“We did an inventory of our streets early on, and found that New York was largely a city without seats,” she said. “You’d see people perched on fire hydrants. That’s not exactly the mark of a world-class city. It’s not good for families. It’s not good for seniors. It’s not good for anyone.” - -Janette Sadik-Khan
Yesterday
These photos show the state of public seating in the Chelsea of Yesterday
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Seating on on the High Line
Seniors " care about benches, trees, gardens and open space closest to where they live. Big parks are for occasional visits in most cases.
Creating an Age Friendly NY One Neighborhood at a Time
As the people at Age-Friendly NYC found , seniors care most about seating closest to where they live. When you have trouble walking seating on the High Line could just as well be located in Pittsburgh, for all the good it will do.
To help alleviate this problem Park Chelsea created its "A Seat Near Every Street" campaign to place "Sidewalk Parks"(aka Citybenches) through out Chelsea in locations where seniors would actually have use of them.
In late December 2012 nine Sidewalk Parks were installed in Chelsea.
Park Chelsea Newest Sidewalk Parks
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A Chelsea spot with a great garden is the Hampton Inn.The location had no seating to enable guests or neighbors to sit and enjoy the garden.
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| Eyebench 21st near 11th Ave Eyebeam is where "art Meets Technology" . |
The Eyebench Sidewalk Park has recently been moved, from the curb to against the building, and Eyebeam has recently been painted gold. It's interesting that the artists who painted Eyebeam included the Eyebench Sidewalk Park in their work.
9th Avenue& 23rd Street Seniors Walking Trail Benches
We're developing walking trails for fitness through Chelsea. These four newly installed benches are an integral part of the 9th Avenue Senior walking trail
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| Seen here is Merle Levine who suggested that there should be a bench in front of the Fulton center at 119 9th Ave. This location is the where Chelsea's first Citybench was installed. For the Fulton centers Monthly Calender of Events click here. |
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| Sidewalk Park 9th Ave @24th Street Rita Lopez one of the founders of Park Chelsea chose this spot for a Sidewalk Park so that her friend Speros could sit while he waited for the 9th Ave bus to take him home. Now this bench is not only used while waiting for the bus, it , along with the Fulton Center Sidewalk Park, are helping to create a 9th Avenue Seniors Walking/Shopping Trail allowing seniors to rest while on their way to the Fulton Senior Center or while going to shop at Western Beef/NSA Supermarkets. Update:May 2013 Chelsea now has 12 Sidewalk Parks at 11 locations   Maritime Sidewalk Park At the NE corner of 16th St and 9th Ave is the Maritime Sidewalk Park. This Sidewalk Park has Wi-Fi, Seat Fi and given that it is adjacent to the 16st Greenstreets plot with trees but no plantings, we'd hope that some group sees the potential of it becoming a Green-Fi Community Garden Hotspot. (Seating at this sidewalk park was removed when the green space was privatized)   As I walked past the new Moonstruck Sidewalk Park, I noticed an older woman walking in the opposite direction. I thought "here's a person that can use this bench" Sure enough she and her companion had a seat there. 
New in June
 This bench at the Muhlenberg Library increase the libraries seating capacity and offers an outdoor reading room to library patrons (moved to Crunch Gym)    
Tomorrow
Coming Soon: Sidewalk Park to "Far North Chelsea"
Thanks to the efforts of our colleague Christine Berthet a resident of Chelsea's northern neighbor Hell's Kitchen. 8 Sidewalk Park locations have now (Jan 10) been approved for the area.. According to Christine:
Here is the list of proposed bench locations that will be recommended at the next CB4 Transportation Committee ( Dec 19th) You
will note that there are no proposed bench on 9th Avenue or on side
streets where the sidewalks are too narrow. Let us know if you have
other suggestions or concerns with the proposed locations.
Shouldn’t our seniors be able to walk, then sit for FREE on our public sidewalks rather than having to pay in order to sit and rest? link (update)
Posted: Apr 20, 2013 06:03 pm
We received wonderful pictures and note from Richard Kent Green: “Attached and below, please find photos of the benches on 10th Ave, between 45th and 46th Streets, which, as you see, are constantly being enjoyed when the weather’s nice . There’s a serendipitous nature to the placement…one  is on the sidewalk in front of the Ryan Clinic, the other is in front of the Thriftway Pharmacy across the street. One can wait for a family member in the fresh air outside the clinic, then wait across the avenue, in the sun, for them to get their prescription filled at the drug store! (or the laundry is drying at the laundromat.” read more
Help Create an Age-Friendly Chelsea
with
Seats on Our Streets
NYC is installing over 1000 Sidewalk Parks(aka Citybenches) through the city. If you know of a good location for a bench you can request one here.  |
