Barriers no barrier to blockhead drivers
It’s open season on the city’s “open streets.”
Drivers across the Big Apple are brazenly tossing aside street-blocking barriers set up as part of Mayor de Blasio’s plan to provide outdoor recreation spaces amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Frustrated New Yorkers told The Post that they have had to take enforcement of the street closures into their own hands as motorists flout the program, and that it has sparked arguments between neighbors.
“Within the first week, it was clear that some neighbors did not like the impediment of the open-street barrier, so they would just take it down,” Noel Hidalgo, of Williamsburg, said of the barrier on Berry Street between North 12th Street and Broadway.
Launched in mid-May, de Blasio’s Open Streets initiative has so far restricted motorists from about 67 miles of roads in the city, with the aim to close off 100 miles between 8 a.m. and 8 p.m. so residents can get fresh air while still social distancing.
But some drivers have been taking back the pedestrian-only plazas and moving the NYPD’s blue wooden barricades and metal fences so they can get through, residents in multiple locations told The Post.
In addition to Williamsburg, locals reported issues in Ditmas Park and Crown Heights in Brooklyn and Forest Hills in Queens.
A City Hall spokesman said enforcing the open streets is a collective responsibility, with the Department of Transportation, NYPD precincts and community organizations all pitching in.
“The vast majority of drivers respect the program,” said the spokesman, Mitch Schwartz. “DOT patrols the closures with in-person checks and socialmedia monitoring, and they work with relevant agencies like the NYPD to fix issues as they arise.”
An NYPD spokeswoman said the department doesn’t track the number of complaints for broken barriers. But, she added, “As we become aware of broken or damaged barriers, we replace them.” Some of the open streets have sparked bitter fights between neighbors, with some trying to enforce the closures and others rebelling against them. On Ascan Avenue in Forest Hills last week, drivers simply veered around a barrier and zipped down the block for most of the day. In the afternoons, parents come to re-establish the metal barriers — then the tiffs begin, locals said.
Carmine Polito, owner of Portofino Ristorante on Ascan Avenue, said he recently confronted a man playing football with his son next to his outdoor dining set-up.
“They make me explode!” recalled Polito, 67, who has owned and operated the eatery for 46 years.
“I say, ‘People are trying to eat dinner, can you play down the street or in the park?’ He says, ‘So what?’ Looked at me like I’m nuts! So I say, ‘I’m opening the barricade!’ ”