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Doug Gordon (former Ask Gothamist contributor) put almost 10 minutes worth of footage of cars entering Prospect Park after 7PM, when it's supposed to be closed to traffic, on YouTube. StreetFilms' Clarence Eckerson Jr. edited it down and added a counter of how many cars actually enter over a 15 minute period - you can see that video above. We can't decide what makes us more crazed: The cars that try to squeeze through barriers that an irate bicyclist decided to drag over or the horrible left turns cars make into the park.
Doug says he decided to film "after one too many close encounters with cars in Prospect Park." Here's more information about Transportation Alternatives' Car Free Prospect Park Campaign. And the city is considering a car-free Central Park ban trial this summer.
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CARS OUT OF THE PARK NOW!
24-7 CAR FREE PROSPECT PARK
i am going to file this under outrage over nothing.
the guys showed up eventually, and not even that late.
yawn
#2, thats no excuse to the 2 that busted thru the gate
Maybe this will be the final nail in the coffin to make parks car free.
yes, because if there's one thing the city has proven, its that they pay attention to citizen groups and react to their concerns in a timely manner.
this sucks.
Wow, ten whole minutes?
I can understand the outrage.
It was actually 15 minutes, not 10 minutes. In those extra five minutes a whole bunch of Transformers got through, transformed into guns, and killed anyone who refused to get off the road. No word yet on whether it was the Decepticons or Autobots.
They should just lock the gates at all times though. People should feel safe in parks.
they were only 15 minutes late in closing it, not that people don't drive stupidly as seen by the jogger almost getting clipped in the crosswalk but question, is it clearly posted that driving isn't allowed after 7pm? i don't actually have a car these days but if i were driving i might turn in if i didn't know about the ban. cutting between the barriers is a bit much of course.
I don't think the issue is the park closing to traffic 10 minutes later than its supposed to, but rather the fact that cars routinely use the park as a short cut in hours when its closed to traffic. I'm in the park every day and I often see cars driving around in car-free hours. I've also had some scary run-ins, like people who drive in the bike line to get around traffic in the morning.
Embarrassing video if you're the moron cyclist who dragged the barriers together. I biked (as I sometimes do) from Inwood to Bay Ridge for work this morning, and it's been my observation that it's generally the cyclists who are frothier and more poorly behaved than car drivers.
It's sad. Bikes are a good way to get around, and I can pretty easily keep pace with the subways. It's too bad that so many advocates reveal themselves to be little more than lunatics.
This would never happen if cyclists carried handguns.
where are all the cops? they should be standing there giving out tickets.
Transformers are cool. I want to transform into a car-fee Park.
someone should inform those cops who has ticket quotas to stand outside the entrance. I"m sure they'll fill them in no time.
You are never going to tell an American, especially a NYer that they can't do something. especially if it interferes with their convenience. You have to physically stop them from doing that thing.
As for the parks department (or the police) do you actually think they care? I doubt it, especially the pigs who think that all bicyclists are liberal hippie artists.
Oh, and did you see that when the gate was closed, the first one to go through for convenience sake was a Hasedim? Did you? D'you know why? Because the only law that matters to them is the law of they God, not the laws of goyem.
Where are the cops? The cops only give tickets when they have to.
since he is from chicago, maybe matty should keep his idiotic, irrelevant comments to himself.
Of course that was a Hasidim who busted through the gates. I'm willing to bet Hasidim make up the majority of cars in the park. Why do you think Prospect Park is not car-free -- that would eliminate the express route from Williamsburg to Borough Park. If they could, I bet the Hasidim would have their soot-spewing buses roaring through as well.
Don't forget, they run things - we just live here.
Come on, that is unfair. There were 45 cars entering illegally. All makes, shapes, sizes, ethnicities of people. Picking on just one is so lame. So easy. ALL those drivers are to blame.
Agree with post #2.
what are you talking about, the guys showed up 15 MINUTES LATE!
Hey, film maker, let's see if the guys show up 15 MINUTES LATE when they open the park to cars at 5pm? I will be they are right on time!
Meanwhile we are at war...
Yes, we're at war. Some would argue the Hasidim are part of what caused that war. . .
How about a film showing how many bikers run stop signs/red lights,ride the wrong way down one way streets, or ride on the sidewalks. Believe me, bikers put more pedestrians in danger than the few cars that enter the park after 7 PM do bikers.
While I'm happy to slam the guy who slalomed past the barriers, unless there's very clear signage saying "do not enter after 7PM," I can't see how you can blame someone for driving down a public road that's totally unblocked.
#22
you're a complete jackass. hasidsm ≠ zionism.
#22 - You're right as Hasidim are American, and tend to mostly vote Republican.
Bigot much?
Right, and because we are at war, we shouldn't do, pay attention to, or talk about anything else, ever.
Wait, what?
Hey #22, don't be such a jerk. Bike hits pedestrian, both get hurt. Car hits bike, car drives away.
And this is an issue because?! Stupid hipsters have too much time on their hands, they should have finish drinking their PBRs instead.
Hmm, well if I'm 15 minutes late moving my car on alternate side of the street days, I certainly get a ticket from the city, so why should the city get slack from us when it is their turn to have a responsibility?
Barf.
Ungh. I just got sick.
So so tired of the city. Makes me sick and mad.
Hey #23, just because SOME cyclists choose to be asshats and break the rules doesn't give you the right to condemn ALL people who ride bikes.
Also, cars are more dangerous to pedestrians than bikers could ever be. On the other hand, I am put in danger by careless pedestrians jaywalking or crossing against the light on a daily basis. Where's your outrage against them???
What I certainly don't get is why the cops don't stand there and ticket everyone one of those cars. Come on - it's easy money for them! It makes NO sense for those cars to be in the park any time. A park should be for the PEOPLE not the cars.
Park Slope Blows
#23
How 'bout a film showing pedestrians jaywalking, dashing out from behind parked cars, listening to Ipods, reading the paper, checking their email, crossing at "Don't Walk" signs and generally being completely oblivious to the world around them... and cutting off cyclists who have the right of way.
Yeah, there are some rude cyclists out there. But there are a whole lot more rude pedestrians.
As for the guy pulling the gates closed? Good for him... start a volunteer organization to help the overtaxed park workers who can't make it there on time.
monster, you are free to make any kind of video you want.
Thanks, #35.
Appreciate that license, but it was #23 who brought up the idea of making films to prove his/her and, perhaps, your point.
So if you get around to proving that point with your film/video, do everybody a favor and show the poor behaviors of cyclists and pedestrians, respectively.
If you do, I think you will find that on the numbers alone, there are far more pedestrians who violate traffic laws in this city than there are than cyclists, simply because there are so many more pedestrians.
you are crying because of the 15 minutes delay ?
No, im not saying that it's right ( especially for those guys who squeeze through the closed entrance ), but why don't you make a video about smth more important? Maybe some cops that just pull motorists aside cause they need to give out predefined amount of tickets?
what a waste of the space this video is.