Car Free Prospect Park

easternpkwy

Transportation Alternatives will be holding a press conference at 5:00 pm today just inside the GAP entrance of Prospect Park. TA is releasing a study of Prospect Park called, “Are Cars Driving Out the People?”


TA would really like to get some people out to this event. If you are interested in the long-running car-free park campaign and you can make it, please swing by. It shouldn’t last more than 40 minutes. Tupper Thomas and a number of City Councilmembers are expected to be in attendance.

tony balls

hahahha.....cars are allowed in for all of FOUR hours a day to ease traffic elsewhere.

people are running out of stuff to complain about.

whyfi

Tony Balls wrote: hahahha.....cars are allowed in for all of FOUR hours a day to ease traffic elsewhere.

people are running out of stuff to complain about.

I couldn't care about the afternoon hours, but the morning hours do keep me away. I'd love to start the day with a bike ride, but for me to do that, I have to drag my ass out of bed before 6am.

I'll head over to the park this evening.

tony balls

uhhhh.... the cars don't drive in the bike lanes! I ride the park all the time during the drive-through hours and it's never a problem.

whyfi

Tony Balls wrote: uhhhh.... the cars don't drive in the bike lanes! I ride the park all the time during the drive-through hours and it's never a problem.

You're absolutely right - they don't drive in the bike lanes, but they do drive right next to 'em. The park is the only place that I can get up to a good speed without having to stop every thirty seconds at an intersection. As such, I need to keep a lot of oxygen flowin' through my system and the exhaust doesn't treat my lungs kindly. I can take a leisurely ride through the park without a problem, but I go to push myself, not stroll.

kosherdave

This is not just one more thing people complain about, it's an ongoing problem that affects PPark as well as Central Park. Cars should not drive to "ease traffic." They CRUISE thru the park so fast that they blow by men when I'm doing 30 on my bike. Someone was hit recently in central park, by a car. cars act like they own the road and DO often go into the bike lane. I ride in the park nearly every day when I get home from work, which happens to be car-time. It sucks with the cars. I've been nearly clipped countless times and I am a seasoned cyclist/runner and watch where I am going.
Face it, in reality, it's not about easing traffic, it's about blasting across town to beat other cars on their way home from work. It's stupid to have cars in a park. It's a PARK not a free way. But I doubt things will change, people value cars more than they value exercise or the environment, obviously.

vanilla

one problem is that the walkers and runners and KIDS are always in the bike lane as well as the ped lane and thus the cyclists have to go into the bike lane, etc.

THEN there are the people walking against the flow and there ends up not being much space...

kosherdave, i only ever get up to speed after dark b/c i have almost hit SO many little kids in the middle of the road that it totally sucks... you are brave.

armchair_warrior

i support the ban on cars in the park. living in brooklyn for over 20 years and i only driven inside the park once! and it was to the skating rink. cuase a female friend refused to walk the distance lol.

tony balls

eh.....so we disagree. I think it's just a minor inconvenience that we all have to learn to deal with.

regardess, I think we can all get behind what Vanilla posted regarding people that can't figure out that the loop goes counter-clockwise, or that a picture of a bicycle in a lane means don't fucking walking in it. Does anyone else verbally berate these idiots or is it just me?

whyfi

Tony Balls wrote: Does anyone else verbally berate these idiots or is it just me?

You're not the angry jogger, are you?!

tony balls

ha....no, I hate jogging.

yesterday I thought about printing up instructional pamphlets on how to walk the right way, and what a picture of a bicycle means. It would be hilarious and fun excpet i'd have to stop riding to hand them out.

whyfi

Tony Balls wrote: ha....no, I hate jogging.

yesterday I thought about printing up instructional pamphlets on how to walk the right way, and what a picture of a bicycle means. It would be hilarious and fun excpet i'd have to stop riding to hand them out.

Prep the pamphlets with double-sided tape and slap'em on their backs as you ride. "If you recieved this pamphlet, I shoulda'feckin'ran you over..."

stacey

Tony Balls wrote: eh.....so we disagree. I think it's just a minor inconvenience that we all have to learn to deal with.

regardess, I think we can all get behind what Vanilla posted regarding people that can't figure out that the loop goes counter-clockwise, or that a picture of a bicycle in a lane means don't fucking walking in it. Does anyone else verbally berate these idiots or is it just me?

I missed that post - who sould be going counter-clockwise peds or bikers?

armchair_warrior

if they ban cars. the bikes and rollerbladers can have the large middle lane and the walkers and runners can have the outter lanes.

tony balls

stacey wrote: [quote=Tony Balls]eh.....so we disagree. I think it's just a minor inconvenience that we all have to learn to deal with.

regardess, I think we can all get behind what Vanilla posted regarding people that can't figure out that the loop goes counter-clockwise, or that a picture of a bicycle in a lane means don't fucking walking in it. Does anyone else verbally berate these idiots or is it just me?

I missed that post - who sould be going counter-clockwise peds or bikers?


Everyone! the whole thing.


also, they will NEVER ban cars from that road. I just don't see it ever happening.

muteflute

Tony Balls wrote: [quote=stacey][quote=Tony Balls]eh.....so we disagree. I think it's just a minor inconvenience that we all have to learn to deal with.

regardess, I think we can all get behind what Vanilla posted regarding people that can't figure out that the loop goes counter-clockwise, or that a picture of a bicycle in a lane means don't fucking walking in it. Does anyone else verbally berate these idiots or is it just me?

I missed that post - who sould be going counter-clockwise peds or bikers?


Everyone! the whole thing.


also, they will NEVER ban cars from that road. I just don't see it ever happening.

maybe if they enforced the speed limit, it would be better. or, limited it to one lane. there is totally no need for two lanes of traffic. they could make it one lane of traffic separated by a small island, one lane for bikes and then the rest for...whomever. there are better ways than the current situation--I'd rather bike on madison ave. during rush hour than in the park during car hours. bleh.

tony balls

muteflute wrote: [quote=Tony Balls][quote=stacey][quote=Tony Balls]eh.....so we disagree. I think it's just a minor inconvenience that we all have to learn to deal with.

regardess, I think we can all get behind what Vanilla posted regarding people that can't figure out that the loop goes counter-clockwise, or that a picture of a bicycle in a lane means don't fucking walking in it. Does anyone else verbally berate these idiots or is it just me?

I missed that post - who sould be going counter-clockwise peds or bikers?


Everyone! the whole thing.


also, they will NEVER ban cars from that road. I just don't see it ever happening.

maybe if they enforced the speed limit, it would be better. or, limited it to one lane. there is totally no need for two lanes of traffic. they could make it one lane of traffic separated by a small island, one lane for bikes and then the rest for...whomever. there are better ways than the current situation--I'd rather bike on madison ave. during rush hour than in the park during car hours. bleh.

not gonna happen. there's simply not that much wrong with the way it's operated now (at least, from the city's perspective). and the "islands" thing is just ridiculous wishful thinking. It's fun to imagine, maybe, but it will NEVER happen.

kosherdave

I agree there is a problem with people going the wrong way. Bikers should ALWAYS go in the direction of the traffic, and so should walkers and rollerbladers. The ONLY people I'd say might have an exception to go either way, would be runners. Apparently running in the same direction in a circle is bad for your legs or something (there was a recent post about this but I'm too lazy to hunt it down). So I'd say that the wrong-way runners should be responsible for not getting in the way of everyone else. And when cars are in the park, people should stick to the appropriate lane, when cars are not in the park, then cyclists can move to one of the car lanes, we like more space anyhow. Peds should also realize that only the cars follow the stop lights, so not to cross the street just because the light says they can. Peds need to watch for cyclists, and cyclists need to be aware that peds often don't look before the cross.

easternpkwy

A word on behalf of pedestrians - often when we are at a crosswalk, and look at the oncoming traffic, it is difficult to judge the speed of on-comers.

Unlike a street full of cars, which by and large move at roughly the same rate of speed, cyclists and joggers and walkers move at many different rates of speed, at the same time. So crossers must take a guess about the right time to cross, and hope they are right!

I am not exclusively a pedestrian - I do bike in the park, but I do so casually, usually w my 3 year old in her seat on the back, bound for a different playground or the lake or some special spot. So maybe I am more sympathetic to pedestrians than if I were out for exercise....

PS: my sympathy does not extend to clueless people who simply do not look when they cross.

kosherdave

I'm not saying that peds don't have just as much right to the park as everyone else, I'm just saying the need to watch out more than they do (as does everyone else I suppose).

The best thing would be to close the park to cars, next best would be to make only one car lane.
I wish they'd enforce the speeding, even THAT would be a help!

stacey

kosherdave wrote: I'm not saying that peds don't have just as much right to the park as everyone else, I'm just saying the need to watch out more than they do (as does everyone else I suppose).

I definitely agree that everyone has to keep an eye about them while in the park and 90% of the people who use the park do - but the bikers that ride in a pack on Saturday morning (when there are no cars) are really pissing me off. They need to remember that they are vehicles also and in NYC pedestrians have the right of way. This past weekend I almost came to blows with a biker who was zooming in that pack. My son tripped and fell into the bike lane as they were zooming by and this a-hole tells me "get that kid the f--k out of my way". Well that turned into a little shouting match and he said "I'll kick your ass" to which I said "I dare you" - by then some other parents calmed me down and I left it at that.

Also I think this park is being used more and more now and I think it would make sense to enlarge the bike and pedestrian paths and make the traffic one lane (instead of two).

escap

I run 3-4 days a week in the park, and I hear everyone's points but it seems selfish to just ban cars outright. Just 4 hours a day doesn't strike me as overbearing--I often run on weekdays and there's barely a soul to be seen anywhere. Obviously cars shouldn't be allowed on week they can have a couple hours each morning and evening. Every group irritates the other group--cars are too aggressive, peds are too clueless, joggers go the wrong way, and bikers crash into us.

vanilla

***remember that some of us ride track bikes that don't have brakes and even the cyclists with brakes need room to slow down when going 30 mph. no lectures on the track bikes, we can stop but the above is meant to keep the peds out of our way! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

alex

vanilla wrote: ***remember that some of us ride track bikes that don't have brakes and even the cyclists with brakes need room to slow down when going 30 mph. no lectures on the track bikes, we can stop but the above is meant to keep the peds out of our way! :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

If you take the brakes off your bike and then you run in to something it's your own fault.

rose

escap wrote: I run 3-4 days a week in the park, and I hear everyone's points but it seems selfish to just ban cars outright.

I don't think it's selfish. It's not like cars don't have the use of every other road in Brooklyn. Though I would be okay with cars in the park on winter weekdays, when it really is pretty deserted.

tony balls

hahaha........track all you want but bitching about not having brakes is FUCKING IDIOTIC.

Put a brake on your bike!

kosherdave

escap wrote: I run 3-4 days a week in the park, and I hear everyone's points but it seems selfish to just ban cars outright. Just 4 hours a day doesn't strike me as overbearing...

But its not the hours as much as which hours. Most of us work, and many work in the city, so by the time we get home to use the park it's 5:30 or 6:30 or whatever. Then there's only light till 8pm. So to have cars from 5-7 or whatever, is really using up the PRIME time for many of us to use the park. Same goes for the morning times.
I am sure the park is really great at 3pm on Tuesdays, but how the heck would I know? Believe me, I'd rather be there than at work, but I've got to make a living. At least there are no cars on the weekends.

escap

work? Geez, you people with your "jobs" are so selfish.

Point taken. I just don't envy the task of pols (although they asked for it) of having to constantly sort out the millions of different interests of all the various groups and lobbies that are out there. No cars in the parks! Too much traffic! Not enough housing! Too much development! More services! Less taxes!

Makes the head spin.

drano

There's plenty of public transport in the city.

I see no need to be inconvenienced when there are numerous alternatives to driving. Perhaps if taking one's car to work was some sort of civic-minded deed I would feel differently, but as it stands - no.

duke of flatbush

Its not just for bikers - but there is a movement to wrap a Greenway around Brooklyn - from Newtown Creek to well past the VZB. It'll be safe, with a median between car traffic and pedestria / bike traffic in most cases, and nicely landscaped.

Anyone interested in checking out the route - and getting out for a bikeride tomorrow - check out this flyer:
http://www.brooklynian.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=3247

stacey

I was talking about this with my 10 year old son last night and he thinks a good solution could be that only cars with 4 or more passengers should be allowed to cut through the park.