After more than a century, Central Park will return its roads to walkers, runners and cyclists. Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that Central Park will kick out cars starting this summer, saying the move aims to cut down on traffic accidents and air pollution in the most-visited urban park in the United States.
“This was not the purpose of this park, to be built for automobiles. Literally, it was built before there were automobile,” de Blasio said. The new decision takes effect on June 27.
According to Reuters, more than 42 million visitors a year are drawn to Central Park, which encompasses more than 800 acres in the borough of Manhattan. The park, which includes a zoo, boating lakes and event spaces, has been designated as a National Historic Landmark since 1962.
Motorists have been banned since 2015 from the loop drives in the northern part of the park, de Blasio said. The new ban will cover the whole park, except for four transverse roadways that were built into the park’s original design to accommodate traffic.
“There’s going to be a kind of peace and sense of security that wasn’t there before,” de Blasio said.
