Photo and Video

City Adds Zip Line To Annual Summer Streets Program
NY1, Jun 12, 2012
New York's annual block party will return this summer with even more Saturday morning activities for participants.

DOT Announces Summer Streets 2012 With Free Zip Line In Union Square
DNA Info, Jun 12, 2012
New Yorkers whizzing across Union Square is nothing new. But on Tuesday morning, dozens decided to make that trek via a 160-foot-long zip line. The zip line, which offered free, sky-high rides across the north side of Union Square park until noon on Tuesday, was set up to provide a taste of the fifth annual Summer Streets festivities, which will close nearly seven miles of Manhattan streets to traffic for three Saturdays this August so that pedestrians can reclaim the roadways.

New Yorkers Ride Zip Line Unveiled In Union Square Today
Metro, NY, Jun 12, 2012
Last year it was dumpster pools, this year it’s a zip line. The New York City Department of Transportation unveiled an 160-foot-long zip line at Union Square Tuesday morning...

A Time To Take Over The Streets, Or Soar Above Them
City Room (NYT), Jun 12, 2012
The city’s annual Summer Streets pedestrian-fest is “taking New Yorkers to new heights” this year, Janette Sadik-Khan, the transportation commissioner, said on Tuesday. She was speaking rather literally, having moments before ridden a 30-foot-high zip line above Union Square.

2011

Hip and Healthy: Summer Streets Takes Over NYC
NBC New York, Aug 16, 2011
Every summer I look forward to the three Saturdays in August when the city closes Park Avenue down past Union Square all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge.

Escapes: Enjoying Manhattan’s (temporarily) Car-Free Streets
Washington Post, Aug 12, 2011
I’ve done yoga in some pretty exotic locations: in a casbah outside Marrakesh, on a terrace overlooking St. Lucia’s Piton mountains and in the Caribbean Sea. But nothing quite compared with rolling out my mat on the street near the intersection of Lafayette and Spring streets in New York’s Soho.

Summer Streets Fest Returns with Free Rock Climbing and Bike Rentals
DNAinfo, New York, Aug 4, 2011
New Yorkers looking to slim down and buff up are in luck this month, because healthy food and rock climbing are the newest highlights of New York's annual Summer Streets festival.

DOT’s ‘Summer Streets’ Program Opens Up 7 Miles of Manhattan Roads to Bikers, Pedestrians
Huffington Post, Jun 29, 2011
Once again, the New York City Department of Transportation will clear seven miles of Manhattan streets this August on three consecutive Saturdays for New Yorkers to walk around and enjoy the summer weather.

2010

‘Summer Streets’ Turns Park Ave. Into Party Central
CBS New York, Aug 7, 2010
Roller blades replaced taxicabs and bicycles replaced buses on Saturday as New York City kicked off its annual Summer Streets initiative, shutting down Park Avenue to traffic and opening it up to some “trashy” fun.

Get Street Smart
NY Post, Aug 7, 2010
Almost seven miles of New York will be car-free today and the next two Saturdays, as the third annual Summer Streets festival replaces traffic with fun-filled events.

City Residents Literally Dumpster Dive During Summer Streets Program
NY1, Aug 7, 2010
New Yorkers did some literal "dumpster diving" in three dumpsters-turned-pools near Grand Central Station as part of the city's Summer Streets program, which turned seven miles of Manhattan streets over to pedestrians Saturday.

Remaking Park Ave into a Spot to Splash
NY Times, Jul 15, 2010
For those New Yorkers who never received a coveted invitation last summer to dive into Dumpsters converted into pools in Brooklyn, there is a much easier alternative this year: Park Avenue.

2008

Where the Streets Have No Cars
Wall Street Journal, Jun 18, 2008
On three August Saturdays this summer, New Yorkers will be able to ride their bikes all the way from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park ...

On 3 Days in August, City Will Try No-Car Zone
New York Times, Jun 17, 2008
It has been a long-held dream of New Yorkers of a certain (greenish) stripe: the streets of Manhattan free of cars...

Manhattan to ban cars in summer
BBC News, UK, Jun 18, 2008
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg has announced a new scheme to make parts of Manhattan traffic-free after an earlier congestion charge plan was rebuffed...

Car-Free Manhattan Boulevards on August Saturdays
Gothamist, NY, Jun 16, 2008
For three Saturdays in August, the city will not allow car-traffic on certain roads in order to create a five-mile boulevard for people to walk or bike...

Car-free zone for biking and walking runs through city 3 days in...
New York Daily News, Jun 16, 2008
The city will turn a 5-mile stretch of Manhattan from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park into a $1 million car-free haven...