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Keep Off The GasSubtitleBrooklyn Kids Want Cars Out of Prospect Park
Author
By Jeffrey Harmatz
Author TitleOriginal FilenameworldThese kids may be just old enough to drive, but the last thing they want to see is another car. In Prospect Park that is. A group of Brooklyn teens, ably aided by advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, have organized a large youth movement that is demanding a ban on all cars driving through Prospect Park. The anti-automobile initiative has been working for years to keep cars out of the borough's premier park, and though there has been positive movement, it may take the fresh ideas of the next generation to make the park completely motorist-free. Four young teens from the Prospect Park area, Oswald Bowman, Michael Cheng, Farah Karimova, and Kelena Matthews, have been working all summer long to collect 10,000 postcards from other youth across Brooklyn. On Monday, they joined with a number of anti-car kids and adults to march across the Brooklyn Bridge and hand-deliver the mass mailing right to the steps of City Hall. "Prospect Park is our park, and on behalf of kids in Brooklyn, we're calling on Mayor Michael Bloomberg to take the cars out and give us a safe place to exercise and relax," said Bowman. Though the teens of Brooklyn may be idealistic in their approach to change, their goals are not beyond the realm of possibility. The march is only the latest shout in a long sounding call to keep cars out of Prospect Park. In the past several years, Mayor Bloomberg and the Department of Transportation (DOT) have made several efforts to reduce traffic and congestion and promote outdoor activities and exercise, and their most recent initiative closed streets in Manhattan and Brooklyn, effectively creating community open spaces. The mayor has also spoken publicly about the possibility of closing the park to automobile traffic, and the DOT has consistently reduced driving hours there as well. Currently, traffic is only allowed on the East Drive between 7 and 9 a.m. and on the West Drive between 5 and 9 p.m., which are considered to be peak traffic hours. Several members of City Council have come out in favor of a car-free park. Among them are council members David Yassky, Bill de Blasio, and Letitia James, who joined the youngsters at their City Hall rally and lent their support to the grassroots movement. "Prospect Park is a respite, a slice of heaven, a bit of the country for all Brooklynites," said James. "Today, more and more residents of Brooklyn want car-free zones, and they need places where they can relax and exercise without fear of speeding vehicles. Our parks need to be for people, not for cars." "It is clear that something needs to be done to ensure the safety of the increasing number of people using Prospect Park," added Yassky. "We must work to protect park-goers and ensure the long-term vibrancy of Prospect Park as a Brooklyn destination."
Submitted by rick on September 17, 2008 - 16:20. categories [ ]
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