A summertime tradition has returned to New York City, giving residents a rare treat: car-free streets.
The Summer Streets program is back for three Saturdays, starting Aug. 6. From 7 a.m. to 1 p.m., Lafayette Street and Park Avenue will be free of cars from the Brooklyn Bridge all the way up to 109th Street in East Harlem.
The otherwise busy stretch of Manhattan will be turned into an 8-mile-long park for people to play, run, walk and bike for the first half of the day.
As in previous years, there will be several rest stops along the path that have activities and refreshments.
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This year's event returns to three days after the COVID-19 pandemic truncated past years. It was also expanded to nearly eight miles.
"We are bringing back Summer Streets this August to a record number of blocks, bringing car-free streets and exciting programming to East Harlem for the very first time," DOT Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said.
A full list of the more than 120 programs offered during this year's Summer Streets event are listed here.
