summer streets

New Yorkers – time to prepare your best walking shoes and fix up that bike…

For three consective Saturdays in August (9th, 16th, 23rd), New York city will close off to traffic a 6.9 mile route from the Brooklyn Bridge to East 72nd Street.

Transportation Commissioner Sadik-Khan explains the “experiment”:

“In Bogotá, they call it Ciclovia, or bikeway. In Paris, it’s the Plage, or beach. Here in New York, Summer Streets will literally turn the streets of our city into a pedestrian park,” said Commissioner Sadik-Khan. “The streets themselves are among the most valuable public space that the City has to offer, and finding the room within our existing street space for those on two feet or two wheels is a true application of our goals for a sustainable future under the Mayor’s PlaNYC initiatives and the DOT’s strategic plan.”

The route will run via Centre Street, Lafayette Street, Fourth Avenue and Park Avenue and last from 7am to 1pm.

Similar experiments have been done in Paris, London, and Bogota.

What a great way to experience the city. Fantastic!

+more info here