Car-free zone trial planned for New York

Posted Wed Jun 18 2008 12:41 PM by Ralph Hanson

New York mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced plans to create car-free zones in parts of Manhattan for three Saturdays this August as part of a new trial to see the effects on the number of pedestrians and cyclists. The no car zone will run along a 6.9-mile stretch of streets through Manhattan, from the Brooklyn Bridge, north to Park Avenue and the Upper East Side.

All cars, trucks and buses will be banned on the streets along the route from 7am to 1pm on August 9, 16 and 23. The new trial is being called the ‘Summer Streets’ experiment and if it proves successful at boosting visitor numbers officials will consider doing it again, Bloomberg told reporters from the New York Times.

Officials are planning to run fitness, dance and yoga classes along the empty streets and will also rent out bicycles as part of the event.

New York is not the first major city to conduct such a trial. Similar events have been run in London, Paris and Bogotá to much success. Downtown business owners were upset, especially those running parking lots and other car related enterprises, as many will lose revenue during the period.

Reader Comments

Wed Jun 18 2008 12:53 PM
Raptor says

Eco nazis

How about making New York Bloomberg-free zone?
Wed Jun 18 2008 1:16 PM
chris says

u know what raptor? i've gone to chicago a couple times and I've parked my car downtown and just walked all over the place. in cities with major gridlock problems like new york, you can actually travel long distances faster by foot.

Plus, there are many cities even in north america where entire streets are closed off to motor traffic. Montreal is a great example.

besides, from the sounds of things, its just a single route that will be shut down. in a city that is nothing but a huge grid, I really dont see a problem with that. I guarantee the businesses along that street will do better on these days than they normally would. parking garages will be the only ones to suffer... but only the parking garages ONLY accessible by that route.
Wed Jun 18 2008 2:33 PM
NoNameDenton says

I am so happy I live in a state run by people close to being sane and a city close to being sane.
Wed Jun 18 2008 3:16 PM
Gus says

They do this in San Francisco's Golden Gate Park every Sunday already.
It's quite nice, but I have two strong legs. I wonder if there will be handicapped people, or older people, who will be pushed aside by this. They should issue permist for them, or free transportation on little electric shuttles or some such thing.
Wed Jun 18 2008 3:46 PM
chris says

..or maybe... a MONORAIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLLLLLLL
Wed Jun 18 2008 6:26 PM
Raptor says

But why closing the whole avenue.. I mean, if you want to walk, you can always go to Central park.

I agree you can travel some distance on foot (or by subway), but if infrastructure already exists, why not use it all the time? I agree with Gus, I am young and I can walk those 7 miles if necessery, but what about old or disabled people? Sure, issue permits to them, but than it's not a car free zone anymore.
Thu Jun 19 2008 10:07 AM
HECTOR says

SHHH Raptor! Better New York deal with that blowhard than Miami.

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