In a Reprise, Saturdays With Zones Free of Cars
Suzanne DeChillo/The New York TimesLafayette Street at Canal Street in Manhattan, closed to automobiles last year as part of the Summer Streets program.
Traffic on Park Avenue may seem lighter in August than in much of the year, thanks to the summering habits of its well-to-do residents. But much of the boulevard will have no traffic at all on three Saturdays this summer, as the city shuts down 6.9 miles of Manhattan roadway in a reprise of last year’s Summer Streets program.
In its debut last August, the program attracted about 50,000 bicyclists and pedestrians on each of its three days to a path from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 72nd Street. This year’s events, announced on Monday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will take place on Aug. 8, 15 and 22, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Citing a positive response to the program — an idea inspired by a recreational experiment in Bogotá, Colombia, that began in the 1970s — the city has expanded it to smaller stretches of the other boroughs on weekends throughout the summer. The program will reach 13 neighborhoods, although none of the additional street closings will match the size of the main Manhattan route.
The closings will be staggered. For example, five blocks of Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, will be closed to cars and trucks the next two Saturdays, while a stretch of Van Duzer Street in Staten Island will be closed on Aug. 1, 8, 15 and 22. A list of the closings can be found on the city’s Web site.
At the Park Avenue event, the city will rent out 150 bright-orange bicycles, on loan from the Dutch government and available at points along the route. Helmets will also be provided.
The project is one in a series of initiatives by the city’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, that have banned automobiles from swaths of Manhattan. Public space has been opened up in Times Square and Herald Square and along Broadway and Ninth Avenue.
Ms. Sadik-Khan said on Monday that she hoped the Summer Streets program would become a regular event for New Yorkers, “right up there with the New York City Marathon and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
Mr. Bloomberg, at a news conference announcing the program, demurred when asked if he would join the bicyclists in August. “We’ll see,” he said. “Last time I bought a bike I got criticized.”
The mayor was chided in 2002 after buying a bicycle, helmet and other accessories for $663 when a subway and bus strike appeared imminent. (He later gave the bike to a teenager in Brooklyn.)
Lafayette Street at Canal Street in Manhattan, closed to automobiles last year as part of the Summer Streets program.
Traffic on Park Avenue may seem lighter in August than in much of the year, thanks to the summering habits of its well-to-do residents. But much of the boulevard will have no traffic at all on three Saturdays this summer, as the city shuts down 6.9 miles of Manhattan roadway in a reprise of last year’s Summer Streets program.
In its debut last August, the program attracted about 50,000 bicyclists and pedestrians on each of its three days to a path from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 72nd Street. This year’s events, announced on Monday by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, will take place on Aug. 8, 15 and 22, from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
Citing a positive response to the program — an idea inspired by a recreational experiment in Bogotá, Colombia, that began in the 1970s — the city has expanded it to smaller stretches of the other boroughs on weekends throughout the summer. The program will reach 13 neighborhoods, although none of the additional street closings will match the size of the main Manhattan route.
The closings will be staggered. For example, five blocks of Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, will be closed to cars and trucks the next two Saturdays, while a stretch of Van Duzer Street in Staten Island will be closed on Aug. 1, 8, 15 and 22. A list of the closings can be found on the city’s Web site.
At the Park Avenue event, the city will rent out 150 bright-orange bicycles, on loan from the Dutch government and available at points along the route. Helmets will also be provided.
The project is one in a series of initiatives by the city’s transportation commissioner, Janette Sadik-Khan, that have banned automobiles from swaths of Manhattan. Public space has been opened up in Times Square and Herald Square and along Broadway and Ninth Avenue.
Ms. Sadik-Khan said on Monday that she hoped the Summer Streets program would become a regular event for New Yorkers, “right up there with the New York City Marathon and the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.”
Mr. Bloomberg, at a news conference announcing the program, demurred when asked if he would join the bicyclists in August. “We’ll see,” he said. “Last time I bought a bike I got criticized.”
The mayor was chided in 2002 after buying a bicycle, helmet and other accessories for $663 when a subway and bus strike appeared imminent. (He later gave the bike to a teenager in Brooklyn.)
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