New Car-Free Hours Start on Monday in Central Park
This Monday, June 5th, Mayor Bloomberg's half-hearted fractional closure plan goes in to effect in Central Park. The Park's East Drive north of 72nd Street will be closed to cars in the morning and the West Drive will be closed in the evening.Currently, vehicular traffic is allowed on both the East and West drives of Central Park between the hours of 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., and 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.
Under the new traffic plan, Central Park’s West Drive will be open to motor vehicles from 7:00 a.m. to 10:00 a.m. only, while Central Park’s East Drive north of 72nd Street will be open only from 3:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. The East Drive from 57th Street and Sixth Avenue to 72nd Street will continue to be open from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.
My opinion: the residents of Fifth and Madison Ave. don't want the added traffic from taxis and black cars so we may never see the East Drive closed completely, but we made enough noise so the Mayor had to throw us come kind of bone.
It looks like the City Council will vote on the Summer Car-Free Parks bill (Introduction 276) on June 13. If you are as outraged as I am about this half-assed plan, now is the time to let Speaker Quinn and your City Councilmember know that you support this critical legislation and they should too. Call, write, email, phone or fax.
You can find the e-mail address of your City Councilmember here. E-mail them.
Contact Scott Stringer, Manhattan Borough President here.
