The city will expand its “Summer Streets” program to all five boroughs for the first time in the initiative’s 15-year history, Mayor Eric Adams and Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said Monday.
The program, which will take place over five Saturdays between the end of July and the end of August, clears miles of the city’s streets of cars for residents to play, walk and bike.
Adams, who expanded the program to include East Harlem for the first time ever last year, said the initiative will span 20 car-free miles this year.
“Every single New Yorker deserves access to safe, free, open space, and this administration is making it happen,” he said in a statement.
At a new conference in Long Island City, the mayor credited his predecessors — former Mayors Michael Bloomberg and Bill de Blasio — for laying the foundations of the program, calling them “real visionaries.”
The initiative began in 2008, under Bloomberg, and was expanded during de Blasio’s tenure, he said.
The program will operate between 7 a.m. and 1 p.m. on the following dates and streets, the mayor’s office said in a press release:
Saturday, July 29: Queens and Staten Island
Summer Streets in Queens will run along Vernon Boulevard, from 44th Drive to 30th Drive, allowing users to enjoy the entire Queens waterfront in Long Island City and Astoria.
Summer Streets on Staten Island will run along Richmond Terrace, from York Avenue to Bard Avenue, allowing users to access the entire waterfront roadway along Staten Island’s North Shore thoroughfare.
Saturday, Aug. 5, 12, and 19: Manhattan
Summer Streets in Manhattan will extend the traditional route from Brooklyn Bridge all the way into Harlem, traveling along Lafayette Street and Park Avenue up to 109th Street; on Central Park North from Fifth Avenue to Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard; and finally along Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard from 110th Street to 125th Street.
Saturday, Aug. 26: Brooklyn and the Bronx
Summer Streets in Brooklyn will travel along Eastern Parkway, from Grand Army Plaza to Buffalo Avenue, connecting Prospect Heights and Brownsville along the same route as the Caribbean Day Parade.
Summer Streets in the Bronx will follow Grand Concourse, from East Tremont Avenue to Mosholu Parkway.