Thursday, March 24th, 2011

City Councilwoman Gale Brewer is working hard this week to improve the conditions for non-motorists in Central Park.  First, Brewer is joining fellow City Council members Ydanis Rodriguez and Vincent Gentile to introduce legislation in hopes of changing Central Park’s traffic lights into flashing yellow lights during the park’s car-free hours. DNAinfo reports that the City Council members planned to bring the proposal to yesterday’s City Council meeting, urging lawmakers to give cyclists a time to use the six-mile loop without fear of being ticketed.  Cyclists have been working to push the proposal through since a ticketing blitz began this year, and they hope to defeat the Department of Transportation, who opposes the change due to “public safety concerns for crossing pedestrians.”  Brewer is taking her fight for non-motorists one step further by also advocating that Central Park and Prospect Park become car-free.  The New York Post reports that Brewer also planned to introduce a bill banning cars from the parks, only allowing vehicles on the four transverses, where bikes and pedestrians don’t share the road.  Mayor Bloomberg has opted to reduce driving hours in the park instead when past proposals have been introduced.  Neither would comment on the bill, but Brewer said she anticipates support from the administration.

Filed under: Central Park, News, Politics, Upper West Side, Upper West Side Blog, Wellness 1 Comment »
Tags: Bloomberg, Cars, Central Park, City Council, City Council Meeting, City Councilwoman Gale Brewer, Cyclists, Gale Brewer, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Michael Bloomberg, News, Pedestrians, Politics, Vincent Gentile, Wellness, Ydanis Rodriguez