The city’s Shared Streets program will take traffic off of Downtown streets on three days in August.
BY YANNIC RACK
Downtowners, prepare to go pedestrian.
The city unveiled its 2016 Summer Streets schedule last week, and the program includes a new “Shared Streets” event that will limit car traffic through 60 square blocks of Lower Manhattan for one Saturday in August.
Between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Aug. 13, the second of three Summer Street Saturdays, Downtowners and visitors from all over the city will be able to walk, bike and explore the historic streets of New York’s oldest neighborhood from City Hall down to Bowling Green.
The area, bounded by Broadway and Water and Fulton Sts., will be open to pedestrians, cyclists and a limited number of motorists, who can take in a range of cultural programming — including walking tours, performances and installations offered throughout the neighborhood.
The citywide Summer Streets festival will also shut down nearly seven miles of streets elsewhere in the city — from the Brooklyn Bridge along Lafayette St. and Park Ave. up to 72nd St. — on three consecutive Saturdays during the same month. But during the other days, the Downtown portion will only close Lafayette St. from Foley Square to Canal St.
On August 6, August 13 and August 20, streets will be closed off from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. All events are free and nearly 300,000 people took advantage of the programs and activities last year, according to the city.
This year’s programming will include dance, theatrical and musical performances; public art installations; historic walking tours; self-guided art and architecture tours; sports including handcycles, basketball and soccer; an outdoor food court with free samples; a 165-foot long, 30-foot high zip line; a climbing wall; free bike and roller-blade rentals; and a beach in Foley Square, complete with a water slide.
A full schedule will be announced closer to the date.
