The pandemic opened some eyes - some ideas and what might be practical.
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Of all the ways the pandemic reshaped New York City’s streetscape, the most profound example might have been found on Vanderbilt Avenue as it cut through brownstone Brooklyn.
On weekends jazz bands played on the corners. Friends reunited on the median. Children zigged and zagged on their bikes as diners sat at bistro tables atop asphalt. The faint sound of cars could be heard in the distance.
Just as the early days of the coronavirus forced New Yorkers inside, it eventually pushed them outdoors — for fresh air, for exercise, for eating, for relief — in what became an organic takeover and reimagining of the city’s streets across its five boroughs.
City officials handed over 83 miles of roadway to cyclists, runners and walkers, allowed nearly 11,000 restaurants to stretch onto sidewalks and streets and let retailers expand their storefronts beyond their front doors. People reclaimed the pavement and are, by and large, unwilling to give it back.
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