Community leaders, local elected officials and government officials gathered at the newly finished pedestrian plaza at the intersection of Myrtle and Cooper avenues in Glendale on July 19 to celebrate the opening of the plaza with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
The $3.4 million project closed off two small streets at both sides of the bow-tie shaped intersection at Myrtle and Cooper avenues which adds 5,300 square feet of new pedestrian space while realigning several streets to help calm traffic in the area and increasing safety under Mayor Bill de Blasio’s Vision Zero plan.
“The opening of the Myrtle-Cooper Plaza gives Queens more than 5,000 square feet of new pedestrian space, along with Vision Zero improvements to make a complex intersection safer for everyone who uses it,” said DOT Queens Borough Commissioner Nicole Garcia who attended the ceremony. “We are thankful to the elected leaders and local community for their ongoing support through this major construction effort to build this new public space for people who live and do business in Glendale.”
The roadway on 70th Street between Myrtle and Cooper avenues was closed to traffic has been converted into a new 4,200-square-foot pedestrian plaza that holds the Glendale Veterans Triangle and the Glendale War Memorial.
The area around the memorial will be decorated with tables, chairs, benches, new trees, cobble paving stones and other decorative paving, a drinking fountain and new stone curbs with planters.
On the other end, 71st Street between Myrtle and Cooper avenues was closed to traffic and converted into a smaller pedestrian space. This section of the project also includes planters, a bus shelter, a drinking fountain, outdoor seating and decorative paving.
Included in the project was the installation of upgraded infrastructure including realigned sidewalks, new water mains, new catch basins to improve street drainage, as well as new fire hydrants and street lights.
Joining Garcia at the ribbon-cutting ceremony was NYC Department of Design and Construction (DDC) Acting Commissioner Ana Barrio, Councilwoman Elizabeth Crowley, Assemblyman Mike Miller, Executive Director of the Myrtle Avenue Business Improvement District Ted Renz, Community Board 5 Chairperson Vincent Arcuri, and other leaders in the community.
“I’m thrilled to finally cut the ribbon on this plaza,” Crowley said. “It was a long road for many local businesses and residents during construction, but now complete, this space will breathe new life onto Myrtle Avenue, a commercial corridor that our local economy depends on.”
