New York City’s School Streets program could expand to hundreds of public schools that lack outdoor space for physical education, according to a new analysis from Comptroller Mark Levine’s office released ahead of the Sept. 10 school year.
The five-year-old program turns streets adjacent to schools into additional outdoor space for physical education, recess, outdoor learning, arrival, dismissal and other activities.
During the 2025-26 school year, 74 schools participated, including 48 New York City Public Schools serving about 27,000 students, along with 14 private schools, 10 charter schools and two child care programs.
“Students spend much of their day at school, and kids need to move, play and get outside in order to thrive – but too many New York City schools lack the outdoor space to give students those opportunities,” said Comptroller Mark Levine.
The analysis found that 371 public schools serving nearly 200,000 students lack outdoor physical education space. Of those, 324 have an adjacent street that appears likely to be eligible for the program after an initial review found no major public safety or emergency concerns.
The findings point to an opportunity to expand access to outdoor space for students, particularly at schools where dedicated recreation areas are unavailable. School Streets can also support safer arrivals and dismissals and provide additional space for school activities.
The Comptroller’s Office reviewed 1,156 school buildings and found that 93% have an adjacent street likely eligible for School Streets. It also found that participating schools have an equitable distribution across demographic and other factors.
The city does not currently maintain a publicly available dataset showing the total outdoor recreation space available to students at each school.
The report recommends shifting much of the application process from individual principals to the Department of Transportation and New York City Public Schools. It also calls for identifying interested principals, prioritizing schools without outdoor physical education space, setting annual expansion targets and developing a citywide inventory of outdoor recreation space.
School Streets began in 2020 as an outdoor learning initiative during the COVID-19 pandemic and moved to DOT in 2021. The current process requires multiple plans and letters of support and at least 90 days for DOT review. Streamlining the process could allow more schools to gain access to additional outdoor space.
