Celebrate on January 3rd! Come celebrate our historic victory. Join fellow park users as we mark the official beginning of overnight car-free hours; toast Mayor Bloomberg, Commissioner Weinshall and Commissioner Benepe and raise our call for a completely car-free loop drive. January 3rd at 6:45 pm at the 110th Street and Lenox Avenue entrance to the park

Central Park Victory!
More Car-Free Hours
& Entrance Closures

Transportation Alternatives and thousands of Central Park users rejoiced last week when the Mayor took a historic step towards returning Central Park's Loop Drive to a safe and healthy place to play, exercise and escape--in other words making it more like a park and less like a highway.

Responding to increasing public pressure, the Departments of Transportation and Parks & Recreation announced the following:

• Cars will only be allowed in the park 7 to 10 am and 3 to 7 pm
• Five entrances permanently closed to cars and reclaimed
• 25 mph speed limit on park drives (formerly 30 mph)
• High Occupancy Vehicle restriction during the morning rush hour on the Park's West Drive

Congratulations to the Mayor and the Parks & Recreation and Transportation Departments for responding to the needs of their constituents and taking this historic step towards a car-free park loop drive.

On October 26, 1,000 New Yorkers came together to rally for a car-free Central Park Loop Drive. The standing room only crowd celebrated the fact that all five councilmembers around the park, 75,000 park users and a long list of civic and health groups, including West Harlem Environmental Action and the American Lung Association of the City of New York, have come out in support of a car-free park or a three-month trial closure.

Mayor Bloomberg's wise decision to increase car-free hours in the park and close entrances to cars reflects the changing needs and priorities of New Yorkers. More people are recreating while fewer people are driving in the park; more New Yorkers are fighting obesity and asthma while fewer people have the resources to buy expensive gym memberships or "ultrasonic nebulizers" (high-tech asthma treatment); more kids need a safe place to play after school while fewer options are available.

Thank you Mayor Bloomberg for standing up for New Yorkers, who depend on Central Park as a safe and healthy place to escape, play, relax and exercise. Tens of thousands of New Yorkers look forward to standing with you when you cut the ribbon on a completely car-free Central Park Loop Drive.  

• Freeing the Park, New York Post, December 4, 2004
• Traffic Said Lighter on First Day of High-Occupancy Vehicle Lanes in City, The New York Sun, November 30, 2004
• Give thanks for a car-free park, am New York, November 29, 2004
• Driving Hours in Central Park to Be Reduced After Holidays, The New York Times, November 22, 2004
• Park going traffic-lite, Daily News, November 22, 2004
• Driver restrictions for Park loop, Newsday, November 22, 2004
• Park's Saving Grass, New York Post, November 22, 2004

We still need your help to press for a completely car-free loop drive. Download a petition, ask your friends, neighbors and co-workers to sign it and then mail it to T.A. With your help, we can reach 100,000 signatures by the Spring.

With your continued support we can win a car-free park!

Are You a Full-Fledged Member of Transportation Alternatives?

If not, now's the time. We need your support to win car-free parks, more street space for bicycling, and citywide traffic calming and pedestrian safety measures. Become a T.A. member today!

www.transalt.org/join

Public Workshops on Bus Rapid Transit

New York City’s buses move at a snail's pace. Thanks to a new NYC Transit and DOT BRT study now underway, that may soon change. To find out more about plans to speed your bus, drop in on one of these important public workshops:

Bronx
Monday, December 6
5pm - 8pm
Borough President's Office 198 E. 161 Street
River Ave. A,B,C to 161 St. – River Ave

Manhattan
Thursday, December 9
5pm – 8pm
MTA Headquarters
347 Madison Ave., 5th Floor

Brooklyn
Wednesday, January 5
5pm – 8pm
Brooklyn Borough Hall
209 Joralemon Street, 1st Floor

Queens
Tuesday, January 11
5pm – 8pm
York College, Jamaica
94-20 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard
Faculty and Staff Dining Room