Sections of Central Park — East and West Drive north of 72nd Street — are now permanently closed to traffic. The four transverse roads, which cut across the park, remain open.
But that hasn't stopped some people from grumbling. Cabbie Abdul Adams predicted ruin. "It's going to be a very terrible, terrible traffic," he groused, driving past the entrance to the park at 92nd Street.
Polly Trottenberg, Commissioner of the Department of Transportation, was in Central Park to mark the day. She said there won't be more congestion. "Over time, when you push more cars out of the park, they find their way into the local street grid," she said. "And that's what's enabled us to keep pushing more and more cars out of the park."
Advocates claim Central Park will be safer for pedestrians, as will Prospect Park, which will also become car-free soon. But taxi driver Frank Okoli is pessimistic. He believes pedestrians are a lost cause. "Closing the park will never make New Yorkers to be smart," he said. "Rather you make them to be more stupid and dumb."
Now that the traffic in the parks is greatly reduced, the Department of Transportation has set their sights on cyclists. "Now you got to make sure the cyclists are riding safely, that's definitely going to be our next area of focus," Trottenberg said.