Central Park Turns 150 
Time Right for Move Towards Car-Free

The Mayor should celebrate Central Park's 150th birthday by converting select street entrances to grassy areas and instituting a three-month car-free summer.

This year marks central park's 150th anniversary. What better way to celebrate than to reclaim the Central Park drive from the automobile and return it to its intended use as a recreational thoroughfare? The Car-Free Central Park Campaign will be doing all it can to make this a reality in 2003, armed with 44,000 petition signatures (and counting), dozens of key endorsements and high hopes.

Lung Association Joins Car-Free Call
Concerned about the lungs of cyclists, skaters and joggers immersed in traffic-caused carbon monoxide and ozone on Central Park's loop drive, the American Lung Association-hardly a radical group-is urging Mayor Bloomberg to keep cars out of Central Park. Ideally, the Lung Association's call will resonate with Mayor Bloomberg, who has already shown great concern for the lungs of restaurant workers.

Towards Car-Free 2003
Over the last year, the Car-Free Central Park Campaign has met with many of the people in and out of government who hold Central Park's future in their hands. They agree that the City should reclaim street entrances as park land, reduce car hours in the park to only 7 to 9 am on weekdays and try a car-free month or three in the summer. In the early 1990s, the City landscaped the Columbus Circle and Frederick Douglas Circle entrances back into park space. Now, the City should expand upon its improvements of the past decade by converting the asphalt at the street entrances at East 102nd Street, West 90th Street and West 85th Street into grassy lawns and play spaces. In addition, it should honor Central Park's 150th birthday by declaring a three-month car-free summer in the park.

Take Action
If you want cars out, we can put you to work. Our petition drive has collected 44,000 signatures-on the way to 100,000-calling for a car-free park. Gathering petition signatures is a great way to convert that anger and frustration about cars in the park into a bigger voice for change. At a minimum, we need you to write a letter or call your city councilmember. See Committee News (p. 24) for more information.

Read the latest news about the Car-Free Central Park campaign.