Summer Streets 2016 Gets Started Tomorrow

Click for interactive Summer Streets 2016 map. Image: NYC DOT
Click for interactive Summer Streets 2016 map. Image: NYC DOT

If you’re old enough to remember when Summer Streets — which begins tomorrow — was a wild new idea, it probably won’t surprise you that this isn’t the first year we’ve pointed out that Summer Streets has become a completely normal thing.

For some time now, New Yorkers have wondered when DOT would improve on the city’s premier car-free event, and next Saturday “Shared Streets” will limit motor vehicle traffic in a 60-block area of the Financial District. This is a big deal, and it could serve as an informal pilot for future street space reclamations.

From a DOT Shared Streets email blast that went out this week:

Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians will be encouraged to share the streets of lower Manhattan and take the time to rediscover the commerce, culture, and history in this special district. DOT will distribute a custom WalkNYC map highlighting points of interest in the district along with the schedule of walking tours and cultural programming in plazas, parks, and open spaces.

That’s next week. Tomorrow, Summer Streets 2016 is the same as it ever was, which is still pretty greatSeven miles of Lafayette Street and Park Avenue, between the Brooklyn Bridge and Central Park, will be car-free from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.

Have fun out there.

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

Summer Streets #2: Wetter and Better?

|
Car-free workouts on Cleveland Place will be back tomorrow, but what about the open-toed pumps? The weather might add a new wrinkle to the second installment of Summer Streets: Forecasts call for a 40 percent chance of rain tomorrow. How might showers affect the day’s events? Will the largely positive press from last week counteract […]

In Case You Missed It: Summer Streets Starts Tomorrow

|
Remember way back in 2008, when New York’s inaugural Summer Streets dominated the news cycle? By the time August ’09 rolled around, even Fox was on board. With the first Saturday of its fifth season coming up tomorrow, Summer Streets is a lifestyle story — to the extent that it’s still considered news at all. […]

Summer Streets, When Park Avenue Earns Its Name, Starts Tomorrow

|
Get ready to stretch out your legs, New York City. The fourth annual Summer Streets starts tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. — the first of three car-free Saturdays on Park Avenue. Last year’s dumpster pools are gone, replaced with a climbing wall, sand sculptures and New York City sports legends. Sure to remain are crowds […]