Starting tomorrow (Saturday!), miles of NYC roadways will be closed to vehicles so that people can run, walk, and bike — often in the same direction.
As in previous years, this car-free zone includes Lafayette, Astor Place and Fourth Avenue from the newly extended hours of 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. (previously 1 p.m.)
You can find more details about Summer Streets at this link, including the sponsors and free exercise classes on Astor Place.
20 comments:
I’d rather see the money go to schools or libraries than police OT pay.
So we can't have both? I bike all 3 weekends every year and see nothing but joy and happiness from kids to old adults, like me. I want my taxes dollars going here and there.
The "Thunder Dome" as I call, is back and includes an additional 2 hours of dodging speeding bicyclists. This event makes E-bike Grub-Hub deliveries look like a "penny farthing" parade.
Summer Streets seemed nice the first time -a limited area and I think just one weekend.
But it has been taken over by bicyclists - pedestrians can’t even cross the street.
And as it has expanded, it is causing hardship for bus riders.
Not OK to prioritize bike and keep screwing bus riders and pedestrians
That's 3 consecutive Saturdays when people who work a 40-hour-a-week job and who have errands they need to run can't get anywhere, due to this handover of the streets (which also encourages bike riders to forget that there are any rules whatsoever).
I’m noticing a common complaint here and I have second it, as my own albeit brief encounter with “summer streets” on 4th Ave several years ago confirmed, I could not cross the street due to the almost “critical mass” level of cyclists who took no account or notice to traffic signals or pedestrians. I swore to avoid the event ever since.
Summer Streets has become a victim of its own popularity.
Too many two wheeled vehicles and worse congestion than cars.
But it's a fun thing, albeit the novelty has worn thin.
Reminds me of the Atlantic Antic. When it first started in the '70's, it was a very local celebration and a nice way to enjoy the hood. All these years later, it's a massive party that draws many thousands of people from all over and is just another high priced commercial street fair that is difficult to get through.
Let's waste our money on over funded public schools. That's throwing money down a sewer. Open more charter schools,they have much better results.
On the East Side, crosstown buses were rerouted and slowed due to the bicyclists on Park Avenue summer street.
And no signs on bus stops as far as I could see, so there was also confusion.
And it was just bicyclists - zero people walking.
A really hot day - and folks who depend on the bus are impacted.
Elderly, disabled, people with small kids especially.
How is this fair?
Plus City keeps saying use mass transit but then impedes it .
Summer streets is a great example of how much pent up demand there is for safe cycling infrastructure. If we devoted less of our public space to private auto use and more to wider sidewalks, dedicated bus lanes, and a comprehensive cycling network, we wouldn't even need summer streets! The Adams administration needs to adhere to the law and build according to the streets plan https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/downloads/pdf/nyc-streets-plan.pdf
Hear hear 11:03 pm!
I go out early on the weekends for bike rides but I avoid doing so on these 3 Saturdays. In golf, people call them "duffers." There are too many inexperienced bikers out on these days and just too many people in general. With a better biking network, people wouldn't feel compelled to cram it in on 3 late summer Saturdays. I'm also a bus user and I'm all for ANYTHING that will speed up their routes.
Regarding bus public transit....
The MTA has been cutting bus frequency and bus routes for years.
Further the City's red lights and speed limits impact on bus speed.
Bus lanes do very little when there are no buses.
(No Congestion Pricing won't help as CP is for capital - won't increase bus service).
For example, on Saturday, though there were almost zero vehicles on Second Avenue, the waits for the M15 and SBS M15 were more than 20 minutes.
City policy is clearly prioritizing bicyclists over bus riders.
The fact that the City would institute Open Streets on bus routes and force bus detours is the most visible proof.
@11:03PM: "pent up demand for safe cycling infrastructure"? Oh, please there are a zillion miles of protected bike lanes, but there is NO safe cycling going on - there is only CHAOS, b/c the existing infrastructure is ignored and bikes and mopeds are on sidewalks and in the traffic lanes (often going AGAINST traffic).
The actual pent up demand is for ENFORCEMENT of bike riders and mopeds, to make the riders obey the law.
And the *biggest* PENT UP DEMAND is actually for PEDESTRIAN SAFETY: for ALL of us to be able to WALK safely on our sidewalks, and to be able to cross the street without taking our lives in our hands.
At this point, pedestrian safety is the lowest priority across the board. The infantile bikers just keep whining that they need "more biking infrastructure" - as if they're the only people in this city of 8 million. MOST OF US are NOT on a bike.
I don't want a "comprehensive cycling network" - EFF THAT. If you need to live on a bike, then move to one of those perfect cities in Europe or Scandinavia where EVERYONE lives on a bike. NYC is NOT that city - it never was and it NEVER WILL BE.
The only thing the push for more biking is doing is making the city more dangerous for everyone, and creating an absolutely more hostile environment for pedestrians (esp. dangerous for older people and for anyone with a disability).
According to you, if we just banned cars completely, we'd be living in utopia. Let me tell you this: we'd be living in HELL. Oh, wait, we already ARE living in "Eric-Adams-can't-figure-out-how-to-run-this-city for ALL CITIZENS" ongoing Hell.
11:03
Summer Streets is supposed to be for pedestrians too - but bicyclists basically take over.
As for pent-up demand - the City is doing a lot of advertising and so quite a few people are visitors/tourists. It has become a "thing".
IMO instead of spending taxpayer money for bicycling rec for the upscale or tourists, the City should spend this money for playgrounds/parks/recreation activities in underserved neighorhoods where people really need.
@7:20pm: You are 100% correct that the City SHOULD be spending this money on playgrounds, parks, and recreation activities in under-served neighborhoods, where actual full-time RESIDENTS of the City would benefit year-round.
But it won't happen, b/c that would actually MAKE SENSE, and the Eric Adams administration is not interested in that.
The original idea was Bloomberg's (the guy who gave us bike lanes, that nobody got to vote on!). And then the concept that people could WALK or ROLLER SKATE or PLAY in the street quickly went by the wayside. Anyone remember the swimming pools made out of steel cargo containers that were also part of this for awhile? But now it's "every person for themselves" and it's been handed over to bikes.
Let me know when they declare "predictable bus travel weekends" so the rest of us can get from Point A to Point B without getting run over (and without being PREVENTED from crossing the street) by bikes.
Bikes and mopeds are now an absolute & unregulated danger and health hazard to all pedestrians.
Are you for real 7:41?
"Bikes and mopeds are now an absolute & unregulated danger and health hazard to all pedestrians."
Traffic deaths in New York City are at their highest level since the city launched its Vision Zero program ten years ago with 127 deaths in the first six months of 2024.
The NYPD issued fewer citations for moving violations this year, yet in 2023, drivers who ran red lights caused incidents that resulted in the highest annual number of deaths due to red light running ever recorded in the city.
So let's keep saying bikes are the problem.
I biked the whole route Saturday, saw plenty of folks running, roller blading, skating, etc. There are mandatory STOP locations where everyone gets a chance to cross the street. I saw little kids learning to ride with training wheels on their bikes and everyone was having a blast. There were stops for free bike helmets and up at 125th street they were playing music and ladies were dancing in the street. Everyone here is grump. But I don't disagree that 3pm might be an overreach, noon was fine.
Drivers are out of control. People can't even sit in a park with friends and family on a holiday without the danger of being killed by a berserk driver, as we tragically saw July 4 in Corlears Hook.
YAY love Summer Streets!!
Some say bikes are the problem .... for others, it's cars ... for me, it's the combination of phones and entitlement. I'm usually on a bike, though of late I've been referring to a ride as the 'zombie dodge' - bikes, e-bikes, mopeds and pedestrians glued to a screen, crossing when they want or riding in whatever direction they feel like, without looking at what might be coming and being completely oblivious to their surroundings. Add to that the number of times I've been nearly zapped by Uber drivers on a screen figuring out where they're going or dealing with the next fare WHILE IN MOTION ... it's quite the video game to be a part of. As far as Summer Streets, I used to really like it (and still do if I arrive at dawn) but like the Five Boro Ride now too many people know about it and it gets way too crowded for comfort (especially with rider behavior as described above.)
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