Mobilizing the Region

Issue 214 April 2, 1999


Organizing Works

NYC transportation and parks officials announced Wednesday that weekday hours when cars are permitted to use the roadway in Brooklyn's Prospect Park would be significantly scaled back. The officials said the move was a compromise between strong pressure for a car-free park and fears that closing the drive would worsen traffic in nearby neighborhoods.

Car-free park activists can be forgiven for feeling that, in a city where most outdoor space consists of traffic-clogged streets, they're doing most of the compromising. "There is no reason the park shouldn't be car-free," Transportation Alternatives' John Kaehny told the NY Times. Still, the welcome change is a testament to strong sentiment favoring more car-free space in NYC, and to a terrific organizing job by Transportation Alternatives and community activists. In April, 1998, 500 citizens overflowed a hearing at Brooklyn Borough Hall to demand a park car ban.


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