FDR Pedestrian Takeover Plan Could Close Uptown Highway To Cars

EAST HARLEM, NEW YORK — Plans are brewing in East Harlem to install an Open Street along one of the city's busiest highways — the FDR Drive.

Borough President Mark Levine received a pitch Tuesday night from a Community Board 11 member to shut down the highway’s northbound lane between East 96th and East 125th streets in the summer months.

“Technically, there is precedent for it at the state level,” Jessica Morris told Levine at CB11’s monthly board meeting. “But it would require an enormous amount of not only community-based support but also political will.”

Levine, who dropped in to update the board on borough initiatives and take questions, complimented Morris on a well-informed question, but expressed hesitancy for the plan.

“The idea of using the FDR as recreational space is exciting,” Levine replied. “I can think of some political logistical complications, but I’d love to talk through it with you. I would love to engage.”

Complications include the fact that highways are not eligible for Open Streets under current Department of Transportation guidelines.

Community Board Chair Xavier Santiago told Patch the project was discussed within the public safety and transportation committee and deemed not feasible.

"The Triborough's right there," Santiago said. "If you cut that off, you would basically choke the boroughs."

But Morris noted former Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer was open to the idea and had several conversations with FDR Open Street proponents about the project’s potential.

The Community Board member asked Levine to meet with her before the April 29 deadline for community organizations to submit Open Street applications to the Department of Transportation.

An FDR Drive open street would bring needed space to exercise to East Harlem, present partnership opportunities for local organizations to provide services to the community and serve as an immediate stand-in for the neighborhood's crumbling esplanade, Morris argued.

Santiago told Patch he liked the idea of activating space along East Harlem's coastline but felt the area to focus on was Pier 107, which has been fenced off since 2018 due to safety concerns.

"We have constant discussions on new ideas," Santiago said. "It's more about long term visioning."

Morris proposed opening the highway to pedestrians on a weekly, monthly or annual basis and noted Boston has been periodically shutting down a portion of its four-lane Memorial Drive for decades.

“Believe it or not, I rollerbladed on Memorial Drive when it was an open street back in the day,” Levine replied. “So I’m with you on that.”

Neither the Manhattan Borough President’s office nor Community Board 11 responded to Patch’s request for comment.

The DOT, which manages the Open Streets program and the FDR Drive, told Patch it has not yet received any such applications.

The stretch of the FDR Drive in question — from East 96th Street to the Robert F. Kennedy (or Triborough) Bridge — is among the most heavily traveled sections of the highway, New York State Department of Transportation data shows.

Data from 2019 shows the 30-block stretch saw an annual daily average of 162,561 vehicles per day, placing it among the top 25 most heavily-travelled stretches of highway in New York City that year.

The data does not delineate weekend traffic, which is presumably lighter and when the proposed Open Street would likely shut down the northbound lanes to cars.

Despite logistical and political hurdles, Morris urged Levine to team up with her to convince the DOT and state government to work together to make the FDR Open Street happen this summer.

“Hopefully I will reach out and gather the support needed,” Morris said. “It’s not impossible.”