Unprecedented: Councilmembers Bill DeBlasio, James Davis, Yvette Clarke, Angel Rodriguez and David Yassky are calling for a three-month trial Car-Free period for Prospect Park.

Traffic experts say that three months is long enough to give traffic time to adjust and to study the effects of the change. The Councilmembers' plan calls on the city to:

1. Conduct a three-month Car-Free Prospect Park Trial period beginning in August, with a comprehensive study to help determine the actual effects of closing the park to cars.
2. Expand the car-free "summer rules" to the entire year.

Growing Support: Popular and political support for a Car-Free Prospect Park is growing-- the Councilmembers are at the top of a long list of local and national environmental, transportation and civic groups calling for a car-free park. This spring alone, residents have signed 10,000 postcards in support of a car-free park. The councilmembers compromise plan is a giant step in the right direction towards winning a safer, saner, car-free Prospect Park for Brooklyn.

Dangerous and Confusing Conditions: Traffic safety, noise and pollution have long been a concern for Prospect Park's neighbors who have to share the historic park with speeding weekday commuter traffic. Currently, summer mid-day hours are car-free, but cars use the loop 24 hours a day, 5 days a week from October to April. Those who can't make it to the park in the middle of a weekday day are always out of luck - cars are on the loop year round from 10pm - 9am and from 5pm to 7pm. If you're confused, you're not alone.

Transportation Alternatives' s Brooklyn volunteers are leading the effort to win a permanently car-free Prospect Park. "As more and more people use the park on a daily basis, they see what terrific place Prospect Park is. But they also see how terrifying it is with speeding, spewing cars so close by. It really says something special about the Park and these five Councilmembers that people from such disparate (and strong) neighborhoods can share a common vision," says T.A.'s Campaign Coordinator, Ellen Cavanagh.

Why a car free park?

1. Restore the park to its intended role as a refuge from the tumult of city streets.
2. Save lives and prevent injuries. A recreation lane next to a de-facto expressway is a recipe for disaster. Speeds average nearly 40 mph when cars are in the park. From 1995-1997, cars injured 24 pedestrians and cyclists in Prospect Park, and killed one. Closing the park drives to through traffic would help tame perennially dangerous and complicated intersections like Grand Army Plaza and Ocean Ave/ Parkside
3. Reduce runner-biker-skater-pedestrian conflicts. More space and a more clearly marked loop means more orderly and safe conditions for park users.
4. Reduce traffic around the park. Using the park as a traffic valve creates a magnet for drivers. When the park is available, motorists abandon routes intended for high traffic volumes such as the Prospect Expressway and Flatbush Avenue.
5. End motorist confusion. A permanent car-free park will simplify traffic patterns, end confusion over park hours and make Grand Army Plaza much safer.
6. Provide a safe commute route for cyclists. Safer routes encourage more cycling and less traffic.
7. Long-term benefits. A car-free park costs nothing, and promises cleaner air, less noise and increased safety.

Scorecard 2002: Car-Free Prospect Park

The following people have gone on record supporting a trial full time car-free period in Prospect Park:

All Five City Councilmembers whose districts surround Prospect Park:

• Yvette Clarke
• James Davis
• Bill De Blasio
• Angel Rodriguez
• David Yassky

25,000 Brooklynites who have written letters and postcards to their elected officials and agency heads. 500 people who appeared at the 1998 Borough Hall Public Hearing, and 75 people who testified in favor of car-free park.

2 Former NYC Department of Transportation Commissioners:

• "Gridlock" Sam Schwartz, former NYC DOT First Deputy Commissioner
• Eliot "Lee" Sander, former NYC DOT Commissioner

Empire State Transportation Alliance: represents every major private and nonprofit sector organization in the downstate New York metropolitan area concerned with transportation policy:

100 Black Men - Alliance for Downtown New York (BID) - American Institute of Architects - American Planning Association NY Metro Chapter - Association for a Better New York - Business Labor Community Coalition - Council on Transportation - Environmental Defense - General Contractors Association - Int'l Union of Operating Engineers - NYS Laborers Tri-Fund - Metro Tech BID - Natural Resources Defense Council - New York Building Congress - New York City Environmental Justice Alliance - New York League of ConservationVoters - New York City Transit Riders Council - NYPIRG Straphangers Campaign - Real Estate Board of New York - Regional Plan Association - Transport Workers Union, Local 100 - Transportation Alternatives - Tri-State Transportation Campaign

Other Major Environmental and Civic Groups: Municipal Arts Society, New York Audubon, Sierra Club New York Chapter.