'Hell Square' On LES Gets Quality Of Life Nightlife Plan

LOWER EAST SIDE, NY — A swath of the Lower East Side that locals have long called "Hell Square" is getting a new sanitation and traffic plan to improve quality of life for residents, the de Blasio administration announced Tuesday.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and a slew of city agencies will launch a trash and traffic mitigation plan where party-goers flock to a plethora of watering holes along Ludlow Street and Orchard Street.

"It should not be a choice between a vibrant, exciting nightlife industry or livable neighborhoods," de Blasio said at Lower East Side bar Max Fish on Tuesday. "It should be possible to have both in this great city."

The six-block area on Ludlow and Orchard streets between Houston and Delancey streets has been a scourge for locals, who call the area "Hell Square," where dozens of restaurants and bars sit in a tightly packed area. Neighbors have complained about loud, drunken patrons for years — and the new plan is aimed at improving the quality of life for residents.

The plan was developed by the Office of Nightlife, launched in spring 2018 and led by Lower East Sider who used to run the bar Sutra, Ariel Palitz.

"Nightlife is vital to New York City's local culture and global identity," Palitz said in a statement. "The Lower East Side is one of the city's most vibrant and social neighborhoods. This plan coordinates City services to support our thriving nightlife and respond to the needs of the residential community, to ensure that nightlife is fair and works for everyone."

The Department of Transportation will issue new "no standing" rules for cars from midnight to 6 a.m. on the west sides of the streets and 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. on the east side seven days a week to reduce congestion and honking from slow-moving traffic. Street sweepers will clean the streets early in the morning between 3 and 6 a.m., rather than at peak party hours after midnight.

A campaign will urge "night owls" to be considerate of residents with messages like "put on glitter, but please don't litter" and "your night out is someone's night in" posted on LinkNYC kiosks.

Some $70,000 from Council Member Margaret Chin will fund a power washer truck and cleaning services from the Lower East Side Partnership, and the Taxi & Limousine Commission will crackdown on unlicensed for-hire vehicles.

"Residents, small business owners and community leaders have been fighting for relief from the quality of life impacts of nightlife on the Lower East Side," Chin said, saying she looks forward "to working with our community leaders to make sure this plan is a success."

Some neighborhood groups welcomed cleaner streets and sidewalks and less honking, but wanted liquor license rules to be better enforced to prevent such a saturation of bars.

"While we have concerns that this 'plan' may be another policy that puts the profits of the nightlife industry over public welfare, we look forward to the promise of cleaner streets, cleared sidewalks and less honking," the Lower East Side Dwellers said in a statement.

The group, led by Diem Boyd, is also less confident that the LinkNYC kiosk "etiquette campaign" would get through to buzzed bar-goers.

Another neighborhood group, the Orchard Street Block Association, quipped, "Nothing about noise control, more policing, better enforcement of laws and [State Liquor Authority] stipulations? Nah, that would be too meaningful."