Since the 1960's, New Yorkers striving for a better city have urged city administrations to restore Central Park to its role as an urban oasis. Since the first car was allowed into the park on Nov. 13, 1899, Central Park's serenity has been steadily eroded, with many thousands of children, walkers, cyclists, runners and skaters forced to endure escalating levels of pollution, noise and personal danger.

Central Park advocates chipped away at the untrammeled car use of the Central Park loop road in the 1940s and 50s, winning car-free summer weekends in 1966, and other car-free periods thereafter. The last extension of car-free hours came in the closing days of the Dinkins Administration in 1993.

Brooklyn's Prospect Park today enjoys even fewer car-free hours than Central Park. NYC Parks and Transportation officials have never produced a real answer as to why the policies diverge for the city's two most famous green spaces.