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Entries tagged: Summer Streets

By Mike Samuelson, Alliance Opens Streets Coordinator

For a few hours, one of New York City’s most famous streets was transformed from a frenzy of car horns, squealing brakes and congestion to an oasis of people powered transportation. The reason for change: Summer Streets.

Held during the first three Saturday’s in August, Summer Streets creates a car-free route from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, including 60 blocks on Park Avenue and connecting streets. Hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers, from all types of backgrounds, took the opportunity to explore their city in a way they seldom have available.

As part of the Alliance’s recent grant to launch the Open Streets Project, I traveled to New York to learn more about one of North America’s largest open streets initiatives. This was my first time attending an event, and I was blown away by what I saw! Along with cyclists and walkers, the street was packed with scooters, trikes, rollerbladers and just about every other type of human propelled movement. While some spandex-wearing riders weaved in and out of the crowd, most folks took advantage of the ability to go slow and see their city from a whole new angle.

At several points on the route, there were rest stops that allowed participants to take a break and engage in fun and educational activities such as yoga classes, musical performances and bike safety demonstrations. Of course, local Alliance member organization Transportation Alternatives was on hand offering free bike valet, and using the opportunity to engage New Yorkers in T.A.’s campaigns to create safer streets for all users.

Along with taking in the excitement that is Summer Streets, I was also able to meet with some of the great folks at NYC DOT who put on the initiative, and learn what it takes to put on such a successful event. Despite the difficult financial times, NYC DOT hasn’t cut back a bit on Summer Streets because of its popularity and support from private funders.

I’m looking forward to the launch of the Open Streets website this fall, which will allow cities across the continent to share their successes and plans. Open Streets are more than an opportunity to have fun on a street normally used for cars; they’re a chance to re-imagine the way our cities could be.

T.A. probably said it best in one of their recent newsletters, “For three days every summer, we don’t need schematics and modeling to understand what New York City would look like if pedestrians were prioritized. For three days this summer, our dream is reality.”

This month, Transportation Alternatives embarks on the fourth year of Summer Streets, a program that gives bike enthusiasts and new cyclists alike the opportunity to test-ride select streets of New York City free from motor vehicle traffic. According to the latest StreetBeat, this trial period has proved successful in bringing new people onboard with T.A.’s mission.

In conjunction with this year’s Summer Streets, advocates at T.A. are extending the trial concept to its membership by launching its newest membership level: the T.A. campaign friend.

For just $10, those who fear the commitment of full membership can test out what it’s like to be part of T.A. and receive discounts at T.A.-hosted events, access to the PDF version of Reclaim (T.A.’s quarterly magazine), and e-mail updates on the group’s ongoing campaign work.

These new members join the tight-knit T.A. family by signing on as friends of one of T.A.’s two most prominent campaigns: Biking Rules, a campaign for safe and civic cycling in NYC, and Rider Rebellion, which unites transit riders in support of affordable fares, better service and the end of service cuts.

“We’re trying to reach New Yorkers outside of our already-involved, already-committed pool of prospects,” Elena Santogade, Director of Membership for T.A., explains. “The pitch is a little harder to make for folks who aren’t yet aware of T.A.’s work, so a $10 price point and association to one of our more visible campaigns seemed like a good way to bring those people into the membership.”

Street teams will pitch this newest membership level as they receive signatures for various petitions and pledges for campaigns. “Our goal is to make 10 percent of those signers become Friends,” Santogade says.

And while T.A. just unveiled this new membership level last week, it’s likely something that will stick around. “As long as we have on-street advocacy teams interacting with the public, I think this will be a permanent fixture,” Santogade says. “It’s not something that we’re going to heavily promote to other prospects. It will be focused toward the people who sign petitions [and] write letters in association with our on-street campaigns.”

Just $10 sure sounds like a foolproof way to introduce bike-ped newbies to advocacy. Want to learn more about this new membership level? Check out Transportation Alternatives on the web and be sure to subscribe to StreetBeat for all the latest news.

From Feet First’s Footprints - Feet First is a partner in the Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets. During the summerlong program, streets will be opened for pedestrians and bicyclists, offering people a way to have fun, celebrate the spirit and personality of their neighborhood, and support local businesses. Each event is organized by a local group. Celebrate Seattle Summer Streets is modeled after similar successful events held in New York; San Francisco; Portland, Oregon; Vancouver, British Columbia; and Bogota, Colombia.

For more information, click here… 

Thousands of New Yorkers turned out to participate in the first two installments of Summer Streets, a ciclovía-style event presented by the City of New York. A temporary street closure spanning 90 consecutive blocks, Summer Streets provides a car-free, recreational route between Central Park and the Brooklyn Bridge. Along this car-free route, the Department of Transportation and sponsors host art, dance and fitness classes, musical performances and bike-related activities. Many adjacent side streets host citizen-organized activities ranging from double-dutch tournaments to scooter races.
Summer Streets is the culmination of a season of unprecedented pedestrian-oriented street events, spearheaded by community coalitions and Transportation Alternatives, and made possible by City agencies. While raising the profile of public space is a primary goal of Summer Streets, the timing for this event has much to do with the City’s interest in reducing motor vehicle traffic, improving public health through urban design and meeting its own sustainability goals, and bringing us some summer-time fun too.