Times Square Pedestrian Plaza
Times Square’s got nothing on Village Plaza.
South Orange Village will be be closing the street next to Spiotta Park to create a pedestrian plaza, complete with tables, chairs and live entertainment courtesy of Downtown After Sundown, Friday and Saturday evenings through July.
The pilot program was announced by South Orange Village Center Alliance Director Bob Zuckerman at Monday night’s Board of Trustees meeting. The street closure will provide all the charm of New York City pedestrian plazas — but without the aggressive cartoon characters.
SOVCA will be working with the parking authority and police to close of the area, including parking, from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Fridays and Saturdays in July, as well as arrange for the tables and chairs. Zuckerman noted that two or three of the tables would be reserved for Pandang restaurant for al fresco dining.
“We will promote it and advertise it and encourage more visitors to come to Spiotta Park,” said Zuckerman, who added that, if successful, the pedestrian plaza could be extended to other times of the year. Zuckerman noted that he had reached out to “every single retail and service merchant on Village Plaza and Valley Street up to Ricalton’s” and “everyone was enthusiastic about this proposal.”
“I really like this idea,” said Trustee Walter Clarke, “taking over what is normally a streetscape and leveraging the Downtown After Sundown program. A great big bonus. Wunderbar!”
Trustee Mark Rosner noted that doing a pilot this July was auspicious since July has five Fridays and Saturdays this year.
“I’d like to see it in the fall and the spring,” said Rosner.
“We’d like to see that too,” said Zuckerman.
