proposed changes to the iconic plaza that Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced last week<\/a>. The mayor\u2019s proposal would transform a dangerous stretch of road surrounding Grand Army Plaza into a pedestrian zone, effectively connecting the plaza\u2019s centerpiece, the Soldiers\u2019 and Sailors\u2019 Memorial Arch, to the northern entrance of Prospect Park, the market\u2019s weekly home.<\/p>\nOn Saturday, the aisles of the market were packed, with runners weaving between customers lined up for goods and cyclists in the bike path along the market\u2019s edge coming to premature stops to avoid jaywalking pedestrians.<\/p>\n
But across the street \u2014 the one that would become a pedestrian zone according to the mayor\u2019s plan \u2014 the plaza was nearly empty, with only a few people passing through on their way to or from the market, a journey that involved hopscotching between concrete islands like a game of Frogger.<\/p>\n
Just under the memorial arch, Steve Flack, 44, a volunteer with Transportation Alternatives, a safe-streets advocacy group that supports the redesign, was doing what he called a \u201cvictory lap\u201d \u2014 informing passers-by of the proposed changes and answering any questions. He said he hoped the plan would allow more people to appreciate the plaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe just want people to enjoy this area again,\u201d Mr. Flack said.<\/p>\n
Also near the arch sat Egya Appiah, 46, who was enjoying bagels and orange juice with his 8-year-old daughter, Adoma.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe live on the plaza and I have children so the idea of them being able to move around a bit more freely without the danger of cars would be good,\u201d Mr. Appiah said. \u201cYou have to keep your wits about you, but I don\u2019t think I\u2019d say it was dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mr. Appiah said that Grand Army Plaza became an important meeting place in 2020, serving as both a center of pandemic socializing and a town square during the protests that summer after the police killing of George Floyd.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt definitely to me feels like it\u2019s the central nervous system of transportation for this part of Brooklyn,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Michael Eikim, 93, who has lived in an apartment overlooking the plaza since 1992, said that the traffic in the area had vastly improved since he first arrived. The traffic in the \u201990s was like the \u201cWild West,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m anxiously following the extensive discussions from people in my building about the new plan and what it will do,\u201d Mr. Eikim said.<\/p>\n
He said he was nervous, but that as long as he could walk through the area seamlessly, he was confident that the changes would be OK. Mr. Eikim said that he came to the market every weekend. \u201cFor pastries,\u201d he said with a chuckle.<\/p>\n
One of the purveyors of those pastries, Zara Kerr, 31, who works at the Francesca\u2019s Bakery stand at the market, said she was excited that the new plan might allow the market, which is crammed into a small area directly in front of the entrance to Prospect Park, to expand.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt would bring more foot traffic and there would be less cars passing through,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Ms. Kerr said that the plan would have to allow for the vendors\u2019 trucks to access the market.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m assuming because there\u2019s so many trucks here they would have to figure out a way to maneuver that,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Aida Marquez-Romero, 53, who runs a food truck selling tamales and empanadas outside the Brooklyn Public Library nearby, said she was also worried about not being able to get her truck through the new pedestrian area.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor us, for the sellers, it\u2019s our living,\u201d she said, adding that the market was essential for her business. \u201cToday\u2019s market is like 60 percent of my total sales.\u201d<\/p>\n
Overall, though, most people were enthusiastic about the plan and excited for a clearer way to cross the streets near the plaza. Even those who were a bit nervous about the proposal remained optimistic.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess it could be nice,\u201d Mr. Eikim said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The sun beat down on the tents of a farmers\u2019 market at Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":204026,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[1908,18041,63663,80701,80700,1445,9,11,10,49,51,50,56,72886,72890,10924,1446],"class_list":{"0":"post-204025","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york","8":"tag-area-planning-and-renewal","9":"tag-brooklyn-nyc","10":"tag-farmers-markets","11":"tag-food-trucks-and-vendors","12":"tag-grand-army-plaza-brooklyn","13":"tag-mamdani","14":"tag-new-york","15":"tag-new-york-headlines","16":"tag-new-york-news","17":"tag-new-york-state","18":"tag-new-york-state-headlines","19":"tag-new-york-state-news","20":"tag-ny","21":"tag-pedestrian-malls","22":"tag-prospect-park-brooklyn","23":"tag-roads-and-traffic","24":"tag-zohran"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204025","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=204025"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/204025\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/204026"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=204025"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=204025"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=204025"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}