Chinatown’s Doyers Open Street to Become a Car-Free Plaza

An open street in Chinatown will become a fully pedestrianized plaza this fall.

The Department of Transportation will build on the success of its Covid-era open space initiative on Doyers Street with a full conversion, featuring gravel, markings, and planters. The agency will also improve the surrounding streets by shortening a Bowery crossing; converting two-hour metered parking on Bowery between Doyers and Pell to three-hour commercial metered parking for loading, pick-up and drop-off, and will convert the daytime “No Parking” area on Bowery between Mott and East Broadway to two-hour metered parking.

It’s all contained in a presentation made to Manhattan Community Board 3 earlier this month.

“DOT is proud to build on the success of our Open Streets with proposals to formalize spaces like the Doyers Open Street as a permanent pedestrian plaza,” said DOT spokesman Vin Barone. “The Doyers open street is a must-visit Chinatown destination that is remarkably popular among visitors and local businesses alike.”

Doyers is a natural for becoming a pedestrian enclave; it connects Bowery to Pell Street, even though Pell Street is accessible directly from the Bowery anyway; as such, it adds no value for motorists. In fact, given where it is, Doyers Street never should have been designated as a street for cars. Chinatown, a crowded area built before the advent of the automobile, holds little open or green space, and thus the new plaza is sorely needed.

Read the full article on Streetsblog NYC

Author: Eve Kessler

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