Many Ideas for Improving Park Avenue Safety

Over 50 people were in attendance at last night's Park Avenue Safety Workshop. Everyone had a lot to say about which blocks and which intersections on Park Avenue along the BQE were the least safe, and even more to say about how the city could make improvements. Attendees split into 5 different groups, representing 5 different geographic areas of Park Avenue from west to east, so participants were able to discuss the very specific issues and challenges affecting each block and how to make them safer for pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers.

The goal of this workshop was to identify, prioritize, and locate specific enhancements that will improve pedestrian safety and calm vehicular traffic on Park Avenue between Navy Street and Steuben Street. Given the number of students that are crossing Park to and from school, and the number of residents that are living on Park or adjacent to it, improving safety needs to be prioritized by city agencies.

This workshop was the first step in creating a community-based plan that can be used to advocate for important changes, both short-term and long-term. A special thanks to Architecture for Humanity New York for putting in countless hours to prepare for and facilitate the workshop, and to now help pull together everyone's ideas into the makings of a draft plan.

Stay tuned for the scheduling of additional meetings where these preliminary findings and ideas will be presented.