Two things that bothered me about the third one:
1- the separated lanes north of GCT were too narrow for biking- it squeezed too many bikes into the bike lane and then people ended up riding in the very under-used pedestrian side to get enough room, especially after a mass of people stopped. the separated lanes really did not work.

2- the volunteers were stopping bikers at non-car-crossing intersection to help people cross, which was a great idea. however, they were not given stop signs- they were given signs that said "stop ahead" which was confusing and led to a couple near-collisions because they appeared to be asking people to stop where they were standing, not farther down.

Local stores (not street fair peddlers) and residents allowed to put tables and chairs in the parking lanes, to hang out, dislay wares, consume restaurant food, etc.

I think you could even keep the buses. You'd have the police barriers on one side of the street -- the side entering the block, with a "buses only" sign on it. The buses would enter a block by swerving to the other side (which would normally be against traffic) and then back into the correct lane. You'd need drivers skilled enough to move through a street full of bikes, skateboards, etc.

Dedicated bike and bus lanes. A bike is the easiest, healthiest and cheapest way between two points. And a lot of times it's the quickest (not necessarily for me, because I'm a little slow, but for others - for others!)

Hopefully, as mentioned earlier, Summer Streets inspires people to get out of and feel like they have a right to the streets.

I also agree that Summer Streets would be more fun on a street like Broadway. Can you even imagine how crowded with foot and bike traffic Broadway would be if it were closed to motor vehicle traffic on weekend afternoons? There would be no question that it was good for merchants.

In any event, I agree with Susan that evaluating whether it was "good for business" or "good for the city" based on the sales figures of a few local shops is completely short-sighted, and I think any economic development expert would agree too.

Finally, three cheers for the DOT -- it was an amazing feat to pull this off, and thousands of people had a blast thanks to you!

I was amazed at the number of people who showed up for Summer Streets, it was great. Too bad we don't see them out there every day, or every weekend for that matter.

Put in some wide dedicated arteries for non-motor traffic. Make sure they're linked up together and with bridges and stuff. Dedicated MUPs aren't the answer to anything, but the painted bike lanes are a joke and without a real dedicated commuting/transit infrastructure, there's no way I'd put my kid in a trailer and ride crosstown from the Queensboro Bridge to get to the West Side Greenway even though it would be a fun excursion.

The city should lower the bar for participation in these events. People shouldn't have to ride all the way into Manhattan just to get to the start. The route should be extended into Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx, with seamless connections.

The side streets are the biggest untapped opportunity. All sorts of great things could be done with that space.

I'd like to see more done to emphasize the health angle - do health screenings, health education, highlight good nutrition, etc.

It should go from sun-rise to sun-set. I felt rushed throughout the experience and "stranded" at 1pm when it closed.

Is the Brooklyn Bridge the best place to connect to? I'm not sure. Manhattan or Williamsburg might be better. It was extremely crowded on the BB.

Include Harlem. Run it straight up through Central Park to the Harlem River. That would make a great case for uniting the city.

I also think Broadway, top to bottom, would be a great choice.

Summer Streets is good for the city because it's the kind of thing that makes people like living in the city. Don't we want people to stay here? Raise their kids? Not move to the suburbs? Remember the 70s and 80s when everyone left? Talk about "bad for business!"

Come on, there's more to evaluating an event then looking at retail sales for one day-- we need to look at how this event, and others like it, help make the city a place where people want to live.

It's fine to, look at the numbers, yeah, and I bet they'll show some positive trends. But let's not make the numbers for one day primary criteria for judging the events success. I look at the young people, moving without fear for once, on little bikes, skates, scooters and on foot. How can you put a price tag on that?

(PS. can someone remove my last post? I left out the first sentence...)