DOT unveils newly constructed Audubon Plaza pedestrian paradise in Washington Heights

Top city Department of Transportation (DOT) officials cut the ribbon Thursday on a nearly 11,000 square-foot pedestrian plaza in Washington Heights.

Dubbed Audubon Plaza, the project created a permanent pedestrian space on Audubon Avenue between 165th and 166th Streets. The plaza includes tables and chairs, bike corrals, and space for community members to host local events.

“This new permanent plaza reimagines nearly 11,000 square feet of roadway, creating a new community hub. It gives neighbors a place to rest, gather, connect, and celebrate their cultures,” outgoing DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said during a Dec. 4 news conference.

“This plaza is proof of what happens when a city invests in people, in safety, in cultural space,” he added. “Audubon Plaza is now a space where families can play, where students can park their bikes, where elders can rest, and where community stories can be shared and celebrated. We look forward to seeing Audubon Plaza thrive for years to come.”

The DOT touted the creation of over 1.5 million square feet of new pedestrian space during outgoing Mayor Eric Adams’ administration, which has been in office since 2022. The city was required to dramatically increase public space under the NYC Streets Plan, passed by the City Council in 2019.

The public plaza’s completion follows the DOT‘s installation of safety upgrades at the adjacent intersection of Audubon Avenue, 165th Street, and St. Nicholas Avenue in 2020. Those modifications included painted sidewalk extensions designed to shorten pedestrian crossings across and reduce the speed at which cars turn through the intersection.

It also follows DOT making several blocks of Audubon Avenue into an Open Street in summer 2024, according to the agency. The agency ran the Open Street in partnership with the nonprofit organization Street Lab and the New York Horticultural Society.

Public art at Audubon Plaza

DOT also made the plaza’s pavement into a temporary public art installation by artist Talisa Almonte titled De Lo Mio.

“Talisa’s mural, inspired by Dominican heritage in the tradition that shaped Washington Heights, brings that story to life with color, energy, and pride,” Rodriguez said.

The work marks the 151st piece of public art that DOT has installed over the course of the Adams administration, according to the agency.

Speaking about her piece during the news conference, Almonte described the meaning behind the various elements of the mural.

“It’s inspired by celebrating Dominican culture,” Almonte said of the mural. “The banana leaves and the platanos represent the food and the beauty of island life. And then on the edges of both sides of the mural, there’s dominos…And then in the center, where the lines break up the blue and the red, it is supposed to represent the Dominican flag, minus the white part.”