Gridlock Sam on Car-Free Central Park

By Aaron Naparstek

1:31 PM EDT on May 16, 2007

Yesterday we put forth the argument that fastest, cheapest, easiest and most symbolically rich way for Mayor Bloomberg to initiate his new green agenda for New York City would be to make Central Park car-free during the summer of 2007.

Last fall, in a wide-ranging interview with Open Planning Project executive director Mark Gorton, New York City transportation expert “Gridlock” Sam Schwartz explained how eliminating cars from the Central Park Loop Drive will not result in long-term traffic nightmares for the surrounding neighborhoods or NYC in general.

Schwartz served as NYC’s Commissioner of Traffic from 1982-86 and is a former Chief Engineer/First Deputy Commissioner at the NYC DOT. He also writes a daily transportation column for the Daily News.

Aaron Naparstek

Aaron Naparstek is the founder and former editor-in-chief of Streetsblog. Based in Brooklyn, New York, Naparstek's journalism, advocacy and community organizing work has been instrumental in growing the bicycle network, removing motor vehicles from parks, and developing new public plazas, car-free streets and life-saving traffic-calming measures across all five boroughs. He was also one of the original cast members of the "War on Cars" podcast. You can find more of his work on his website.