Transcript: Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Gutman cut the Ribbon on new Open Space in the Flatiron District

October 25, 2021

Commissioner Hank Gutman, Department of Transportation: If everybody's ready, let's get started. So, first of all, I want to welcome everybody. And thank you for being here for a spectacular day, with a spectacular announcement about one more milestone in a spectacular development for New York City. A by-product of the tragedy of the pandemic was that we all discovered how much New Yorkers love their streets. And what we've been about since is reclaiming the streets of the city for the people.

[Applause]

And today marks an important milestone in that effort. I am delighted today to announce that we have now completed six blocks of the 12-block Broadway vision. Right here, where we are today and where we will be cutting a ribbon, we have two blocks of Broadway between 21st and 23rd, which is the largest – I repeat, the largest shared street in the city. We are also unveiling today, shared streets in the Garment District in Times Square, including a fully pedestrian-only plaza – that is, no vehicle access in the Garment District. This is a huge development, and, again, represents half of our effort to create Broadway Vision.

Now, this shared street – just look around, you don't need me to describe it. Take a look. This is an innovative design. It prioritizes space for pedestrians and cyclists, shortens pedestrian crossings, and opens up a plaza space. Traffic is permitted, but at five miles per hour. This is a genuine sharing of the streets responsibly and safely for all New Yorkers. I mean, this is a great thing. It allows more open space for small business, for outdoor dining, for public art, and for all manner of activities, all the things that New Yorkers love doing outdoors, and now have a chance to do in places where they aren't situated next to a park. It's a complete re-imagining of how New Yorkers enters interact with our streetscapes. And again, the next phase of Broadway Vision from Columbus Circle to Union Square, turning Broadway into a shining example of innovative design is on schedule to be completed in 2022. The design work here provides a tool kit, showing all the different elements and how they can be combined, mixed and matched. The idea as with all of our Open Streets and all of our reclamation projects, being to do what's appropriate for the geography and the community, to meet the needs of the people of New York by providing the open-air access and activities that they want, where they want them.

So, very excited to be here today, delighted to have all of you with us. And it is my pleasure to introduce some of the fine people who have helped make this possible. First, it's my privilege to introduce Senator Hoylman. Senator?

[…]

Commissioner Gutman: Thank you, Senator Hoylman. And I'm not sure whether the last time we were on a street like this it was in your district or you were poaching again. It was in his district. But he and I met in the dead of winter, shoveling asphalt as part of our pothole blitz. So, apart from being a great representative in Albany, he also knows how to wield a shovel and shovel asphalt. It's now my privilege to introduce our assembly member – Assembly Member Gottfried.

[…]

Commissioner Gutman: Thank you. Thank you, Assembly Member. And now, it is my absolute pleasure to introduce Council Member Carlina Rivera. As you've already heard from Senator Hoylman, you cannot talk about Open Streets in the City of New York without tipping your hat to the Council Member. She's been a champion of the project from beginning. Well, we're far from the end, so I'm assuming she will be a champion till the end as well. It's my privilege to introduce Council Member Rivera.

[…]

Commissioner Gutman: Thank you. Thank you, Council Member. And thank you for the legislation that made Open Streets a permanent part of New York – of life in New York. And before turning to representatives of the various civic groups, I too want to say thanks to the Cleanup Corps. I've been doing a lot of Open Streets events all around the city and people ask, well, what do you do in places that don't have well-established BID’s, or commercial groups, or civic associations that will take care of the Open Streets, and helping the setup, helping breaking them down, help people do it when they don't have the resources themselves. And I've always, in those answers, referred to a group of people who I'm thrilled are with us today – or representatives are with us today – the Cleanup Corps. Why don't you guys take a bow? You deserve it.

[Applause]

You are the great equalizer that allows Open Streets to be available for everybody. So, thank you. Thank you. Next, it's my pleasure to introduce Tom Harris, the President of the Times Square Alliance. Tom?

[…]

Commissioner Gutman: Thank you, Tom. It's now my pleasure to introduce Barbara Blair, who's the President of the Garment District Alliance. Barbara?

[…]

Commissioner Gutman: Thank you, Barbara. Thank you. And thanks to all the civic groups that helped so much in making all of this possible. It's your vision of what makes sense for your communities, what makes sense for your geographic areas, all of these unique, wonderful parts of the city that makes all of this possible. And now, it's my pleasure to introduce James Mettham, who is the Executive Director of the Flatiron 23rd Street Partnership. James?

[…]

Commissioner Gutman: Thanks. Believe it or not, there's traffic. The Mayor – the Mayor is right here, right on cue. Here you go, Mr. Mayor.

[Applause]

Mayor Bill de Blasio: Thank you. Thank you, Hank. Thank you. I'm confused though, Hank. You promised when you became Commissioner, there would be no more traffic problems anywhere. I really, I thought I thought it would be – you were supposed to solve it by now.

Commissioner Gutman: I’m sorry.

Mayor: What's that about? Everyone, I'm really happy to be with all of you. Thank you, because we're doing something special today. We're changing how life is lived in this city. And we're changing what people are going to experience. It's going to be a better experience. I want to tell you, a lot of people put their heart and soul into this. And I want to praise and thank the folks who saw that we could do things a different way. But I also want to just be personal for a moment. The Flatiron Building, when I was growing up, my grandfather came here from Southern Italy. Giovanni used to always say it was his favorite building in New York City. And every time I look at the Flatiron Building, I think of my grandfather, who came here from a small town in Southern Italy, came to a city in a different country, speaks a different language, a different reality, fell in love with New York City. And was able to live what we now call the American dream. And bring up his family. His three daughters went to college. And I'm blessed now, the second generation born in this country, to be the mayor of this great city. So, standing here reminds me of the greatness of the city.

And it's good for us to look up. It's good for us to slow down. It's good for us to experience the beauty of everything around us. And that's what this approach will give us. A shared street means we focus on each other, we focus on life. Not just making everything about the vehicles around us, but more about the people around us. I want to thank everyone because I know there has been a real devoted effort to get to this day. Our colleagues from the different business improvement districts and partnerships, James, thank you. You're our host from that world, thank you so much. To James Mettham, to Tom Harris, who I've known forever, from Times Square Alliance. Thank you to Barbara Blair from the Garment District Alliance. Thank you. I know you believe in these approaches and we can do something different and better.

[Applause]

I want to thank our colleagues in elective office who have fought for a change in our streetscapes, a change in the way we live. And we learned in this pandemic things that we didn't know before. And we wish we had never heard of the Coronavirus, but we did learn together some ways to do things different and better. I want to thank for the support all along the way and for the creativity, thank Senator Brad Hoylman, thank Assembly Member Dick Gottfried. And thank someone who really led the way in the Council on Open Streets, on all these new approaches, Council Member Carlina Rivera, thank you so much.

[Applause]

And even though he has not fixed all the traffic problems, I do want to thank Hank Gutman, who's been incredibly devoted to innovating and finding new ways for to the Department of Transportation and it is a labor of love for him. Thank you, Hank, for everything you do.

[Applause]

So, here is an iconic part of our city. Here is one of the great buildings of our city. Here is a place that is booming in every sense. One of now the creative capitols of our city, the Flatiron neighborhood. And now we're going to experience a new way with a shared street. This'll be the largest in the city. And it is helping to move our recovery because it's going to help people to come out and be part of things again and live the fullness of life in the city. Broadway, it's supposed to be for people, not just for cars. And now more than ever, Broadway will be for the people again. This site here and the four additional shared streets along Broadway, in the Garment District, in Times Square, are going to bring more life and energy to the city. They're going to fuel our recovery. And it’s part of a bigger Broadway vision from DOT, that is going to be crucial going forward. So, everyone listened to what it comes down to, fewer cars. And I want to be really clear, we need fewer cars. We need a city with fewer cars, more mass transit, more bicycles, more walking, period. That is our future.

[Applause]

This is going to make it better for everyone. Right here in the heart of the busiest and greatest city in this nation, we're showing that the streets can be about the people once again. Congratulations to all. Thank you.

[Applause]

Commissioner Gutman: Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And now, I believe we have a ribbon to cut for real.

[Mayor de Blasio, Commissioner Gutman cut ribbon]

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