Location: Let's talk about the Summer Streets program. Has it gone as good as you would have hoped?

Location: Let's talk about the Summer Streets program. Has it gone as good as you would have hoped?

The year 2007 may prove to be one of the most important years in the storied history of New York City's development. In a future timeline of urban advances, it might be printed in as big a font and as bold a type as 1811--when the grid system was adopted--or 1904--when the I.R.T. subway opened. The text adjacent to 2007 could say something like "the start of livable streets," or "the bike boom begins," or "congestion pricing kicks off." It may turn out that all of those descriptions may suit 2007. The real question is, in hindsight, will they?

Pedestrians will gather to demand the Mayor abolish pedestrian barricades in Midtown and improve conditions for pedestrians on crowded Midtown sidewalks. Some participants will dress as cattle and travel as a herd around the intersection of 5th and 50th to dramatize the mistreatment of pedestrians. Other participants will carry signs saying:

Today, Transportation Alternatives (T.A.), a 5,000 member pedestrian advocacy group urged Mayor Giuliani to restore the eight crosswalks along 49th and 50th Streets currently blocked by pedestrian barricades. The group's request comes in response to a city plan to make the crosswalk blocking barricades permanent, and to move the crosswalk at 50th street and 5th Ave. 60 feet south, and at 50th St. and 6th Ave. 60 feet north. The City's plan was revealed in today's NY Post.

In the wake of Wednesday's gruesome traffic massacre of two young mothers and their babies on Atlantic Avenue, Transportation Alternatives (T.A.) is calling on New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Iris Weinshall to take immediate action to make median strips safe for pedestrians and prevent further horrors by stopping curb mounting motorists.