Open Streets
Client
Open Streets Research
An ongoing Design Advocates case study, exploring the potentials of selective pedestrianization of streets to benefit local communities, businesses, and schools in the neighborhood of Elmhurst, Queens.
Past Case study: East Village, Manhattan
Project Brief
The DA Open Streets team chose the neighborhood of Elmhurst, Queens as a case study in our ongoing urban analysis of NYC Open Street configurations and planning. A lack of existing Open Streets and large open spaces, alongside high COVID-19 infection rates, were some of the criteria that drew us to focus on the neighborhood.
Design Approach
The ongoing New York City Open Streets initiative has inspired the DA Open Streets Team to develop a methodology by which we can assist communities in identifying and analyzing streets for vehicular closures.
The team recognizes that Open Streets have become a crucial component in ongoing efforts to allow for greater social distancing, and has therefore responded with the development of data and observational driven studies that could help local governments, communities, and individuals select and categorize street closures. As part of these studies, the team has looked at tree coverage, residential and commercial density, as well as traffic patterns, among other criteria, in determining the feasibility of individual Open Streets. We are actively looking for community, institutional, and business partners that are interested in our assistance in analyzing streets and communicating their needs to city agencies.
Design Advocates Team
Space ODT: Daphne Binder, Theodore Kofman
Studio Fōr: Fauzia Khanani
Bureau V: Peter Zuspan
Thornton Tomasetti: James Quinn
Gabriel Halili
Luke DeCourcey Cregan
Partners
Queens Community Board 4
Project Dates & Status
COMPLETE
June, 2020
Proposed Streets
Key Factors
