gwd

This seems impractical, but who knows with hysteria car-free may become the next market bubble after food and fuel:

https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/7460889.stm

timmhaan

i think it's entirely do-able. i've been in cities in other countries with huge traffic-free pedestrian lanes and it works just fine.

i'm glad they're pushing forward with it. we need to experiment and try new things, otherwise we might as well give up every square inch to the almighty automobile and declare defeat. I thought they were thinking of doing this in times square as well? that might have been beaten down though...

Roody

from BBC news:
It's only for three Saturdays, but it's a start. Of course, cities do this quite often--blocking for street fairs, parades, block parties, etc. But I guess it's more newsworthy when the Big Apple does it.

cerewa

I think part of the reason it's considered newsworthy is that it's a long stretch of road that normally sees very heavy auto traffic. That's a good 15-20 minutes of high speed riding to get from one end of the other, not a little street fair. It's about what Bloomberg sees as good transportation priorities (one major street for non-automobile transport) and not about using a street for non-transportation purposes.