Auto-Free Press Interview: Henry Stern

Giuliani Administration Parks Commissioner Henry Stern is no stranger to NYC government He has held positions with the Manhattan borough president, deputy mayors, the Parks Department, the Consumer Affairs Department, and the City Council starting in 1962. In 1983, he became Parks Commissioner under the Koch Administration. Now he's back. On March 25 and 26, T.A.'s John Kaehny and Jon Orcutt were able to spend several hours with Commissioner Stern discussing parks, auto-dependence and city politics.

T.A. Egbert Viele, Chief Engineer of Central Park in 1861, said that "the primary objective of the Park is as a rural resort where the people of all classes, escaping from the glare, and glitter and turmoil of the city, might find relief for the mind, and physical recreation.' Is this still true today? How do cars fit into the picture? Or not?

H.S. It is a balance between recreation and transportation. Obviously, the fewer cars in the park, the better. It's interesting to see how much parkland has been turned over to highways. The Major Degan has encroached on Van Cortland Park and you see it along the Shore Parkway and in Forest Park too. All the parkways have grown. It's the nature of highways to become wider. The Long Island Expressway is 10 lanes now in some places. The only park in the area which has been completely protected has been the Bronx River Park in Westchester. But there are of course trends in the opposite direction. Right now we are trying to demap Richmond Parkway in Staten Island. We're keeping records in each borough of how much land that we re-green. Abingdon Square is one we've wanted to do for years, but we have many sites in mind.

T.A. Can you describe your role in creating car-free Saturdays and Sundays? Have your feelings or motivations about increasing car-free hours changed since then?

H.S. It started in 1966 when Hoving was the Parks Commissioner and I was the Departments Executive Director. That was and is part of the effort to recapture green space. We're still trying to do that in a lot of ways. Central Park is relatively green. Places where people are less vigilant have suffered reverses. We insisted on a 10-acre wetland restoration when they last did major runway work at LaGuardia. We're fighting encroachments around the city. Van Voorhees Park is a good example.

T.A. In January, Central Park's car-free "summer hour" period was extended to 10 months of the year. What's been the public response to this?

H.S. We received a number of complaints about it I think those complaints are moot now that the old summer hours are coming around. But I'd say it's received general acceptance.

T.A. Any pats on the back?

H.S. I don't think it's in the nature of people to be thankful for improvements. And don't bother to organize a lot of "thank you's" either.

T.A. Do you want to extend Prospect Park's "summer hour" season to match Central Park's?

H.S. That kind of thing really depends on local conditions. It's a community issue. [Prospect Park Administrator] Tupper Thomas is weighing the number of people using the park against the number of drivers. How many are driving, how many are walking.

T.A. Do you think that having Central Park's drives open to cabs induces those car trips? In other words, taking a cab downtown or uptown through the park isn't a force of nature, but something that's done because the opportunity exists?

H.S. I'm not a member of the torture-the-drivers school. I know that some people now treat driving like it's smoking or wearing fur. I'm not into harassing drivers.

T.A. Our statistics show that it's primarily taxis and livery cars using the drives, which to us indicates...

H.S. I would say that's preferable. In the hierarchy of transportation wed rather have semi-public vehicles like that than private cam

T.A. Well, to us, that says that it's not car-dependent suburban commuters. It's a local, discretionary trip. Between 10: 00 and 11:00 am, 71% of park baffle is one person vehicles or one passenger cars. The drives are open that hour for the convenience of about 190 people.

H.S. That empty cabs are in the park is a valid point Perhaps they shouldn't be traversing the park.

T.A. But are 190 driven or cab passengers an hour a high enough number against the philosophy of discouraging driving in the park?

H.S. To me, walking is a higher activity than driving. Where you draw the line on different kinds of uses is a matter of reason.

T.A. If the Department of Transportation gave their OK from a traffic standpoint to remove cars from Central Park, would you ask the Mayor for permission to do this?

H.S. Obviously we would listen to DOT The main reason we were able to keep the limitations on driving during the mid-1980's, when certain leading citizens wanted to ease the restrictions, was that we had the support of Ross Sandler and the DOT. With DOT on your side, you have greater latitude to deal with the traffic from a Parks standpoint.

T.A. All of the major organized Park user groups, including The Road Runners, NY Cycle Club, and the Road Skaters have endorsed a car-free Central Park, as have elected officials like Manhattan Borough President Ruth Messinger In 1993, Councilmember Andrew Eristoff whose district surrounds the Eastern and Southern edge of Central Park, surveyed his constituents and found that 57% said that cats should not be allowed in the Park. Do you want more car-free hours in the Park? What about a completely car-free Park?

H.S. Balancing interests is not really a matter of a poll. There's no question that a lot of people want to ban cars, but there's substantial sentiment on the other side as well. To me it's logical Chat more people want to ban traffic, and people love bans. The trend is in that direction. The change last fall was a great step forward.

T.A. How do you feel about an overnight ban?

H.S. We've made no decision yet on that I think the cars at night do very little harm. People are not allowed in park after 1:00 am anyway. The traffic doesn't bother anyone. In a way, it's better to have them in the park than waking up people by driving down Madison and 5th. I don't share your messianic view that the park should be closed to cars on principle. The strength of the park is that it can accommodate many types of users.

T.A. Our view on cars overnight is that by prohibiting cars from driving there when there's plenty of room on other avenues, you advance the idea of park traffic as the exception rather than the rule. With cars banned overnight, they would only be allowed in the park for two short periods each weekday We could see some early morning car-free time during which people could use the park for before-work exercise.

H.S. I understand. You argue the point well. But I think it better to convenience some people when it doesn't do anyone else any harm. Traffic could be a safety measure for others in the park late at night. With regard to the morning, I think that with the bike and jogging lanes that we have, and the relatively fight traffic during the early morning, we've already achieved a good balance of uses.

T.A. Is the Department actively trying to discourage nighttime park use? Some consider cars a harassing presence, and the idea that cats make it safer for runners or cyclists is a complete myth.

H.S. Most motorists are a benign presence. But this is a valid question. We should talk more with the police. At night we don't mind legitimate uses of the park, but there are unfortunately a whole range of other things that go on here that we don't want to encourage.

T.A. What do you know about Transportation Alternatives? Do think T.A. is contributing to the well-being of New York City?

H.S. You're an invaluable, positive force. Things would be worse without you.

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