We are the Loisaida Open Streets Community Coalition — a community-based volunteer organization authorized by NYC Department of Transportation to manage the Ave B Open Street between 6th and 14th streets in Manhattan.
We call on the City of New York to improve the Ave B Open Street and make it a permanent, safe pedestrian oasis.
Our sidewalks are extremely narrow. Our neighborhood and its economy thrives on people walking our streets, yet pedestrians are crowded on sidewalks that narrow to only 4 feet wide in some places. While nearly every resident shops, commutes or goes about daily life on foot, and less than 30% of households have cars, pedestrians are given less than 1/10 of the space devoted to cars on Avenue B.
We need more open space for people. As East River Park faces closures through 2026, we have a dire need for public space in the East Village and Lower East Side. Our neighborhood is densely populated, adjacent to a heavily traveled highway and power plant, and long-recognized as under-served for green space and safe walking and cycling routes. Bustling Tompkins Square Park is already bursting at the seams, with open areas regularly packed and green spaces fully trampled by Fall.
We need opportunities to come together with our community. Programming on music, culture, fitness, art, and annual celebrations allow neighbors to uniquely connect and bridge across generations. The Avenue B Open Street is a source of joy and is part of what makes New York so special.
We need a safe street for our families, friends, and neighbors. Restricting traffic from Avenue B helps to stem the overflow of cars passing through from the Williamsburg Bridge and Houston Street and has a positive ripple effect on the surrounding streets of Alphabet City. And while Alphabet City has protected bike lanes running east-west, on Houston Street and 12th/13th Streets, it has no protected north-south bike routes to connect to the bike network.
The current Open Street, however, falls short. Community feedback indicates most don't feel safe or comfortable walking into the Open Street under the current set up. It allows too many cars, whose drivers frequently ignore the 5 mph speed limit and drive hastily around, or even over, the flimsy barriers.
Avenue B should be a public space for all people, free from the dangers of cars and smog of traffic. A safe place for people walking and biking, to work or shop or to a bar or restaurant, for families and children, for students from the six schools along Avenue B, for neighbors with mobility challenges, diners, shoppers, and the hearing- and vision-impaired residents of our neighborhood.
We are asking the City of New York to maximize the potential of the Ave B Open Street. To achieve this, the City must:
Install permanent, 24-hour treatments to deter through-traffic. Permit only these uses on the Open Street: Emergency vehicles, local deliveries, and for-hire vehicle and Access-A-Ride drop-offs.
Consider traffic calming measures on nearby streets that currently feed traffic onto Avenue B.
Provide financial and material resources (signage, street seating, planters, etc.) to neighborhood organizations for continued maintenance and street activations.