Usage: Limited
An area located fully within the public right-of-way that is designated by DOT for use by pedestrians. The space may contain benches, tables, or other facilities. Plazas are maintained and managed by local, not-for-profit partner organizations or other entities, such as Parks.
Special event at Corona Plaza: National Street and Roosevelt Avenue, Queens
Interim pedestrian plaza at 71st Avenue Plaza: 71st Avenue and Myrtle Avenue, Queens
Benefits
- Promotes social interaction and builds neighborhood identity
- Encourages pedestrian activity and associated health benefits
- Catalyzes local economic development
- Serves as a venue for a diverse range of community, cultural, and/or commercial events
- Enhances safety by removing conflicts, narrowing wide roadways and/or normalizing intersections
Considerations
- The road segment’s relevance to the traffic network
- Open-space needs
- Income eligibility: neighborhoods designated by HUD as Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) eligible receive greater consideration
- Surrounding land uses and site appropriateness
- Organizational and maintenance capacity of community partner
- Advertising is generally prohibited in plazas
- Generally requires a maintenance agreement
- May require pedestrian security measures
- Attention should be given to accommodation of and navigation by people with vision and cognitive disabilities
- Conduct outreach to people with disabilities and stakeholders working with these population groups early in the planning and implementation process. Provide notification of street geometry changes after implementation
Application
- Under-utilized, DOT-owned road segments
- Locations with high crash rates
- Neighborhoods that support repurposing streets for plazas
- Neighborhoods with active organizations that can serve as Pedestrian Plaza Partners to maintain and manage plazas
- Areas with appropriate adjacent land uses, sufficient population density, proximity to transit, historic sites, significant view corridors
Design
- Each permanent plaza is designed to reflect the character and context of its neighborhood. DOT and the Pedestrian Plaza Partner conduct a public process to develop an appropriate design that is responsive to the needs of the community
- A consultant design team bases its plans on feedback from the public process
- Sites smaller than 2,000 square feet are not encouraged
- Plazas may include movable and/or formal and informal fixed seating, trees and plants (see Tree Beds and Plaza Plantings in the Landscape chapter), lighting, paving, information and wayfinding signage, sub-concessions, temporary and permanent public art, bike parking, and drinking-water fountains
- Permanent or temporary art can be included in plaza design. For more information, see DOT Art Program in the Programming chapter
- Plaza designs should support year-round events and programs. See Plaza Event (Civic) in the Programming chapter
- Provide clear paths with minimum clutter, and tactile and visual cues to accommodate people with disabilities
- Provide furniture that accommodates people with ambulatory disabilities; for example, space for knee clearance for people using mobility devices
- Utility boxes should be screened from public view
- Incorporate trees and other green cover. See Tree Beds and Plaza Plantings in the Landscape chapter
- Utilize stormwater source controls wherever feasible