avenue Fair on May 19th, the Brooklyn Pride Fair and Parade on June 8th, and more.

When Brendan Byrnes, owner of The Commissioner, heard about the BID pulling out of Open Streets, he stepped in. Through conversations with the BID, DoT webinars, input from Fifth Ave business owners, and a large community survey, Brendan came up with the idea to shorten the stretch of Fifth Ave for this year’s Open Streets. Instead of closing 17 blocks, as the BID has for the last four years, he proposed closing four blocks, from President Street to Second Street. “The fundraising goals are much more attainable, and I talked to almost all the business owners on that stretch, and [the feedback] was similar to the survey that we put out, where 98% were full-throated in favor of it,” said Brendan.

A handful of merchants between President Street and Second Street joined Brendan to form the Fifth Avenue Open Streets Merchant Association, an all-volunteer team. They’ve applied to the DoT to run Open Streets every Saturday beginning May 4th through November 2nd, likely with a break in August when many residents are out of town.

Brendan emphasized that he hasn’t received an official agreement letter from the DoT yet. Still, he was told he can begin notifying people about fundraising, so he’s taking that to mean approval from the city is coming soon.

The Fifth Avenue Open Streets Merchant Association has a $40,000 fundraising goal, which will cover costs like insurance, event staffing, safety equipment, signage for bus rerouting, and cultural programming, which includes activities like kids’ obstacle courses, arts and crafts, live music, storytime, and face painting.

To help meet their goal, the Association seeks a main presenting sponsor with ties to the community and two or three smaller sponsors. According to Brendan, the merchants between President and Second that see a bump in business from the program will also chip in, ranging from $500 to $2,000 per merchant. And then there’s the GoFundMe page where community members can make donations to support the program.

One piece of the financial puzzle that’s missing from Brendan’s plan is a DoT grant. Last year, the DoT announced an additional investment of up to $30 million in public spaces, including Open Streets. This new fund supports having “equitable public space” throughout NYC. “Our stretch of Fifth Avenue and Park Slope in general is probably in the lowest tier of need for that equity grant,” said Brendan. “In my conversations with the DoT, I asked if we’ll have a better chance of getting our application approved if we're not asking for funding. And their eyes kind of lit up. You could tell that everybody was asking them for money. So, I think one of the things that helped our application is that we didn’t ask them for money.”

I asked Brendan what would happen if he didn’t hit his goal of $40,000 by May. “The majority of this cost is insurance and labor. The insurance obviously has to be paid upfront, but the labor is ongoing. So if we don't hit our full goal by May, we can still get started and continue fundraising,” he explained. Brendan also said it’s possible to skip some weeks or even finish earlier than November, but he said that's the worst-case scenario. “Based on the community support and merchant support, all signs are pointing to hitting our goal.”

(Top photo by Doctor Hilarious; Bricolage photo by Kelley MacDonald; Commissioner photo by John Tebeau; Commissioner photo by BrooklynCB6; Open Streets photo by Kelley MacDonald)

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