Battle Escalates Over NYPD's Midtown Street Barricades

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A campaign by residents and safe streets advocates to remove NYPD barricades blocking streets and sidewalks near Midtown police precincts ratcheted up this week, after a neighborhood community board moved to take up the issue and an elected official released a report documenting borough-wide obstructions.

According to the report, released Wednesday by Borough President Gale Brewer, 19 out of 22 Manhattan police precincts had barricades impeding pedestrians or drivers when inspectors from her office visited at the beginning of August.

In Midtown, that included the 13th precinct, which covers the Flatiron District and Gramercy, and where Brewer's office found that police had partially blocked off both 20th and 21st streets, barring through traffic and only allowing residents to drive through after questioning them.

It also included the 17th precinct on East 51st Street, where a new "checkpoint" appeared last week to the befuddlement of commuters who had watched pedestrian access to the street be eroded over the course of several weeks.

The Midtown North precinct on West 54th Street was also blocked off by police vehicles and metal barricades on both 9th and 10th avenues, and the Midtown South precinct had barricades and cars blocking access on West 35th Street, obstructing cars but not pedestrians, Brewer's office found.

I'm calling on @NYPDShea to lift the barricades & end the siege mentality. The NYC Charter establishes the concept of the streets as public space that belongs to the people. @THECITYNY https://t.co/mfhluUbVZe
— Gale A. Brewer (@galeabrewer) September 3, 2020

Brewer asked Commissioner Dermot Shea to remove the barricades in a letter dated Wednesday, arguing that they "block pedestrian and vehicular traffic at a time when public outdoor space is more vital than ever."

Residents around the city have complained for months about NYPD barricades blocking streets, sidewalks, and sometimes entire blocks near police stations. Many of the closures began in June, amid widespread protests against racism and police violence following the death of George Floyd.

Community Board to take up issue

Also on Wednesday, Midtown East's Community Board 6 moved closer to taking a formal stance on the issue, as its transportation committee voted to bring a resolution to the full board objecting to the barricades.

Colleen Chattergoon, a Department of Transportation official, told board members that the NYPD did not get permission from the DOT to block off the Midtown streets, as is legally required.

"Initially this was done during the protests over the summer, but these streets should remain open," Chattergoon said. "They should not be closed for any reason whatsoever."

The NYPD did not respond to a request for comment about Brewer's letter or the community board's resolution.

The board wrote to the commanding officers at the 13th and and 17th precincts in July to inquire about the blockade but never received a response, members said.

A motion to draft a resolution and introduce it to the full board passed the committee unanimously.