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Car-Free Streets

Streetsblog’s City Correspondent Has the Skinny on Summer Streets

4:26 PM EDT on August 2, 2013

If you're looking for summertime recreation, I have just the spot for you. New York's hottest club is Summer Streets.

Don't be fooled by the "road closed" signs -- they're actually open for you to walk, bike, scoot or stroll. Inaugurated in 2008 and located on Park Avenue and Lafayette Street from 72nd Street to the Brooklyn Bridge, this ciclovia event is the creation of NYC DOT. Thanks to club promoter Janette Sadik-Khan, this East Side hotspot now connects to a car-free Central Park loop drive north of 72nd Street.

This place has everything: climbing walls, dance performances, mini golf, tai chi, live music, fitness classes, parkour, yoga, a zip line, and Voice Tunnel.

What's Voice Tunnel? It's that thing where the city shuts down the Park Avenue tunnel between 33rd and 40th Streets and Mexican-Canadian artist Rafael Lozano-Hemmer installs an interactive light and sound exhibition.

The forecast calls for a chance of rain. Summer Streets runs from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and will repeat on August 10 and 17.

Stephen Miller
In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation. From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.

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