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In response to COVID-19, a temporary initiative known as Open Streets was introduced by the city in spring 2020. The initiative closed off various streets throughout New York City to make more socially distant outdoor spaces available to the public. Given the unprecedented public health crisis facing the city, North Brooklyn Open Streets bypassed traditional protocols and was subsequently approved in 2021 by NYC Council as a city wide program. Now, NYC DOT is looking to make Open Street Berry St a permanent fixture in the community by installing permanent infrastructure to keep Berry St. closed forever and turn Berry St. into a bike boulevard.

The street closure spans 1.1 miles from Broadway to McCarren Park across two precincts. This includes the closing of streets off Berry St and all over the district without any environmental impact studies, transparency, public input or consideration of closures as a whole. Closing one street inherently affects all the surrounding streets. Not every block or street is the same. The Open Street program aggressively and predatorily seeks to standardize and close as many streets as possible without regard of the harm it causes surrounding areas, business, people or the environment. Community voices are strategically muted in the process, so that politicians and NYC DOT can maintain power over public space for the benefit of big corporations and big real estate developers.

Despite DOT claims that they have conducted thorough community outreach, supposedly contacting every resident and business owner directly affected by these street closures, we have seen in countless circumstances that this is not the case. The DOT has touted biased surveys taken from small and self-selected samples, made no effort beyond their social media page or private media run by "partners" and lobbyists to notify the public of meetings, and made unsubstantiated claims that the street closures have increased foot traffic for businesses, all to create the illusion that the community unanimously favors North Brooklyn Open Streets.

Concerns about the permanency of North Brooklyn Open Streets, including safety, disruption, overflow of traffic to adjacent streets, environmental impact and reduced quality of life for residents due to increased noise/street parties, have been disregarded by the NYC DOT. Even the fact that the barricades prevent emergency response vehicles from reaching those in need as quickly as possible or are the source of blocking accessibility for residents is dismissed. When this was brought up during a workshop, a DOT representative suggested that emergency vehicles could simply plow through the barricades to reach their destination quicker. DOT has told residents to call the police if harassed at barricades. When a resident did file a report with NYPD, NYC DOT "partners" violently arrived to harass a pregnant resident. Politicians Antonio Reynoso, Stephen Levin, Emily Gallagher, and Lincoln Restler having close ties with these individuals have not condemn the incident to this day. In fact, they all continue to normalize the retaliation, harassment, and political bullying of constituents by working with these individuals and their groups exclusively on "community" led projects. Every constituent should be disturbed by the lengths politicians and their foot soldiers are willing to go to secure power over municipal property. The divisiveness that has fruited under current elected officials leadership is unethical and an embarrassment for Brooklyn.  

North Brooklyn Open Streets does not accurately reflect the desires of the community as a whole. The lack of transparency and consideration for commercial businesses that have lost revenue and those who rely on vehicle transportation or live here is alarming for residents and business owners alike. This petition is designed to stop the closing of Berry Street from becoming a permanent fixture in the community. The local politicians support for such a divisive and hostile take over of public space without inclusion of constituents is deplorable. The politicians have revealed through their negligence and inaction they care more about funding and power than the needs of the neighborhood or strengthening community voices.

Please leave a comment reflecting your concerns, particularly if you live or work on or adjacent to an “open street”. THEN PLEASE EMAIL POLITICIANS FROM OUR WEBSITE thttps://www.berrystalliance.org/ You can also email us at info@berrystalliance.org to get involved.