The parklets in the 34th Street shopping district of Broadway were quite active with folks sitting with bags from nearby stores. Although it is a cool afternoon in February, they seem happy to sit outdoors after spending time in the shops.
Here at 34th Street I saw trash collection in process and the hard work that is behind the cleanliness of the common areas of Broadway.
The bags, the cans, and this man's uniform bear the name of the organization that oversees the cleaning of this particular area. I would venture that there are similar organizations for the other parklets. Please feel free to comment if you know more about this.
Near the 34th Street Parklets is historic looking Greeley Park, with its well defined stone border and its long list of rules. It occurs to me that the parklets seem to have no rules.
In the mists of the distant past, the group Project for Public Spaces worked with Dan Biederman of the Bryant Park Restoration Association to address the issues of maintenance. During the Giuliani administration, it was felt that street people and street grime negatively impacted tourism and economic development in the city. They developed a tax on local businesses to create Neighborhood Redevelopment Associations which operate these clean-up operations and staff them (or used to) with people who need jobs after rehab stints. They are now a model all over the country. Maybe we can get a Kitchen brigade mobilized?
ReplyDeleteI did my parklets in same area as you and its so much more people when you went there. As we learned last semester the weather will have a huge impact on usability of spaces. This is especially for outdoor spaces. interestingly enough in your next posting the time of day has also impacted the parklet by being too late ot too early. the tables are on the side and the chairs were stacked because the parklet was closed. As for the garbage bags, its good to know someone is cleaning this busy area. When I was there on a slow day I can say that it looked cleaner with out these bags all over the place but considering the alternative to the garbage bags is garbage on the streets which would be way worse.
ReplyDeleteI also thought it was interesting you pointed out the parklets have no rules, but maybe this is because there is no need for rules at the moment? Maybe if there will be some issues in the future rules will be implemented?
Thank you for sharing.