SUMMER STREETS - WEEK 1 OF 3
--------------------------
John Pazmino
NYSkies Astronomy Inc
www.nyskies.org
nyskies@nyskies.org
2008 August 10
Introduction
----------
In June 2008 New York Mayor Bloomberg announced 'Summer Streets',
a project to close certain Manhattan streets from motor traffic on
three Saturdays during August. The dates were set for Saturdays,
August 9, 16, 23, from 07h to 13h EDST, The streets were Lafayette St
from Brooklyn Bridge, Fourth Avenue, Park Avenue South, Park Avenue,
72nd Street to Central Park. The full length of this route was quite
11 kilometers.
In these streets during these dates and hours, motor vehicles were
barred and only human-powered transport was allowed. For the most
part, bicycles were expected, with rental and repair services spotted
along the route.
This is the first of three summaries, one for each of the three
Summer Streets sessions. It covers the session of 9 August 2008. The
other sessions were on the 16th and 23rd of August.
NYSkies
-----
NYSkies applied for a booth or exhibit for Summer Streets, in the
belief that it was a eco/enviro street fair similar to Earth Day.
After discussion with the Summer Streets officials, the request was
turned down because there were no plans for exhibits, booths,
displays. The streets were left as open as possible to provide
uninhibited traverse along them. Perhaps stores fronting the streets
will have displays or special services.
However, Summer Streets encouraged NYSkies, and other applicants,
to avail of the streets to hand out flyers, so long as we did not set
up a fixed location with props or furniture. It noted that NYSkies
could offer walking tours of Grand Central Terminal to visit its
astronomy features.
As it happened, NYSkies did hand out in the vicinity of Grand
Central, about 100 maps with self-guided walks thru the depot, but
otherwise made no extra effort for a presence in Summer Streets. It
was simply too enthused with the walk/ride along the streets to bother
with special promotion of astronomy!
Eleven kilometers?
----------------
Maps of Summer Street delineated only the roughly straight run
from Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park. This, on the scale of the maps,
was quite 11,000 meters. The idea was to provide more than a token
block or two for bicycles to cruise and to cut thru many diverse
districts of Manhattan.
The streets were set apart by horses across the intersections, but
only on the arriving or incoming side of the cross streets. The
departing or outgoing streets were not physicly blocked. Also on the
far end, at Madison or Lexington Av, on the incoming streets, horses
were thrown up to prevent cars from entering these blocks. The
exception was a car stopping in the block, like a taxi or resident's
vehicle. The horse was pulled aside for just that vehicle.
While the outgoing blocks were not shut off, vehicles could only
leave away from Summer Streets, so there was no interference with the
main corridor. I don't know how cars wanting to stop within these
blocks were handled. Did police allow them to back up into the blocks?
These extra closed streets, From Madison Av to Lexington Av at
each crossing added many kilometers of car-free route to Summer
Streets. Summer Streets visitors could promenade on these blocks, too,
and not just use them to pass to or from the mainline.
With the corridor 11 kilometers long, 12 short blocks to the
kilometer, perhaps 20 cross streets maintained for road traffic, each
piece of closed cross street is 200 meters long, I guessitmate that
there were 22 MORE kilometers of walk/ride route in Summer Streets!
Thus, not 11, but 33, kilometers of Manhattan street took part in
Summer Streets.
Cross streets
-----------
The closed cross streets, being of a more varied development than
the avenues, offered interesting attractions in architecture and
construction. On the Madison Av side of the cross streets there are
some townhouses and mansions that can be appreciated free from the
interference of motor traffic.
These streets also provided a deep buffer against traffic noise
from beyond Summer Streets. The nearest car-filled streets, Madison Av
and Lexington Av, are abut 100 meters away, at the far end of the
closed blocks. This distance attenuated vehicular noise, leaving a
remarkably quiet mainline. It was actually quiet enough to understand
conversations several meters away! The only significant distracting
noise was from machinery, like air condition, in buildings along the
mainline.
My own trek
---------
The day of Saturday the 9th of August was about as perfect a day
for walking and other outdoor pursuits. The sky was a deep blue with a
few cumuli drifting by. The air was cool and breezy. The only thing
missing, but that's a long term lack, was a solar halo.
I arrived at Union Square at about 11:00 via the BMT Brighton
train and picked up a take-away lunch at the square's agora. I then
stepped into Park Avenue South at 17th Street.
Nothing immediately called attention to Summer Streets except the
current of bicycles and absence of cars. All Summer Streets signs I
saw there and elsewhere seemed to be visible only from within the
mainline. These were at most intersections and occasionally within a
block.
Park Avenue South was filled wall-to-wall with people on foot,
bike, skates. At first, in the southern blocks, they seemed to be
local folk from the surrounding residences. As I approached 23rd
Street the mix shifted to a substantial portion of tourists.
Altho most of the tourists didn't know why the streets were
closed, they seemed to thoroly enjoy the promenade to pass from place
to place.
I ambled slowly, there being no hurry on this ideal day. I repeatedly
stopped to admire some detail on a building or take pictures from
vantages here to fore not feasible. The sunlight was dazzling, with a
harsh cutoff between sun and shade at each intersection. Many visitors
were forced to don hats or shades while crossing between blocks.
The parapet of the median was a handy bench for a rest for both
walkers and riders. The shade of the buildings was a very welcome
relief from the blazing sun. It also stirred up a refreshing breeze.
Bicycles
------
Quite as many cyclists plied Summer Streets as walkers! For the
most part they were well-behaved. They rode at about twice walking
speed and did stop or swerve when a pedestrian wandered into their
way. Each intersection was crewed by several police, who likely were
strong determents against reckless riding or speeding. As far as I
saw, no one was pulled over for such infractions.
The only conduct approaching rowdiness was in the Helnsley
Wornhole (for want of an official name). In the dark corridor cyclists
hooted and shouted to hear the echos off of the stone walls. But their
riding was still gentle enough to allow foot traffic to share the way.
This behavior was really no worse than any one would do when walking
under a bridge in Central Park.
I missed the bicycle rental and repair bases. Since I was walking,
I didn't look out for them. Perhaps they were part of the rest stops
where bikes were kept or fixed off-site?
Virtually all bikes were single-seaters. a few were two-seaters
and only a handful had trailers for kids. Pretty much all cyclists
wore at least a helmet, which could be obtained at a rest stop,
according to convos I overheard.
What's a motor?
-------------
The usual concept of a 'motor' is a device for propelling a
vehicle by means of fuel combustion. Cars are propelled by a gasoline
motor; trucks and buses; diesel. Essentially all 'motor vehicles' in
New York are of this kind, so excluding 'motor vehicles' from Summer
Streets rid the streets of all motor traffic.
However, some vehicles are moved by motors that do not burn a
fuel. I can think of a solar-powered skateboard or a battery-powered
scooter. There are also vehicles that require no motor as such, like a
cart with sail to be pushed by wind.
I saw none of these odd machines on Summer Streets, but would they
be allowed?
I can also imagine that an inventor may want to use a future
Summer Streets to prove out, say, a flywheel stored-energy vehicle or
one moved by a hydrogen fuel-cell. Neither produces noxious emissions,
but are they kosher in Summer Streets?
Of the more normal human-powered devices, I saw a few carts on
which the rider worked front-mounted pedals and one worked by hand-
cranked 'pedals'. The latter seemed terribly clumsy, occupying the
hands and using weaker, more tiring, muscles.
Conspicuously absent were rickshaws or pedicabs. While they are
human-powered, there just were none at all in Summer Streets. Were
they purposely turned away?
Rest stops
--------
I detoured at one rest stop. It was a simple tent and counter to
sign up visitors for assorted off-site activities, give directions and
advice, and point to a nearby sipping fountain. This was in the high
20s on the east side of Park Avenue South.
The sipping fountain was a weird curiosity. A cart topped with a
basin and six spouts was coupled to a hydrant! Apart from provided a
refreshing drink, this setup would be a dropdead poster child for the
purity and flavor of New York City water. Maybe the water department
will use it in its advertising?
Yoga & cha-cha?
-------------
Publicity for Summer Streets noted that there were workshops in
yoga, cha-cha, and other mind-body exercises along the route. Also
noted was musical performances. At least in the section I walked, I
noticed none in the mainline of Summer Streets. They could have been
on certain of the side streets but I don't know for cure.
Except for the rest stops, the street was bare of extraneous
attractions, the only ones I specificly noticed were stands, tables,
signs for wayside stores.
. It really didn't matter. I don't think any one came to SUmmer
Streets looking for organized entertainment. The entertainment was the
freedom from motor traffic and the ease of traversing from nabe to
nabe on Manhattan.
Murray Hill tunnel
----------------
Also called Park Av Tunnel by signs on and near its portals, this
cavern is a relic of the New York and Harlem Railroad of the 19th
century. It continued south from Grand Central Station (it WAS really
a 'station' back then) to a terminal at Madison Av and 26 St. The
tunnel kept the tracks on a milder profile thru the very Murray Hill.
Since the railroad was cut back in the 1870s to the present end-
of-rail in Grand Central Terminal, the tunnel was used for carriages,
then streetcars, then motor vehicles. The profile was altered to
accommodate each use over the decades but the interior still evidences
its railroad origins..
No bikes were allowed in the tunnel and, apparently, no foot
traffic was permitted. The ramps were blocked by horses and minded by
police. However, there was no deliberate effort to keep people out!
The police waved away bicycles but did not call back walkers who
descended the ramps. The way was clear to walk thru the tunnel to the
other end but I saw no one actually doing that. Everyone contented
himself with stopping at the portal for inspecting or photographing
the interior, then climbing back to the street.
Keeping bikes out was wise to prevent averse encounters with
walkers in the dark tunnel. The only significant illumination was from
the vents in the ceiling, seen also in the median. These are left over
from the railroad to discharge smoke from the locomotives. They are
maintained to let out heat and fumes of motor vehicles.
Perhaps Summer Streets in the future should issue specific
instructions about walking thru this tunnel? Maybe guides can explain
its history and keep general order within it?
Grand Central Terminal
--------------------
When I reached Grand Central Terminal, about 12:00, I took a table
in its Dining Concourse, broke out my lunch, availed of the restrooms.
Then I stood at the bottom of the wrap-around promenade at 41 St to
hand out NYSkies flyers on the astronomy features of Grand Central.
These were left over from Earth Day. Handing them out now exhausted
the stock on hand..
By now the crowds were more tourist than locals. They posed for
pictures on the ramps and wrap-around against the Chrysler tower, the
UN (partly blocked by a utility house of the Grand Hyatt hotel), 42nd
St, the Vanderbilt statue, MetLife tower. The flow of foreign tongues
was prevalent all along the wrap-around.
I mused that it would be funky if the Vanderbilt statue was fitted
with mechanical arms waving traffic wands, as if directing cars on the
wrap-around.
The ramp was a bit too steep for some cyclists, whose pedaling
stalled. They walked their mounts to the top. This section of Summer
Streets was the steepest grade, followed by the slope in the Helmsley
Wormhole on the north side of Grand Central Terminal. That, however,
was gentle enough to ride up or down. (Bikes were not allowed in the
Murray Hill Tunnel, which has much steeper grades.)
Helmsley Wornhole
---------------
This is the piece of the Grand Central wrap-around that passes
thru the Helmsley building on the north side of the depot. It's an
overpass for rising over cross streets and an underpass for running
beneath the tower. Its crooked path within the building remind me of a
wormhole in wood, so that's what I call it.
For cars this is a mean pass! The road makes two right-angle turns
within the building under poor lighting. On times when I rode thru in
a car the angles were littered with debris from cars who missed the
turns. Apparently this litter was cleaned up for Summer Streets,
thwarting photographers who stopped here specially to document it.
Even the direction arrows on the crash walls looked new.
Rapid transit
-----------
Summer Street offered transit under or parallel to it via the IRT
Lexington Av line. I suppose some visitors walked for a while, then
took the train to explore an other section of Summer Streets.
Because i did not use the subway during my walk i don't know if it
had a larger carriage then a normal weekend. The BMT, by which I got
to Union Sq next to Summer Streets, was overflowing with riders.
However, they could have been going to the agora up stairs. The
streets around Union Sq, off of Summer Streets, were mobbed, as was
the agora itself.
Right hand flow
-------------
In the reach of Park Avenue South to Park Avenue, the street has a
substantial median to separate traffic in each direction. There was no
specific instruction from the police to stay in the right hand flow,
yet just about everyone took up the rule on his own. Cyclists flowed
in one direction on each side of the street, with only singular
exceptions.
Walkers, too, stayed in right hand flow, with a little more
erraticism. Some, even I, did wrongroad once in a while, mainly to
take a look at a this or that wayside feature.
On the Grand Central wrap-around, probably because of the confined
width, right hand flow was pretty well observed. People stopping to
look over the parapet or take pictures stood on the raised walkway.
I don't know what the situation was in Lafayette St and Fourth Av.
These are one wide thorofares with no divider between the up and down
town traffic.
Glitches
------
A few, none fatal. Summer Streets seemed to be extremely well
planned and carried out. One glitch is in the Summer Street map, on
the website and signs. It's very pretty but somewhat illegible. The
white lettering is too small and thin and is placed on a light blue
field. This makes it hard to make out, like on a small computer
printout.
Mark the IRT Lexington Av stations on the map, maybe others
within, say, 200 meters of the mainline. This will encourage people to
come to Summer Streets by transit and assure them that if they tire
out, they have the train to hand for getting home.
I didn't notice any Summer Streets signs on the cross streets
facing toward Lexington Av and Madison Av. Signs placed there would
call attention to the street closing and invite visitors into the
mainline.
The extra entertainment could be more carefully advertised. The
impression from the general publicity was that the entertainment was
in stands or booths along the mainline. It wasn't. Maybe it was off
site or in certain wayside establishments?
Consider dimensioning the route in metric and oldstyle units. Mind
that, specially with the Olympics in the news, that sports, such as
cycling, is almost all metric. Meterposts, on signs and maps, would
keep track of distance. The meterposts also will be more inviting and
meaningful for tourists. Every quarter kilometer is plenty enough.
Advisory signs for the Murray Hill tunnel would clarify its
access, or not, for visitors. Parade barriers placed across the
portals will indicate that people can go down the ramps but not into
the tunnel. Doubling or linking the barriers will discourage crossing
around them.
Encourage wayside businesses to set out signs, flyers, menus,
displays for the visitors. Only a few had special promotion for Summer
Streets. They seemed to rely only on the ambient walkby traffic.
Consider shifting the hours a bit, like to 09:00-15:00. This would
allow for early morning deliveries to wayside businesses. Late risers
and those coming in from afar will have more time to enjoy the route
End of the walk
-------------
It was close to 13:00, closing hour for Summer Streets. I just
left the Grand Central wrap-around and was walking up Park Avenue,
next to its median. I detoured to inspect the tracks snaking under the
skyscrapers lining Park Avenue. These are seen thru sidewalk grates at
certain street corners. Many of the grates have plates under them to
block view of the tracks, but there are several still open.
When I reached 48th Street, police began diverting people from
Park Avenue. Summer Streets was over for today. Bikes glided to a
halt, then darted off to other, car-filled, streets. Within a minute
of two, cars started streaming onto Park Avenue from the side streets.
Five minutes later, except for horses piled up at corners, Park Avenue
regained its normal traffic-choked demeanor.
I quit Park Av to get a Madison Avenue bus to Central Park for the
rest of the day.