Renovation of the public space at the intersection of Avenue C and McDonald Avenue will begin early next week. The city's Department of Transportation (DOT) will upgrade Avenue C Plaza with permanent plaza materials.
The goals of the upgrade are to create high quality public space, calm traffic, enhance safety, and improve access to the public space. To achieve that, DOT will
- upgrade the painted space and build out with concrete,
- add pedestrian crossing signals at the western intersection of McDonald Avenue and Avenue C,
- add pedestrian ramps, and
- add protective Martello bollards.
Several successful community events have been held at the plaza in the past year, including
- Discover the New Avenue C Plaza
- Peace and Unity Rally
- Movie Night: The Taking of Pelham One Two Three
- Dia de los Muertos Celebration
- Post-election Bangladeshi Muslim Community Gathering
- Launching a Hate Free Zone in Kensington
Renovation is scheduled to begin early next week and will take six to eight weeks to complete. The grand reopening of the plaza is anticipated to be in late May or early June.
The combined efforts of Kensington Stewards*, Councilmember Brad Lander, Neighborhood Plaza Partnership, and the DOT's NYC Plaza Program converted an unused concrete traffic triangle into a pedestrian plaza. Adding moveable tables and chairs, umbrellas for the tables, and planters makes it a pleasant neighborhood site, ideal for sitting and socializing.
* The Kensington Stewards is a group of volunteers who live in Kensington and Windsor Terrace. Its members got together a few years ago to work on community projects: converting a wide sidewalk into Kensington Plaza, installing metal guards around trees on Church Avenue, planting daffodils and other flowers in the tree pits, and organizing sidewalk clean-up days.