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City Considers Central Park Car Ban
By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 5, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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By
Jen Chung
Published Jun 5, 2007
Modified Mar 7, 2008
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The new commissioner of the Department of Transportation won the hearts of not just bicyclists but other people who love Central Park the other day: Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan told Streetsblog that she was considering a car-free Central Park trial this summer. (It sounds like transverse traffic will remain.)
The Sun calls this a departure from "predecessor, Iris Weinshall, who had vetoed a similar plan arguing that closing the park's roadway loop to motorists would worsen congestion and pollution" in the city. Of course, that didn't factor in injuries to parkgoers. The ban would be in place 24/7
Streetsblog also has a transcript of Sadik-Khan's remarks, including the fun fact that the Williamsburg Bridge is the most popular bridge to bike over with 2,600 riders every day. And last fall, the city reopened the Central Park loop to cars as part of the "traffic mitigation plan" during the holiday season; we bet this fall, the plan will be to get more holiday visitors to use mass transit in keeping with the mayor's green ideas.
Photograph of (from left) DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, Brooklyn Borough Marty Markowitz, and Transportation Alternatives' Noah Budnick during the Tour de Brooklyn from Streetsblog
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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