By Amy Zimmer
DNAinfo News Editor
MANHATTAN — Residents who feel inundated by street fairs and block parties — such as those in the Flatiron who fought to bar Madison Square Park's Big Apple BBQ — may soon get a new tool to help them steer clear of the crowds.
The City Council is expected to vote Thursday on a bill that would require the city to create an interactive online map showing all street fairs, film shoots and construction sites at least a week before they clog up neighborhood streets and affect street closures.
It would also require that information be posted about parking regulations.
"Open data is the future," said City Councilman Dan Garodnick, who said his constituents from 14th to 97th Streets on the East Side complain about their share of street fairs and film shoots.
"It will make public in an easily searchable format all activities the city is permitting for street use," said Garodnick, who proposed the legislation.
"When street activities are happening in a local community, the residents in that area should not be the last to know about it," he said. "If they want to seek a street activity out or avoid it, this will be their choice."
If approved, the site won't be up and running for the next Big Apple BBQ, which will return for its ninth year to Madison Square Park on June 11 and 12 and is expected to draw 100,000 pulled pork and ribs-loving New Yorkers. Members of Community Board 5 had wanted to boot the event — despite the park conservancy's approval — over concerns of park damage, but in the end passed on a vote.
Garodnick said the legislation will give the city six months to come up with a site featuring most of the data, except the parking regulations, which will take a year to develop.
