Greetings!

Thank you to everyone who was able to make it to our Car Free Day Planning Meeting at BMCC's Fiterman Hall today!  It was great to see so many passionate organizations, agencies, and representatives from throughout the City all in one room this morning!

I want to give a huge thank you to the New York City Department of Transportation who has been working tirelessly to build out the great event we inaugurated last year, growing it exponentially this year.  This year, the DOT has secured streets that will go Car Free in Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan, and The Bronx, helping to achieve the goal of reaching areas of boroughs where car ownership is more of a norm.

As discussed in the meeting, DOT will be closing down Broadway from Times Square to Union Square, from 10AM - 4PM.  Additionally, they are kicking off their 10th season of Weekend Walks starting on Car Free Day, with one location in Brooklyn, two locations in Queens, and another location in The Bronx.  The purpose of these is to reimagine commercial corridors as an area that can go car free, being completely open to pedestrians.

We will also co-host an academic forum related to sustainable transportation in our city with some leading experts in the field. This event, originally scheduled to take place at CCNY has moved to NYIT to make it more accessible to folks coming from downtown. Please check out the flyer below and RSVP for this event here.

In Uptown Manhattan, my staff has been working hard, with the help of the Washington Heights Business Improvement District, securing a major sector of my district, Saint Nicholas Avenue from 181st Street - 190th Street, to go car free!  With thousands of people traveling through this area of my district every day, I am excited to see the host of activities, programming, and events brought to the streets! If you are interested in taking part in this street closure, please fill out this form.

Lastly, I am glad to commend all of the organizations, including those that were unable to attend today, for their commitment in planning, preparing for, and promoting Car Free Day, pushing forward towards a #CarFreeNYC!  I truly believe this year will help to push us forward in lowering the number of cars that travel on our streets, the number of New Yorker's that own a car versus use car share services or biking services, and improving the overall quality of life for every resident, tourist, and person that steps foot in the City!

Please share the poster prepared by DOT and check out our social media guide here, complete with graphics, newsletter language and suggested tweets! Please also feel free to check out the website. I hope you all find an activity to participate in throughout the city on our 2nd #CarFreeNYC on Earth Day, Saturday, April 22, 2017!

Sincerely,

Ydanis Rodriguez
Chair, Council Transportation Committee
District 10







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