34th Avenue between 73rd and 80th Streets will once again open to pedestrians and cyclists tomorrow (Google Maps)
May 6, 2020 By Allie Griffin
A stretch of 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights will close to traffic–starting tomorrow–as part of the city’s open streets initiative spurred on by the coronavirus pandemic.
Nearly half a mile of 34th Avenue from 69th Street to 77th Street will close to traffic from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. each day for the duration of the pandemic. The roadway will be for the exclusive use of pedestrians and cyclists during that 12 hour window.
The stretch was part of the mayor’s short-lived pilot program in March to open city streets to New Yorkers in need of fresh air. The mayor ended the initiative about two weeks later saying that it required precious police resources.
The .4 mile of 34th Avenue is part of 100 miles of New York City roadways that de Blasio and the City Council hope to turn over to pedestrians over the course of the pandemic. They plan to open up 40 miles in May alone.
De Blasio announced the open streets initiative last Monday after he resisted weeks of pressure from the City Council and bike advocates to close roads to traffic during the health crisis.
Several streets near Queens parks — including Forest Park, Flushing Meadows Corona Park and Court Square — were shut down to traffic and opened exclusively for cyclists and pedestrians over the weekend.
The mayor said that he is working with organizations such as Business Improvement Districts to help manage these space.
The goal of the initiative is to provide more outdoor space for New Yorkers looking to get some fresh air amid stay-at-home orders. The additional mileage of open space will make it easier for people to follow social distancing rules as more people go outside to enjoy the warm weather, de Blasio said.
(DOT)
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8 Comments
That’s because the mortality rate for NY is 0.26%. NYC stopped their recordings for unknown reasons, but for that sake of the argument, let’s keep the number of deaths as 21,271 as of today May 10th. If you were to take NYC’s population of 8.399 million and attribute all deaths as Covid related, that’s significantly low. In a city with 8 million people, you would be surprised that the numbers aren’t higher, but I’m sure the argument would probably be, “the people who are complying are dying in their homes because they’re not going to the hospitals that’s why the number is low” and even if that were true, you would still have to account for other diseases, much which aren’t addressed at hospitals because of the so called ‘killer virus’ and the risk of exposure. What isn’t mentioned is that people are also dying from other things such as Cardiovascular diseases, pneumonia, hypertension, etc. to which cardiovascular disease is a main issue in the Queens County. Based on the most obtainable statistics offered by the CDC (2014-2016), Cardiovascular disease and stroke account for 217,000 deaths for all ethnic groups. Blacks account for 17.1% of all deaths, while Hispanics account for 27.9%, Whites account for 25% and Asians 25%. I have attached a link for you to see the demographics
https://nccd.cdc.gov/DHDSPAtlas/DetailedPDFReport.aspx?AreaIds=36081&ThemeId=29&filterIds=9,2,3,4,7&filterOptions=1,1,1,5,1
Because it’s easier to label a death as Covid related without proper testing, then you create an unrealistic statistical interpretation of Covid. This so called flattening the curve is near to impossible because everyone is being labeled as having Covid. The real issue that isn’t being expressed are other health problems that will arise as a result of staying indoors, both physically and mentally. It seems that those that complain about people not quarantining have forgotten that there are also other serious diseases such as Cardiovascular disease which can be proven harmful for people with existing conditions. Failure of proper exercise will contribute to the individuals death. In addition to physical problems, there are also mental health problems associated with isolation.
Character limit for this guy
people should walk more & stop driving, Some of those drivers are reckless motorists, racers, and just drive around with the loud music
Such a stupid idea. The virus is rampant in Jackson heights. The melting pot has too many people that dont want to act accordingly. They dont want to live by restrictions they act like theyre still in the 3rd world country they came from. worst idea ever.
Blocks listed are conflicting: 73-80 and 69th-77th. Got a driver annoyed this a.m., thought i could go up to 80th. Thanks!
Give information of all five
thankyou boureagh in New York City
Where’s all the car drivers that hate bicyclists and want to trash this idea? Too busy throwing thumbtacks on 47th ave bicycle lane?
lol, not even a half mile, awesome