Graham Beck
Block Party NYC
Block Parties have a storied history in New York City. They've been celebrated in song and celluloid and may be as much a symbol of urban life as taxi cabs and turn-styles. They offer families and friends a rare and cherished opportunity: to make an underutilized public space usually filled with a car or two or even three the most desirable place in the neighborhood teaming with people of all ages.
A group calling itself the New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign has latched on to the power of block parties and launched an effort to sponsor and throw 30 in the summer of 2008. The group, supported by Transportation Alternatives, The Project for Public Space, and The Open Planning Project, writes on their website,
"Block Party NYC helps neighbors build consensus around the value of reduced car traffic on neighborhood streets. This is your chance to host a party and develop a plan to build a greener and safer neighborhood at the same time! Block Party NYC brings neighbors together with safe-streets experts in a fun atmosphere to draw new street designs that better suit community needs."
The idea behind it is a smart and simple one. Who wouldn’t be able to see the value of repurposing street space at an event that repurposes the street? And considering that Traffic's Human Toll, a 2006 study of four NYC neighborhoods, found that residents living on heavier traffic streets: possess fewer friends; harbor more negative perceptions of their block; are more frequently disrupted while sleeping, eating a meal and having a conversation; and spend less time outdoors, efforts like Block Party NYC make a lot of sense.
In fact, they’re part of a growing trend of car-free programming that’s popping up from Paris to Bogota and everywhere in between. It’s partly environmental, partly communal and partly about happiness. Of course in New York City, they’re trying to start with it partly being a party.
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Posted at 11:56 AM, Feb 15, 2008 in Cities | New York | Transportation
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Comments
the blockpartynyc.org website makes the application process a snap!
party down NYC and stoke the movement for a more livable city while you do it.
Posted by: PSW | February 15, 2008 12:54 PM
I'm not sure I completely believe the study. For example, in Astoria, where the negative effects of high traffic are the most pronounced, the high-traffic street studied is an access road to a highway, rather than a local arterial. The conclusions make sense and so does some of the reasoning, but I'd take it with a grain of salt.
Either way, the block party concept sounds like a good idea of promoting car-free streets. As long as it doesn't end up redistributing traffic to poorer neighborhoods, I'm all for it.
Posted by: Alon Levy | February 15, 2008 01:59 PM
Alon,
that fear of "spillover" traffic is what stymies reforms that would benefit new york's carless middle and low income majority. traffic is elastic, contracting when road capacity is given over to much needed open space, bus and bike lanes. the beautiful thing about regular road closures and permanent road capacity reductions is that over a period of weeks and months, drivers change their habits, driving less and even switching to other modes.
why does it matter if the road is a local arterial or not? high volume motorized traffic erodes quality of life, period.
Posted by: Paul | February 16, 2008 10:49 AM
It matters, because highways are known to split neighbrhoods in ways that pedestrian-friendly arterials don't. The Cross-Bronx Expressway destroyed Tremont. The straightening of Broadway on the Upper West Side didn't destroy anything. So it's legitimate to investigate if people who live on Broadway or Columbus are significantly less happy than people who live on any random local UWS street.
And yes, there is some spillover. I'm willing to buy that there's a net traffic loss, but it's not as if those drivers are local to begin with. However small the spillover effect is, it accumulates. Harass people in Westchester about using Columbus to drive to Midtown, and only some will switch to the Metro-North; others will use Second instead, making the pollution levels in East Harlem even worse than they are today.
(Incidentally, that's why I like the idea of congestion pricing. No matter which route you use, you're going to pay the same, so you might as well drop the idea that you're too good for mass transit.)
Posted by: Alon Levy | February 17, 2008 01:12 PM