Park(ing) Day on Myrtle Drives Business Activity

The one-day Adami Park on Myrtle between Washington and Waverly was a huge success, and brought out a great mix of both planned and spontaneous street life. Additionally, in an important part of the story that seems to have been under-reported in other stories covering Park(ing) Day, the temporary park and the people it attracted were a boon for the two businesses in front of which the park was setup. Il Torchio, the new Italian restaurant at 458 Myrtle, reported a 20-30% increase in its lunch business as compared to a typical weekday, with almost half of its lunch crowd being new customers. Joseph Tyler Salon, a high-end salon at 456 Myrtle, did double the business it expected to do for the day, with the majority being walk-ins and first-time customers.

In addition to a Pratt industrial design class holding its morning session in the park, musicians, avenue merchants, and local residents spent time enjoying the greenspace. During lunch, what seemed like the entire Adami family showed up to have lunch from Il Torchio. Many local residents gave feedback on our recently-released Placemaking Reports from which we hope to create permanent pocket parks or neighborhood plazas in the future.

Additional photos from Myrtle Avenue's Park(ing) Day are available for viewing and download at our flickr site.