Awesome biking opportunity and fun for everyone! From 7:00 am to 1:00 pm, nearly seven miles of NYC’s streets are opened for people to play, walk, bike; extending from the Brooklyn Bridge to Central Park, along Park Avenue and connecting streets. There are various activities along the way. Copy & paste the link below.

https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/summerst...ome/home.shtml

how fast can you go?

And will there be face-painting? And organic coffee? I prefer mixing it up with the taxis, limos, cars, delivery trucks, and general chaos that is Manhattan. I can't imagine anything more fun than that. Really.

It's really meant for those who don't usually ride bikes. I was there last two years. While it's nice without vehicles, it's way too crowded and many newbies didn't keep straight line and made sudden stops in the middle of the road, or simply hit you because it's so crowded that it's unavoidable. Not so pleasant.

I would really like them to make it an ALL DAY event, instead of concentrated to before 1pm.

Never mind all that, the traffic jam it caused in the rest of Manhattan made the whole thing not worth it, except that you could ride on the GCT viaduct.

Expect to see tons of Citibikes

It was the least crowded Summer Streets event today, thanks to the rain! Actually still quite crowded at the rest stops with pedestrians, joggers and roller skaters invading the bike lane, and families of five on adults' bikes, kids' bikes and tandems spread across the avenue. Not fun for most people on these forums.

I rode last Saturday and yesterday...........It was great both days...........Yeah, last Saturday was a little wet but still enjoyable. Yesterday was thousand's of rider's, jogger's, skateboarder's, something everyone. I look forward to doing what I like to do...........RIDE MY BICYCLE............

I'll post here what I wrote in Streetsblog:

They did a better job this year with closing some of the cross-streets to eliminate the frequent stops, especially uptown. This helped the flow of the ride; but, on the downside, it removed some ability for pedestrians to cross, thereby generating lots of ill will (which I heard frequently expressed). There should be signs telling pedestrians where the nearest crossing is located.

Other observations:

* The traffic signals at closed cross-streets should be covered. Several times I stopped at red lights, only to find that the intersection was closed and there was no need.

* You can only walk through the tunnel, not ride. Heck with that. I came to ride, not to walk.

* Lafayette St. near Kenmare St. is too thin for this event; the bottleneck there was the only point where I felt it was a bit dangerous. Maybe it would be better to have the northbound route from the Brooklyn Bridge turn right off of Lafayette onto Broome, and then left up Cleveland Place, where it would rejoin Lafayette at Spring St.

* As in past years, I am amazed that there are no porta-johns. I made a stop at my office this time; and in past years I have stopped as Washington Square Park or at the playground on 68th St. and First Avenue. But, unless you work in the area or are aware of the existence of a particular park bathroom, you are just out of luck when you have to relieve yourself.

* No merchandise! An ongoing disappointment. I have a large collection of caps; and I certainly would have bought a cap with the Summer Streets logo. Surely they could sell caps (baseball-style and bicycle-style), tee-shirts, key chains, and other stuff with the logo.

I also wonder whether other avenues could be considered. I know that Park has several advantages: it has Grand Central; it's already two-way; it connects to Lafayette St. and so goes all the way downtown. But I can't help but think that Madison Ave. would be a good place for this ride also. You could still do Lafayette and Park Ave. South up to 24th or 25th St., and then jump over to Madison.

Anyway, it was good to be out there; and I will try to make what will probably be the last-ever version of this event next week.

Which tunnel are you referring to? I think Park Avenue has the best road condition (least bumpy construction surfaces and potholes).

The previous Summer Street (the rainy one), when I was returning it was after 1pm and the volunteers kept warning me "There are vehicles on the street now". 7am-1pm is really too short/early for a weekend enjoyment.

They say the route is 7 miles long, then it seems the "1 mile = 20 blocks" is far off?

The tunnel is just south of Grand Central, in the 30s. There is apparantly some kind of sound exhibit in there. But, when I found that you couldn't ride through, I lost interest.

While I'd love it if the event went past 1pm, I wouldn't say that the 7am start is too early. It seems to me that bike-lovers tend to start early. I am on the road by 5:00 or 5:30 on every weekend morning and on any weekday that I take off from work in order to ride (despite the fact that I am by nature a night person).

Do you mean the short, dark, ascending underpass-like part that leads up to the Park Ave. Viaduct (when riding southward from uptown along Park ave.)? If so, all cars and bikes can run on it. Walking would actually be dangerous. I'm not aware of any other tunnel.

They must get 7 miles from counting it in both directions. I did it once and that was enough. It isn't for serious riders, or even casual riders. Its more like a street fair, but with bikes.

[QUOTE=Ferdinand NYC;15953680]The tunnel is just south of Grand Central, in the 30s. There is apparantly some kind of sound exhibit in there. But, when I found that you couldn't ride through, I lost interest.

"Voice Tunnel is the signature event of Summer Streets 2013. Open to pedestrians for the first time in history, the Park Avenue Tunnel, which runs from East 33rd Street to East 40th Street, will be open to pedestrians at the south entrance starting at 7 am."

I'm not even aware of its existence. I rode on Park avenue through the 40's and 30's on the street surface as usual (except the elevated Park Ave. Viaduct which I normally don't ride on). I'm not aware there is any entrance to a tunnel. From the pictures it looks awesome, like the metro system of some foreign countries. Where is the entrance?

Voice Tunnel, park at bike valet on 32nd (on the right going north) follow the directions from the people there to the tunnel. Walk back from 37th (?) It's an interesting Art exhibit walking through it once was enough for me. Link to my video of it. https://s1281.photobucket.com/user/df...?sort=3&page=1

I took summer streets to work today. It was a slow leisurely slog, but I could get used to this. The weather was glorious, and it's nice to see the city from a different perspective, from the middle of the avenue, with no cars, no lights, and no rush. Or the crowds going at a lackadaisical pace would get to me after a while. Is this what it's like riding in Copenhagen?

I wish they make the route longer, from 96th Street to South Ferry, and make it a whole day event, so people don't have to rush returning home. But anyway, why should I care, since I'm not so excited about riding among swerving crowds.

(By the way, I saw the entrance to the tunnel today.)