Back to School: NYC DOT kicks off school open street season

New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez kicked of the back-to-school season with the launch of a record-high 72 Open Streets at schools across the city. New York City’s Open Streets program transforms streets into public space open to all. Open Streets at schools enhance safety for kids, help facilitate smoother pick-ups and drop-offs for parents and guardians and create new space for outdoor play and learning. 

NYC DOT also shared the winners of a safety education contest for public school students, known as “We’re Walking Here!” The contest challenged New York City school students to create public-service announcement videos to warn of the dangers of reckless driving and traffic fatalities. The winning videos will be featured online and incorporated into a new Vision Zero traffic safety curriculum to be used this academic year. Registrations are now open for the 2025 contest cycle.

“As a former teacher myself, I understand the importance of doing our part to keep kids safe and to teach them about street safety,” said NYC DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “Through our Open Streets program, we have created a new framework to reimagine the use of street space outside schools so students can safely learn, develop new skills, and their parents and guardians can have easier pick-ups and drop-offs. I also want to thank teachers from dozens of schools for taking on We're Walking Here group projects: these videos are a timely reminder of all that we are fighting for in Vision Zero.”

Open Streets for Schools

As part of the program, the Full Closure: Schools type of Open Street allows participating schools to temporarily close streets to vehicles for drop-off and pick-up operations, recess, and outdoor learning. Once called ‘Playstreets,’ New York City has a roughly 100-year-history of closing streets for children to play and to support educational opportunities. Open Streets for Schools follows in this tradition and, for the first time, established a legal structure to create streets for play and to support schools through the Open Streets program, which was codified into law in the spring of 2024.

Partnerships

The growth in Open Streets at schools has also been fueled by a partnership between NYC DOT and the nonprofit Street Lab, which works directly with schools in low-income neighborhoods to launch new Open Streets. Street Lab works with schools in these neighborhoods to help pilot and operate new Open Streets, helping with permits, planning with the school and community, and

transforming streets during the school year with furniture, activities, and staff. Street Lab’s efforts have yielded 15 new Open Streets for schools, with another 22 sites currently in process.
 

2025 OPEN STREETS: SCHOOLS LOCATIONS

*denotes sites that are currently under review

Stills from first and second-place winning videos in the “We’re Walking Here” contest, submitted by P.S. 69K, left, and P.S. 194k, right.
 

“We’re Walking Here!” Competition 

NYC DOT hosts an annual “We're Walking Here!” competition, in which schools compete to develop creative public-service announcements (PSAs) that encourage walking and give young New Yorkers the platform to communicate with New York drivers. The competition encourages fitness and builds on the city's Vision Zero efforts that aim to educate New Yorkers about our shared responsibility when it comes to street safety. Students were encouraged to submit lyrics, informal videos and even dances they have created to express their ideas. Schools participated in the competition with classroom teachers leading activities and students using pedometers to count steps and increase their walking.

In total, 101 schools registered for the “We’re Walking Here” competition in 2024, with a final group of 34 elementary, middle, and high schools, representing every borough, submitting PSA entries, which were evaluated by NYC DOT’s Safety Education unit for their creativity and messaging.

This year’s winners are:

First Place - PS 69 K Vincent Grippo School, Brooklyn 

Second Place - PS 194 K Raoul Wallenburg School, Brooklyn

Third Place - Tottenville High School, Staten Island

Honorable Mention - Theatre Arts Production Company School (TAPCo), the Bronx

2025 Competition

Registration for the 2025 competition is open until October 3, 2025. All New York City schools, K-12, are eligible to participate. The nine-week contest begins on International Walk and Roll to School Day, October 8, 2025, and ends when submissions are due on December 12, 2025. Registration can be submitted online.

“Of all the types of Open Streets that Street Lab supports across New York City, Open Streets for schools hold a special promise for the future of the city,” said Leslie Davol, Street Lab’s executive director. “We’re seeing students, families, teachers, and community members, side-by-side bringing a new vision for streets to life, using these new public spaces to strengthen communities and make the city better.”

“Having the NYC Open Street next to our century-old school building has managed to reinvigorate a city block footprint with the energy of an entire school community, in all of its hustling and bustling beauty, by allowing our 650+ families to gather in the open air, share stories while meeting and greeting teachers and classmates,” said Shelley Bissessar, community coordinator, The Brooklyn New School, PS 146. “Access to Rapelye St. during our school day continues to encourage and support the joy of learning safely outside of the walls of their school building — an expansiveness that is so rare in our city.”

“Open Streets has brought new energy and joy to our school community,” said Genelly Cornelio, assistant principal, Bea Fuller Rodgers Intermediate School 528. “It’s given our students space to learn, play, and connect in fresh and meaningful ways — turning each day into an opportunity for movement, creativity, and togetherness.”

(All photos courtesy: NYC DOT)