2023 Season Recap
Happy Holidays + thank you for such a successful season!
Another outstanding Open Streets year is in the books. We couldn't have asked for a better fourth season on 31st Ave and can't wait for our next one come springtime. Thank you to everyone who volunteered, donated, or simply enjoyed our programming, markets, and public space these last nine months. You mean the world to us :)
2024 has a lot in store for 31st Ave, with an ambitious street redesign coming closer to reality. We'll keep everyone here updated as to how they can get involved in the planning process and push for real change in our community.
But this year, we had a lot to be proud of. The 31st Ave Open Street Collective, our volunteer group, registered as a nonprofit (you can add an 'Inc.' to our name now!) in the State of New York, allowing us to open an account at a local bank and greatly boost our capacity as an organization.
Through everyone's immensely generous support, we met and exceeded our $10k fundraising goal ($10,317 and counting!) on Givebutter, which we reinvested back into the block. That included:
35 consecutive weekends of operation;
Over 200 entirely free programming events, covering classes, workshops, concerts, giveaways, and activities for all ages;
13 vendor fairs, from the monthly maker market hosted by QNS Collaborative to events for female and Latinx small businesses, with proceeds benefitting Astoria Food Pantry and the wildfire recovery in Maui.
New street amenities, like our tree benches with Astoria Woodworkers Collective, the 'Kaleidoscope' bike corral mural from Talisa Almonte through NYCDOT Art, and more robust cleanup efforts and plantings alongside our friends at the Horticultural Society.
Special events, like outdoor movies and silent disco (as part of Tikkun BBQ's Community Cookout), monthly live music days and trivia, a community club fair, and holiday celebrations.
We'll have a more detailed breakdown of everything we got up to soon, and we'll soon be asking everyone what they want to see from us in the new year. So stay tuned!
In the meantime, here are some of our favorite photos from the season:
The Open Streets News Corner
We rallied with other Open Street groups and Transportation Alternatives in front of City Hall to call for more funding for this crucial program and to celebrate the year's victories.
Even amidst a dreary December, Fifth Ave Open Street proved yet again to be a smashing success.
Manhattan's West 103rd Street finally received its SIP (Street Improvement Project), and it looks wonderful.
Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city will make 2,000 intersections safer next year, with an emphasis on "daylighting," or making intersections more visible for all road users. This is a major plank of the Western Queens Street Safety Plan, which our group has backed.
The plan to make Robert F. Kennedy Bridge ("the Triboro") more friendly to pedestrians and cyclists is moving forward.
