Car-Free Manhattan Streets For 3 Days

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Nightlyfe City Staff

from Lower Manhatten.info

permalink: http://www.lowermanhattan.info/news/summer_streets_returns_for_79993.aspx

The city’s “Summer Streets” event takes place for the second time this year, transforming seven miles of Manhattan roadway into a car-free zone. From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. on August 8th, 15th, and 22nd, New Yorkers will be free to walk, bike, play, and enjoy car-free streets from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park.

In Lower Manhattan, the event will close Centre Street to vehicles from the Brooklyn Bridge to Reade Street, and Lafayette Street will be closed north of Reade. The traffic closure continues north to 4th Avenue and on Park Avenue up to 72nd Street, where the route terminates in Central Park.

Major cross-town streets will be open to traffic during the event, and most cross-town bus routes will be unaffected. Other buses along the route will be re-routed during the event, with signs posted to redirect riders to nearby bus stops. Bike riders, rollerbladers, runners, and others will be directed from the car-free route to the Hudson River Greenway and other locations via low-traffic side streets.

Businesses are encouraged to schedule deliveries and pickups on Friday or after 2 p.m. on the three Summer Streets Saturdays. Parking will be restricted along the route beginning at midnight before each event, and access to garages on side streets will be maintained.

The event is modeled on similar events from around the world, including Bogotá, Colombia’s Ciclovia, Paris’s Paris Plage, and New York’s own Museum Mile. The city has planned Summer Streets as part block party and part bike tour, and a time for exercise, people watching, and enjoying clean-air summer mornings. It is a part of the mayor’s plan for a greener city, encouraging New Yorkers to use more sustainable forms of transportation, and transforming a valuable public space a healthier place for recreation.

For more details about the event and related activities, and to view the route map, visit www.nyc.gov/summerstreets