Car-Free Greenport

From East End Patch -

GREENPORT, NY — As Suffolk County comes closer to meeting the seven metrics necessary to reopen the economy, local residents and businesses are coming together to create solutions that they believe may make it easier to adhere to social distancing protocols.

Ian Wile, owner of Little Creek Oyster Farm & Market in Greenport, has created a Facebook group, "Hold Fast Greenport," and created a petition, "Proposed: Create Car-Free Zones in Greenport, NY" that he plans to present, along with his concept, to the Greenport village board.

"Several municipalities large and small are looking at closing some streets to traffic in order to allow for broader pedestrian space, more physical distancing abilities when walking, etc," the petition said. "What about opening Front Street, and perhaps Main, for pedestrian use, even if it is just for specific days when we can expect more people about?"

With Mitchell Park the most centrally available outdoor space in Greenport, added buffers around that area could be especially helpful, Wile's petition added. "And before the parking discussion starts — one could say that fewer spaces mean fewer people," he said.

Wile reminded that Gov. Andrew Cuomo has discussed the re-opening of New York State and its regions as a time to "reimagine — to take this opportunity not to reopen, but to open better. This needs to be true about our villages, towns, etc. All entities can use this time to do a little R&D, to discover some new approaches."

He added that perhaps the plan could look at not "trying to fit as many cars/people as possible into a small space."

The concept, as proposed, suggest closing those streets on Friday evenings from 5 p.m. to one hour after sunset and on Saturdays and Sundays from 9 a.m. to one hour after sunset.

Wile spoke with Patch about the concept: "With sunny days coming and people coming out of their houses and unable to go in anywhere, the sidewalks will be busier than ever, feel busier than ever. In order to create space, I am especially interested in a car-free Front Street."

He kicked off the petition, Wile said, to gauge interest and turn social media comments into something actionable he can take to the village board.

"We need to start real conversations about reimagining our towns and villages, our flow of people, cars. The petition is not didactic, it does not call for a single option — just asks that we do something. And nothing is impossible — this is something being proven on every front of this crisis."

Wile said he plans to submit the petition, which currently has about 900 signatures, not all from Greenport residents, with a summary of the proposal at the public portion of an upcoming village board meeting.

While the village board has not publicly discussed the proposal yet, Jim Dinizio, who lives in Greenport and also serves on the Southold town board — the town would not have the authority to vote on the plan as it is a village issue — showed his support by sharing and signing the petition.

"Locally, we are in for some rough times, and businesses need to be supported any way we can for now," Dinizio said. That goes not only for the village but our farms and vineyards, as well. I think local government isn’t doing enough to support the herculean effort that will be needed to overcome the harm that has already been done. I have been reading Ian’s posts on — and we need more people with that kind of energy."

See the original article here