Might be good if DOT polls the vendors on Summer Streets on how conditions and or services might improved if issues do exist: could be an opportunity to use human-powered cargo vehicles, pedicabs, electric pallet trucks, etc.

I think they're right, but only half right. If the majority of customers drive, a pedestrian street is going to discourage business. But if the majority take transit or walk, a pedestrian street will encourage business. If the sidewalks are empty, then figure out what's driving the pedestrians away. If the sidewalks are overflowing, then make more space for the pedestrians.

I think there are plenty of neighborhoods, including the ones you mention, where there's enough foot traffic to expect a street closure to benefit businesses. Seventh Avenue in Park Slope, Steinway Street in Astoria, and Fordham Road in the Bronx are other possibilities.

Through traffic can benefit merchants - if it has a chance to stop. That's why crossroads are good locations for stores. It's also why I'm in favor of removing the rush-hour parking restrictions on Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside. Business is better when people are going slower and can see the stores and go inside easily.

The result was a boom. The merchants were big winners, and would never want it back the way it was.

Almost anything on a street closed to motor vehicles wins, except building materials and similar places. The loser is through traffic, which benefits the merchants not at all.

I was totally inspired by how amazing it was to have a car-free stretch of street in the middle of Manhattan, open to just recreational activity. The mood of the crowd was infectious, people were just so happy and you could really sense a collective awakening to the possibilities of what New York City can be.

If I could change anything:
- I would extend the hours of Summer Streets closing to 2pm,
- I would leave the route exactly the way it is,
- I would extend this program to every Saturday between mid-April or Memorial Day to perhaps Labor Day or the end of October
- I would add a few porta potties along the route, at least at the major rest areas.
- I definitely would not want to see the route cluttered by street fair vendors.

It was an amazing, eye-opening experience to see that the American urban condition can be changed.

The idea of trying different areas is interesting. Wasn't turning Times Square into a no-traffic zone one of Gehl's ideas? Although I would expect a lot more resistance along the lines of Prince St. with some of the more residential areas.

You could limit it to merchants with brick-and-mortar establishments on Park Ave. However many of those would not be interested. I can't see James Robinson putting out a set of 19th C. porcelain on a table (and the possibility of a bicyclist crashing into it isn't the only reason). Many of the goods for sale on Park Ave. are deliberately overpriced and rarified, and cannot be sold excpet in the fully-controlled retail environments that Park Avenue merchants pay $75 a square foot to rent. The same goods would never fetch a profit (given the overhead) on the street. I suppose Robinson might set up a table and let their staff look at stuff people brought by a la antiques roadshow.

They didn't "shut it down", they opened it up.

And it was wonderful!

I was thinking as I road the route (twice) from Grand Central to the Brooklyn Bridge that one disappointment was how few merchants took advantage of the increased foot traffic. I'll bet, now that they see the oppertunity, many more merchants will figure out how to cash in.