New Public Spaces
Street Lab is working with the NYC Department of Transportation and communities across New York City to create new public spaces in historically underserved areas of the city. To do this, we’re helping grassroots groups, schools, and other community-based organizations pilot and establish new Open Streets in their neighborhood, which provides immediate benefits to the community while also laying the groundwork for permanent changes.
This initiative started in 2022 with ten locations and added 12 more in 2023, one of which has now become a permanent plaza. Street Lab is providing programming and activation to these sites, as well as support with permits, logistics, staffing, partnerships, community engagement, and evaluation. In 2024, we’re working with over 20 groups to launch Open Streets and making a special effort with schools. Our goal is to double the number of locations we can support every year. Contact us to get involved.
“The open streets have created a space for us to thrive as a community here at PS32, while we celebrate health, wellness, and one another! ….You can see, hear and feel the joy that has been created! And the best part is—we created it and can keep on creating it!”
Our Process
When a partnership is launched, we build our connection with host partners and the community through neighborhood visits and in-person meetings. We work with residents to explore how the new public space can bring immediate benefits and also support long-term goals of the neighborhood. We then provide planning and technical support, including scheduling and permitting of new Open Streets. When it comes time to activate the street, we provide support with site management, pop-up programming, promotion, and documentation. Following the season, we work with the community to determine next steps, with an eye towards empowering local groups to further develop and steward these new spaces into the future.
A special effort to create Open Streets next to schools
In 2024, we’re making a special effort to create more car-free streets next to schools as part of our New Public Space Initiative. These kinds of new public spaces are urgently needed for safer drop-off and pick-up, but they can also offer dynamic new space for recess, after-school activities, and learning outside school walls. We see a unique opportunity with these spaces to bring out the best in New Yorkers and make learning a source of pride for the whole neighborhood. Learn more about Street Lab’s work on School Streets here.
New Public Spaces in Progress
Beaumont Ave
Belmont, Bronx
PS32 with Equity Design and BX Health REACH
Back for year three on Beaumont Ave with PS 32, Street Lab is now helping the school operate and run the Open Street fully on their own, with students leading the way.
Decatur Ave
Fordham, Bronx
Street Lab is wrapping up a successful summer at Decatur Ave Block Association’s new Open Street, with the group already looking to build on this success in 2025.
E 150th St
Melrose, Bronx
PS/MS 5 with Equity Design and BX Health REACH
Street Lab piloted programming on two different blocks outside of PS/MS 5, including a Halloween event as part of DOT’s citywide “Trick-or-Streets” celebration in Fall 2023. We are currently working to engage the school community and plan a second year of School Streets continuing in the 2024-25 school year.
Evelyn Pl
Fordham Heights, Bronx
Evelyn Place recently finished their second year with an Open Street this summer, with updated no-parking regulations on the block, expanded hours, and additional support from the city. Street Lab lent them gear for the summer through our Equipment Library.
Goble Pl
Mount Eden, Bronx
Comprehensive Model School Project MS 327
Located just below the Cross Bronx Expressway, CMSP 327 wrapped a successful spring season of their new Open Street, creating much-needed open space near the school. Street Lab and the school are exploring potential collaborations in the future.
Audubon Ave
Washington Heights, Manhattan
NYC Dept. of Transportation
DOT sponsored Street Lab to lead activations of the Audubon Open Street and coordinate a community-driven mural for the potential future pedestrian plaza.
Bathgate Ave
Belmont, Bronx
PS 59
Street Lab is working with PS 59 to pilot a new Open Street outside their school for the 2024-25 school year with different days for recess, after school programming, outdoor learning, community events, and even lunch outside for students.
E 148th St
Mott Haven, Bronx
Equity Design and BX Health REACH
Since first working together to create an Open Street in 2021, Street Lab is returning to PS 18X with our pop-up programs for another season. As ideas for use of the street have progressed, Street Lab is now supporting the school’s vision to use the street to increase bike usage and access in the neighborhood.
Mt Hope Pl
Mount Hope, Bronx
PS 28 Mount Hope Centennial School
Street Lab helped create a new Open Street with PS 28 while the school playground is closed for construction, forcing indoor recess for students. Street Lab supported several pilot activations this past spring, with the street returning for the new school year. The school is now looking to build on their experience to create a consistent public space for the school and community in 2025.
Grand Ave
Morris Heights, Bronx
Bright Leaders Group Family Daycare
Bright Leaders Group Family Daycare is located in a residential area with little outdoor space available for daycare children and youths in the neighborhood. Street Lab partnered with the daycare to create a new Open Street outside their location, creating a new space for kids to play and the community to gather over the summer.
Thatford Ave
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Brownsville Community Justice Center
Street Lab is partnering with Brownsville Community Justice Center to activate a new Open Street at the end of Thatford Ave at Belmont Ave near many local businesses. Thatford Ave is already used as a gathering spot, and the Open Street expands the ways in which people can use the street and creates more space for community.
Palisade Pl
Morris Heights, Bronx
PS 109
After starting with a one-day pilot last spring, Street Lab assisted PS 109 in joining the Open Streets initiative for the 2024-25 school year, with activations ongoing in the fall.
Strauss St
Brownsville, Brooklyn
Riverdale Avenue Community School (RACS)
RACS tested closing their block with Street Lab, Equity Design, and DOHMH to increase access to bike programming this past spring as part of the Brownsville Bike Bus initiative. Now for the 2024-25 school year we are working with the school to expand programming on Fridays on their new Open Street.
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With additional support from
Recent news about New Public Spaces
Kids Take the Streets
Opening up a street for play is a powerful way to get kids engaged in improving their neighborhood. Street Lab is piloting new Open Streets with five public schools in the Bronx and Brooklyn, and extraordinary results are already coming in—students are now leading the...
Creating a safe place to celebrate Halloween on the street in the Bronx
On Halloween, Street Lab hosted a special Open Streets event on Jackson Avenue in the Bronx as part of the NYC Dept. of Transportation's “Trick-or-Streets” celebration, which created nearly 100 safe streets for communities to gather and celebrate citywide. Located...
Pop-up helps make a new public space in Brooklyn
Since 2022, Street Lab has been activating the Beverley Road Open Street in Kensington, Brooklyn, to help the community explore the potential of pedestrian public space in a traffic-congested commercial area. Today, the road became a permanent pedestrian plaza, with a...
Videos
Street Lab’s Leslie Davol introduces Street Lab and NYC DOT partnership
Aug 8, 2023
