Summer Streets expands to 20 miles of car-free open space and will include Harlem for 1st time

Monday, June 12, 2023

Summer Streets returns to NYC with 20 miles of car-free open space

New Yorkers will get to enjoy 20 miles of car-free streets and summer fun over five Saturdays between July and August.

NEW YORK CITY (WABC) -- The smoky haze is gone, temperatures are rising and summer is just around the corner along with this year's Summer Streets program.

New Yorkers will get to enjoy 20 miles of car-free streets and summer fun over five Saturdays between July and August.

Rock climbing, cycling, dancing, things you wouldn't normally see on New York City streets jammed up with traffic will be available when Summer Streets kicks off.

Gretta Lee and her pup Rosco will finally see it expand to Harlem this summer.

"I moved here in 88 when there were gunshots all over the place and I appreciate community very much and anything the city does to promote community," Lee said.

A $375 million investment will help create vibrant, accessible public spaces across the city through a partnership with the DOT to double the size of Summer Streets.

This year's program is the largest since the Summer Streets launched in 2008 and continues to focus on equity.

"Something special happens when we open our streets to New Yorkers - so this year, we're more than doubling the size of the Summer Streets programming and offering 20 miles of car-free streets across all five boroughs," Mayor Adams said. "This is a bold new vision for public space in New York City - a bold new way of empowering residents, supporting local businesses, and creating open spaces. Every single New Yorker deserves access to safe, free, open space, and this administration is making it happen."

The annual summer push for more pedestrian space and fewer cars - this year - follows the wave of pollution we saw from the Canadian wildfires.

And so the mayor said there's no better time to push for a cleaner environment. Shutting traffic on major thoroughfares like the Grand Concourse in The Bronx and Eastern Parkway in Brooklyn.

"We are going after the large places where people are able to walk and to really congregate together," Adams said.

Ever since the covid pandemic Adrian Batista has longed for more community bonding.

"It had damaged a lot of people spiritually, mentally and this idea of closing the street is going to be a beautiful thing," Batista said.

More than 500,000 people walked, ran, cycled or played on Summer Streets last year.

This year the program will operate during its traditional hours between 7:00 a.m. and 1:00 p.m. on the following streets:

Saturday, July 29: Queens and Staten Island

Summer Streets in Queens will run along Vernon Boulevard, from 44th Drive to 30th Drive, while the program in Staten Island will run along Richmond Terrace from York Avenue to Bard Avenue.

Saturday, August 5, 12, and 19: Manhattan

In Manhattan the program will extend the traditional route from Brooklyn Bridge all the way into Harlem, traveling along Lafayette Street and Park Avenue up to 109th Street; on Central Park North from Fifth Avenue to Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard; and finally along Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard from 110th Street to 125th Street.

Saturday, August 26: Brooklyn and the Bronx

Summer Streets in Brooklyn will travel along Eastern Parkway, from Grand Army Plaza to Buffalo Avenue, connecting Prospect Heights and Brownsville along the same route as the Caribbean Day Parade.