Could This Be A Plaza for Kensington?

Monday, August 23rd, 2010

Thanks to NYC Department of Transportation, Kensington finally has the perfect space for a plaza – that cement bump out in front of Walgreens. Centrally located close McDonald and Church avenues which just happens to be the crossroads of the neighborhood, it’s a great place to people watch and see the sun set over the New Express Pharmacy diagonally across the street.

If you happen to hang out there for a while, you will notice that people from the B35 bus stop here, people coming out from the F train, the men dressed in their spiffy white Ramadan aprons hang out there, the women and men doing vegetable shopping at the corner green grocer, New McDonald’s Fruits and the Bangladeshi store (DESH BANGLA GROCERY, selling”Hallal meat, fresh frozen & alive fish” according to the sign) on Beverley.

Denny’s and Walgreens customers are all there from 5:30pm to dusk. The action at this corner is as close to the Italian passeggiata, the ritual evening stroll of the neighborhood, walking around, chatting and showing oneself off as Kensington’s got. What’s missing is the decor to set the stage.

With some help from Brad Lander’s office, Community Board 12′s Parks committee, and NYC Parks & Rec Department, we too could have the stage set to match the action: brick pavers on the ground, a perimeter planting of trees, benches, and low-level Bishop Crook lighting.

There’s a small plaza like this in Ridgewood, Brooklyn well-used day and evening. There is also a similar triangle at Bleecker and Carmine streets just off Sixth Avenue, in the West Village, Manhattan @ W. 4th Street stop of the A/F)–although that has a fountain too. It fact it’s a fairly standard Parks Dept plaza. Here’s a picture of the one in Ridgewood:

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