Reversing the Seaport/Civic Center Committee’s hesitant endorsement, Community Board 1 roundly denounced the Department of Transportation’s Summer Streets program, which would close 6.9 miles of city streets for three Saturday mornings in August.
The full board’s Tuesday night decision came after John Fratta, chairperson of the Seaport Committee, described the street closures, which stretch from City Hall to Central Park at 72nd St., following Lafayette St., Fourth Ave. and Park Ave. The streets will be closed August 9, 16 and 23 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m.
The D.O.T. originally planned to close Centre St. at the south end of the route, but after the Seaport Committee’s concerns earlier this month, the D.O.T. agreed to close Lafayette St. instead. That leaves Centre St. open, a street Fratta described as a key northbound artery. He said Broadway would provided a good alternative to Lafayette.
“We’re O.K. with it,” Fratta said of the plan.
But the concession on Centre St. was not enough to satisfy the full board, where many members were angry that the D.O.T. presented the proposal as a done deal, leaving little opportunity for community comment.
Diane Lapson, a board member, said she thought it strange that the city would first push for congestion pricing and then promote a program that would only create congestion.
“With all the construction Downtown, I think it’s a bad idea,” Lapson said.
Tom Goodkind, another board member, did not foresee a flood of people using the car-free streets.
“No one wakes up on Saturday ’til 1 p.m. anyway,” he said.
— Julie Shapiro
