John could do all that stuff right off the side streets which are also closed for the most part.

Tug of war, fresbee, badminton, Jousting,
archery, volleyball, pingpong, mini-golf,

That has nothing to do with it. Helmets slighly reduce the chance of someone cracking open their own heads.

Auto insurance doesn't cover a person's injuries to themself. It covers injuries to others, or their property, or one's own vehicle.

Bicycles are too cheap to be worth insuring separately from homeowner's insurance, and do too little damage too infrequently to others to be worth insuring for liability.

I've never heard of renter's insurance that included any kind of liability protection.

Depends on how you measure it. My view is it would cost vastly more. An auto insurance company might charge $1,200 for a liability policy expecting to pay out $1,100. That leaves $100 for administration and profit.

For a bicycle, with an expected payout of $5, it would charge $105.

Some things are not worth insuring.

Honestly, I'm trying to assess the liability from all sides. Should a pedestrian struck by a bicyclist with bad brakes be responsible for the emergency room examination? Would the risk of losing one's insurance or license help to curb bad riding habits (like running lights)?

As for the relative dangers of various street transportation, it is a matter for actuarial calculation, not subjective speculation. But it is unlikely that bike liability insurance would cost as much as auto insurance.

btw -- In-school bicycle training programs with resources comparable to motor training is a terrific idea!

Trainging cyclists is a great idea - perhaps that would be a good addition to future Summer Streets events. Building out the bike infrastructure will help ease some road sharing issues, the rest of the suggestions are just rants from bitter drivers (license, insurance, etc.)

On ordinary Saturday mornings, this swath of public land is reserved for a relatively small number of motorists. On August 9, the city recognized the potential for streets as open public spaces and closed Park Avenue to motor vehicle traffic. Motor vehicles still held exclusive sway on the other 11 avenues (and two shoreline expressways), but Park Avenue was reserved for the people. My guess is that more people used this roadway by foot and bicycle this day than would have by car on a typical Saturday morning. More importantly, they enjoyed it in a novel way that promotes public health and enriches civil culture.

Without question, this unprecedented 6-mile street closure was a huge success. MAKE IT PERMAMENT!

One of the most appealing aspects of Summer Streets was the flow and mix of people. It wasn't congested and overcrowded like a street fair. And there weren't large groups of people moving through together. It was a nice uncrowded and leisurely mix of pedestrians, bicyclists and skaters. People bunched up at the major cross streets where the traffic signals were in effect, but then spread out again. The conflicts between pedestrians and bicyclists are few when the 90%+ of the space usually reserved for cars is available.

I'd say several thousand cyclists toured the Summer Streets route. Perhaps DoT has estimates? I'd especially like to know whether the number of people using the roadway this Saturday morning was greater than the number of people that motor on this route on a typical Saturday morning. If so, is there any possible justification for not making Summer Streets permanent?

We didn't find the official stations very interesting, but after the cars were let back on Park we rode over to West 55th where the Alvin Ailey was giving an interactive dance and drumming performance. The performance was great, but it was held in the middle of a traditional street fair, complete with tube socks and sausage-and-pepper-heros. It was overcrowded and stressful. The ambience (if not the dance) was better over on Park, by far.

Zoom, zoom, zoom!

Trained, certainly.

If they started formal training programs for on-street riding in the public schools, the way a whole publicly supported infrastructure was created to encourage driving (I took driver's ed in high school), then there would be many more people choosing to ride on the streets.

Licensed maybe.

This could also encourage more riding, but could also discourage it.

Insured certainly not.

It is one hell of a lot harder to kill people or destroy property with a bicycle than it is with a car. We don't require licenses and insurance for rowboats, strollers, or supermarket granny carts either.

Motor vehicles require licensing and insurance because they are dangerous.

"Their vehicles should be registered and inspected for safety."

The most unsafe bicycle is extremely unlikely to injure anyone other than the user. When did you last hear about a bicycle pedel sticking and sending the bicycle through a storefront window, killing and injuring multiple pedestrians?

"Their parking should be regulated."

At some time after enough parking on public land (ie. streets) is shifted from motor vehicles to bicycles so there actually is a place to park. I suggest starting by extending the sidewalks within 15 feet of the corner and putting bike racks there, which would also reduce motor vehicle accidents to due improved visibility.

It was still a beautiful day and the euphoria remained, but the awareness had to prevail that an accident with any of the cars, trucks, and buses that surrounded me could cause grave injury and was potentially lethal.

That we had it; that it was a tremendous success: New York Ciclovia elicits a kind of drug-free health-kick be-in 60s-style optimism that will hopefully morph into one of the driving engines of a utopian-seeking future.

In a related matter, if bicyclists are to use NYC streets more fully, I think they should also be trained, licensed, and insured; their vehicles should be registered and inspected for safety; their parking should be regulated; and any violation of the above, or traffic rules, should penalized as rigorously as they are for motorists.

I don't know who's pushing this idea, but I will be so happy when it dies a well-deserved death. You know what? I think that motorists should be trained, licensed and insured, because they sure don't act like it now.