As COVID-19 ravaged New York City, virus-wary denizens locked out of indoor public places poured into the streets, sidewalks and parks. They dined with friends in outdoor sheds hastily erected by restaurants, and went to health classes, concerts and even therapy sessions on streets closed to traffic.
"There have been a lot of closings of things during COVID. There are sections of blocks where there's lots and lots of empty storefronts, and that's depressing," said Maura Harway, who lives in Manhattan's Upper West Side. "So anything that brings people back and helps the businesses and helps the neighborhood to feel alive and lively."
That rethinking began before the pandemic. Two decades ago, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg oversaw a major expansion of bike lanes and allowed bike rental stations to be set up on city streets. He championed pedestrian plazas like those in Herald Square and Times Square to keep cars out of pedestrian-heavy corridors. And his administration extended waterfront greenways and parks, especially in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Before the pandemic, 1,200 establishments had permits to set up tables and chairs on sidewalks. But under the pandemic era's emergency Open Restaurants program, more than 12,000 eateries and bars got permission to extend service into the streets.