Some Kind of Wonderful on the Streets of NYC

For three consecutive Saturdays in August, the New York City Department of Transportation will open up nearly seven miles of car-free streets to allow the city’s residents to play, run, walk and bike in the fourth annual Summer Streets event!

On August 6, 13 and 20, from 7:00am to 1:00pm, Summer Streets takes a valuable public space—our City's streets—and provides them as canvas for healthy recreation. The initiative is a part of NYC's greening efforts to encourage New Yorkers to use more sustainable forms of transportation.

In Brooklyn, the Summer Streets route will start on all three bridges (Williamsburg, Manhattan and Brooklyn), connect at Park Avenue, run northward up Park Avenue and end at East 72nd Street and Central Park East.

This year’s newest attractions are sand castles and sculptures by Matt Long of Sand Masters television fame as well as sand boxes for everyone to enjoy, a climbing wall that is 25-feet tall, sports activities ranging from basketball to baseball to hockey and storytelling activities hosted by StoryCorps.

Bike New York also will be onsite teaching Learn to Ride bicycle classes, while Transportation Alternatives (T.A.) will lead bicycle “feeder rides” to Summer Streets from the Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens.

Each Saturday T.A. will provide free Bike Valet parking, and the New York International Fringe Festival NYC, the largest multi-arts festival in North America, will offer free performances from its Fringe Jr. line-up.

Also, as in years past, New York City residents will be able to take part in free exercise and dance classes ranging from yoga to Cardio Go-Go at Lafayette Street, 4th and Park Avenues and 72nd Street, as well as bike, walk and rollerblade along the route.

Summer Streets is modeled after other events around the world, including Bogotá, Colombia's Ciclovia, Paris Plage, and even New York's own Museum Mile, the event is part bike tour/part block party, a great time for exercise, people watching and simply a wonderful way to enjoy summer mornings.

There is no official starting point or end point for Summer Streets; you can join in anywhere on the route anytime between 7:00am and 1:00pm—just come out and play!

The entire route is easily accessible by the Lexington Avenue line (4, 5, 6) of the subway.The route also is easily accessible from the Metro-North Railroad at 125th Street and Grand Central Station.

To accommodate travelers coming to Summer Streets, bicycle permits are NOT required. However, only eight bicycles are allowed per train according to Metro-North's regulations to prevent over-crowding of the train cars.

Visitors coming on the LIRR can either take the train to downtown Brooklyn and walk or bike across the Brooklyn Bridge or to Penn Station and walk or bike east to join the route.