Transportation Alternatives Calls For a Fully-Funded, Maintaintained, and Equitable Open Streets for Schools Program at City Council Hearing
NEW YORK — Today, the City Council’s Committee on Education held a hearing on next year’s Department of Education budget. Despite the Open Streets for Schools program’s popularity and benefits, the number of school streets is declining across the five boroughs, and it requires both funding and institutional support to continue.
Statement from D’Shandi Coombs, Transportation Alternatives' Schools Organizer:
“School-age children are at especially high risk of traffic violence, and more New Yorkers under 18 were killed last year than any other since Vision Zero was first announced. Open Streets for Schools not only protect students during drop-off and pick-up from school, but also nurture communities and create spaces for entire neighborhoods to learn, grow, exercise, and meet. However, this lifesaving program needs funding to continue, and we’re asking for $10 million to sustain and grow this program so that New Yorkers in every ZIP code have access to safe school streets.”
Full Testimony:
Good afternoon, and thank you to Chair Joseph and the members of the Education Committee for convening today’s hearing on the FY24 budget. I am D’Shandi Coombs, and I am the Schools Organizer with Transportation Alternatives. I am here today to support an initiative that can improve our schools as well as the safety and well-being of our students and the larger community: Open Streets for Schools.
School-age New Yorkers are at especially high risk when it comes to traffic violence. Children between the ages of 5 and 17 have the highest fatality and serious injury rates of all age groups under 50 in the five boroughs. Three-quarters of students under age 15 in the City walk, bike, or take public transit to school, and it’s crucial that we prioritize their safety when traveling to and from class. School street safety is also an equity issue – while streets near public schools in New York City see 57% more crashes and 25% more injuries during drop-off times, streets around schools that serve predominantly Black and brown students are substantially more dangerous.
During the 8 a.m. hour, when over a million children stream into more than 1,800 city-run public schools, there are 57% more crashes and 25% more injuries per mile on streets near schools than on the city’s other streets.
The NYC Department of Transportation (DOT)’s Open Streets Program turns car-centered streets into pedestrian-centered spaces. Open Streets for Schools are open streets that are run, maintained, and programmed by adjacent or nearby K-12 schools; they reimagine a roadway not dominated by cars but for children to play and for learning to thrive. Open Streets for Schools make our communities safer and stronger; they create secure and welcoming spaces for their students and the larger community, and car-free streets protect students from traffic violence.
“My success story is that [without an Open Street] my son’s school would have zero outdoor space. There was nowhere else they could have gone. We met our goal. That is my success story.” - Noelia Plaza, Former P.S 222 parent
Successes of Open School Streets:
Many schools use their school streets to ease arrival and dismissal by closing off the street from cars during certain hours, or using the streets to offer after school programs and extracurricular activities. School streets do not just need to belong to individual schools but can benefit the entire community. Many schools host programs such as voter registration clinics, mental wellness booths, and street vendors. Schools lacking a dedicated yard or gym also often need additional space for recess and can use blocked-off street space for outdoor recess.
On 34th Avenue in Jackson Heights, Queens, the 34th Avenue Coalition open street organizers partner with the City and other community-based organizations to fund afterschool programming that starts at pick-up and extends deeper into the afternoon. Some successful programming, particularly for younger children, include Zumba, dance, aerobics, hula hooping, chalking, and other wellness activities.
Some schools extend the classroom to the entire community. WHEELS School in Washington Heights hosts community educational programming around environmental justice; they use the open school street as a community science lab, hosting climate justice teach-ins with the community (and nearby university students and professors to partner up to provide some technical assistance), allowing students to lead community members in workshops to collect water quality, tree coverage, and heat data to share with elected officials to advocate for more resources, support, and funding. Other schools host biking programs, where a school administrator or staff teaches ‘Learn to Ride’ cycling programs.
Hosting temporary activations, such as programming for children, reading libraries, chalking, music, and dance, has also allowed schools to identify local needs and test out various programs and opportunities for street usage.
Challenges of the Current Program:
Despite the many benefits of Open Streets for Schools, their numbers are declining. DOT’s list of Open Streets for Schools declined by almost half from January 2022 to January 2023, from 100 streets to only 51. Schools are interested in protecting students with Open Streets, but the City has provided insufficient funding for schools to sustain the program, creating incredibly overwhelming barriers for schools and communities with fewer financial resources. All students deserve access to Open Streets – not just students in wealthier schools.
In conversations with administrators and Open School Street volunteers, schools shared challenges of:
Lack of funding to provide chairs and tables, gaming equipment, tents, etc, and other materials for outdoor learning activities.
Insufficient staffing to monitor the Open Street during its hours of operation. Some schools have successfully collaborated with after-school program staff to monitor the street, but every school should have a staffing support option.
Inadequate and insufficient amount of barricades to effectively keep out motor vehicles around schools.
As we work to expand the Open Streets for Schools program across New York City, we urge you to commit $10 million in city funding in the FY 24 budget. With additional funding, this program can support school streets citywide with resources for maintenance, staffing, and programmatic support. We urge DOT and DOE to also commit to implementing a new school-based Full Closure Open Street in every zip code by 2024 and conduct proactive outreach to schools to apply.
Open School Streets protect some of New York’s youngest and most vulnerable, but we can do more. We recommend implementing faster application review and approval times, precise feedback on unsuccessful applications, and additional resources for Title I schools to sustain an Open Street. With these changes, we believe the program can grow more sustainably, equitably, and quickly.
We believe strongly in supporting, uplifting, and protecting New York City’s over one million public school students, and we know that Open Streets for Schools are key to realizing that mission. This program presents an indispensable opportunity for collaboration and partnerships between school administrators, the school community, and the local government. We respectfully request your support in prioritizing pedestrian safety, student wellness, and traffic-calming measures for all through the Open Streets for Schools program. Thank you for your time, and your attention to this important issue.
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