A resolution introduced by New York City's Panel for Education Policy calls for a sweeping expansion of the School Streets program, after officials found only 48 of the city's 1,619 public schools actually used it during the 2025–2026 school year. The proposal aims to cut the red tape that has kept the car-free initiative from reaching far more students who have nowhere to play outside during the school day.
The vote follows a report released in August by the Office of New York City Comptroller Mark Levine that found just 74 schools citywide participated in School Streets last year, a figure that included 48 public schools alongside 14 private schools, 10 charter schools, and two child care facilities. Levine's office has said it hopes for ongoing collaboration with NYC Public Schools and the city's Department of Transportation to push that number far higher, with a stated goal that every school that wants a School Street should be able to get one.
A Massive Outdoor Space Gap
The scale of the problem is stark. The comptroller's analysis found that 371 public schools serving nearly 200,000 students — almost a quarter of the city's public school enrollment — lack dedicated outdoor physical education space, according to the same comptroller's office report. New York City does not maintain a comprehensive public dataset tracking physical education space at each school campus, the report noted, making the scope of the shortfall difficult to track in real time.
Of those 371 schools without outdoor gym space, 324 have adjacent streets likely eligible for School Streets after initial reviews turned up no major public safety or emergency access conflicts, per the comptroller's findings. Broader street reviews across 1,156 public school buildings determined that 93 percent abut roadway blocks that could qualify. School Streets is operated by NYC DOT and allows schools to use adjacent eligible streets for play and outdoor activities during the school day.
Cutting the Paperwork Burden
Much of the resolution's thrust targets the bureaucracy that has kept participation so low. Principals previously faced complex application requirements, including local site mapping, staffing plans, community support letters, and up to 90 days of Department of Transportation review, according to Streetsblog New York City. To accelerate adoption, the comptroller recommended that the Department of Transportation and NYC Public Schools take on primary responsibility for safety reviews and multi-agency coordination, rather than leaving the burden on individual principals.
New York City's School Streets program has been available for school applications since 2021. The program was designed to give schools and communities safer outdoor space for recess and physical activity, the outlet's report notes. An April 2025 comptroller report, titled “Streets for People,” found that schools operating Open Streets experienced fewer traffic conflicts and student accidents alongside improved peer play and neighborhood engagement, and it advocated for permanent operational support for the model.
Infrastructure and Legal Hurdles Ahead
The policy shift also dovetails with physical changes already underway. In September, the city's Department of Transportation announced plans to execute safety redesigns near more than 300 schools, incorporating permanent infrastructure upgrades for school Open Streets, including pedestrian islands, curb extensions, and signal adjustments on high-injury corridors — a buildout Hoodline detailed in its Coney Island Avenue redesign coverage.
Expansion of car-free zones hasn't come without legal friction. A federal judge allowed a disability rights lawsuit against NYC's Open Streets program to proceed in March, after plaintiffs alleged that physical barricades and planters obstruct Access-A-Ride, taxi, and emergency vehicle access. Plaintiffs argue the moving barriers violate the Americans with Disabilities Act by impeding door-to-door transportation, Hoodline reported at the time. As agencies move to open more streets, they will need to balance those closures against ADA disability access requirements for paratransit drop-offs, along with ensuring adequate local staffing to manage barriers each day.
A School-Bus Contract Decision
The Panel for Education Policy approved a school-bus contract.
For neighborhoods already starved of green space, the stakes are especially high. Data from the NYC Independent Budget Office shows high-density communities such as Jackson Heights and Borough Park have as little as two square feet of park space per resident, with Jackson Heights ranking 182nd out of 198 mapped residential neighborhoods for park access — intensifying reliance on schoolyards and street closures for physical activity. That pressure is already playing out on the ground, as seen in Hoodline's recent report on Jackson Heights P.S. 69's schoolyard reopening as public park space. With the education panel's unanimous backing now on record, the question turns to how quickly the Department of Transportation and NYC Public Schools can translate that support into streets that are actually closed to cars when the school bell rings.
