This Saturday, the city’s Summer Streets program is back, meaning Park Avenue and connecting streets will be car-free from 72nd Street all the way down to the Brooklyn Bridge from 7 a.m. until 1 p.m. You can even get a free bike helmet at 51st Street, and there are various activities at rest stops along the way. Here’s the route.
It’s now even easier to get to the East side by bike, because of an East-West bike path that cuts across Central Park just south of 96th Street. A two-way bike-only lane was also recently been painted onto the road that cuts across the park at 72nd Street, although bikes and pedestrians have not been staying within their designated lines from what I’ve seen.
We have a full list of events up on our calendar, with free performances in the plazas outside Lincoln Center, free outdoor concerts in Riverside and Central Parks, and a classic Jimmy Stewart movie for $6. Among the most intriguing events at Lincoln Center is accordion wrestling, in which a dude with a mohawk rocks out on the accordion while others wrestle. It’s an old Finnish tradition. Really!
There are also a few reasons to venture outside the neighborhood: Salsafest begins in the Bronx, with lots of free performances. And the Dance Theater of Harlem is holding a Street Festival on Saturday from 12 to 7. There’s also a poetry fest in the East Village.
Photo by Lynn Austin.
