Haven Avenue Transformation to Begin Later This Month

On May 28, Columbia University Irving Medical Center (CUIMC), in partnership with the New York City Department of Transportation, will begin work to transform Haven Avenue between 169th Street and Fort Washington Avenue into a pedestrian plaza with 60,000 square feet of open green space for faculty, staff, patients, students, and the public.

“Haven Plaza will offer a quiet, car-free place to relax, eat lunch, and enjoy the fresh air,” Donna Lynne, senior vice president and chief operating officer for CUIMC and CEO of ColumbiaDoctors, said. 

To facilitate the project, the one-block section of Haven Avenue will be closed to traffic so that workers can resurface the street and install planters, benches, and café tables and chairs. Car and bicycle traffic on Haven Avenue will be rerouted eastward on 169th Street toward Fort Washington Avenue. 

A driveway will be created on the west side of the plaza to allow patients arriving by car or ambulette to get to their appointments at the Allan Rosenfield Building and the Neurological Institute. Information about the traffic changes can be found on the Haven Plaza website; clinical programs located in the Allan Rosenfield Building and the Neurological Institute will share the information with their patients.

The plaza will also host a variety of arts, cultural, health and wellness, and children’s programming sponsored by the medical center and members of the local community. A ribbon-cutting ceremony is planned for September.