In New York, Schools Are Reclaiming Roads for Recess

This is Street Wars, a weekly series on the battle for space on New York’s streets and sidewalks.

It’s simple, really: You’ll just need a metal barricade.

Maybe some traffic cones.

That’s how you make an entire school full of children happy.

From stickball to double Dutch, playing in the street has long been a rite of passage in New York City. But for the first time, the Department of Transportation program, Open Streets for Schools, has established a legal framework to close off streets for play and to support schools through the initiative, which became law in the spring.

This month, there will be 71 streets closed to traffic and open for children at schools across the city — a record number since the program launched during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. Though traffic fatalities in New York have declined in the last 30 years, this year, pedestrian fatalities are up.

Enthusiasm for the new open school streets is already high.

Starting this month, P.S. 28 Mount Hope Centennial School in the Bronx is annexing part of Anthony Avenue outside its building once a week.

The school tested out blocking off the street to cars once a week in May. “The students were absolutely in love,” said Elise Banegas, a community school director at P.S. 28.