Take a long, last look, friends: this will all be gone tomorrow. The cars, the trucks, the buses, the noxious carbon dioxide, the filth and the dread, the cacophony and the relentless feelings of inadequacy. On Saturday, April 22nd, 30 blocks of Broadway will be ruthlessly wiped free of internal combustion engines. The era of machines is over: the Age of Pedestrians is at hand. (For one day only.) (Well, part of a day—at 4 p.m. the cars return... for payback.)
But for six glorious hours (10 a.m. to 4 p.m.), Broadway from Union Square to Times Square will be closed to motorists, as part of a largely symbolic Earth Day effort to cut down on car-sourced carbon emissions. There will be much gaiety and family-friendly activities in the streets, like "fitness classes, sustainability workshops led by city agencies and environmental non-profits, arts and class workshops and musical performances all along the street during the car-free hours."
Citi Bike will also be free to use on Earth Day.
Sections of St. Nicholas Avenue in Upper Manhattan will also be car-free, and parts of Queens, the Bronx, and Brooklyn will get a break from motor vehicle traffic in select areas, your pal Dave reports:
In the Bronx, Eagle Avenue between East 161st and East 163rd Streets will go car-free from noon to 4 p.m. In Brooklyn, Montague Street between Court Street and Pierrepoint Place will be pedestrian only from 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. In Queens, Woodside Avenue between 75th and 77th Streets will be car-free between 11:30 a.m. and 7 p.m., and Shore Boulevard between Ditmars Boulevard and Astoria Park will do the same from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
More details here on the Car Free NYC website.
