Watch here without subtitles.

After sponsoring Streetfilms of the first two CicLAvias, the open streets festival in Los Angeles based on Bogota’s Ciclovia, Streetsblog LA faced a dilemma: How can we continue to cover this event that draws over a hundred thousand Angelenos to the streets?  The answer: Make a Streetfilm that was accessible to Southern California’s large Spanish-speaking population.

¡Viva CicLAvia! consists of two parts. First, narrator Mara Corina Arellano Colin explains the history and concept of Los Angeles’s amazing open streets party, including footage and photos from similar festivals in Bogota, Guadalajara, Mexico City, Brussels and Miami. While the narration is a great explanation of the benefits and culture of CicLAvia, the soul of Social Impact Consulting’s efforts are the interviews with participants.

The next five minutes is a parade of Spanish speakers professing their love of CicLAvia.  Whether it’s the team from South Central’s Mendez Bike Shop, the traffic officer spreading his arms while explaining Viva CicLAvia, or Hollywood’s City Councilman Eric Garcetti; the broad smiles in the Southern California sun give a message in any language.  Giving people more chances to play in the sun is good for Los Angeles.

This Streetfilm marked another first for Streetfilms, a directly reader supported video.  L.A. Streetsblog asked its readers if they wanted a Spanish language film on CicLAvia, and when they said yes, the readers were challenged through a Kick Starter campaign to fund the film.  Needless to say, the readers came through.

Considering that streets and sidewalks make up 80 percent of New York City’s public space, the pedestrian plazas, car-free spaces, neighborhood bike networks and world-class bicycle lanes you have created are vital to the public health of our city. In piloting Safe Routes to School and Safe Streets for Seniors programs, reducing car hours in our largest parks and producing events like neighborhood play streets and Summer Streets, you are pioneering the redistribution of our public space for health’s sake.

While one can imagine a tsunami of ink engulfing the city if over a hundred doctors and other providers had joined up to condemn bike lanes and public plazas, with media types refusing to print a positive word about measures that are making streets safer, it will be quite a feat if this ringing endorsement pierces the news cycle.

Read the text of the letter after the jump; see the original with signatures here.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

We, the undersigned medical professionals, write to acknowledge and encourage your efforts to calm traffic and make New York City streets safer for bicyclists and pedestrians. As a result of your efforts, from re-envisioning Times Square to building the first protected bicycle lanes in the U.S., more New Yorkers are biking and walking than ever before. Mayor Bloomberg, we urge you to continue to set ambitious goals for how our streets and public spaces can help make all of New York City more healthy and safe.

Considering that streets and sidewalks make up 80 percent of New York City’s public space, the pedestrian plazas, car-free spaces, neighborhood bike networks and world-class bicycle lanes you have created are vital to the public health of our city. In piloting Safe Routes to School and Safe Streets for Seniors programs, reducing car hours in our largest parks and producing events like neighborhood play streets and Summer Streets, you are pioneering the redistribution of our public space for health’s sake.

These changes help pave the way for a city that breathes cleaner air and is in better physical condition. Commuting to work by bicycle or increasing the distance of daily walks has been shown to promote weight loss better than any exercise program or medication we could prescribe. Vital to fighting the epidemics of asthma and obesity is the opportunity for children to have safe places to play and clean air to breathe. The traffic calming infrastructure you have built is as valuable as a playground toward encouraging active youth and instilling healthy habits that will last a lifetime.

Thanks to your leadership, bicycling is the fastest growing mode of transportation in New York City and pedestrian safety is at an all-time high. Mayor Bloomberg, we enthusiastically support your efforts to improve bicycling and walking in New York City. As you shape your legacy, please continue to make safe, complete streets part of the prescription for a healthy New York City.

The new Times Square: May 25, 2009. Photo: Aaron Naparstek

Two years after Mayor Bloomberg and NYC DOT remade Times Square, the city’s premiere public space is one of the world’s leading shopping destinations.

Crain’s reports that annual rankings from international real estate firm Cushman & Wakefield place Times Square among the ten most desirable retail locations on the planet, topped in New York only by Fifth Avenue and ahead of East 57th Street and Madison Ave.

This is the first time that the Times Square bowtie, between West 42nd Street and West 47th Street, has made the list. It did so with rents averaging $1,350 a square foot. There is no corresponding annual data from the previous year because Cushman only recently started measuring that specific location. However, as of September 2010, rents there averaged $1,000 a square foot.

“Times Square is the center of the world and it has become another place where retailers want to express their identity,” said [Cushman executive vice president Gene] Spiegelman. He noted that the area is especially popular with moderately priced retailers that would appeal to a mass audience, especially a younger clientele.

This would be big news even during an economic boom. While other factors are no doubt at work, at a time when success stories are few and far between only the most intransigent critic would deny a plausible link between skyrocketing commercial rents and the transformation of Times Square from a car-choked mess into, as Aaron Naparstek wrote in May 2009, “a space filled with people and human activity.”

We look forward to copious city press coverage of this unprecedented development.

You can share your Summer Streets photos by uploading them to Flick and adding the “Streetsblog” tag.

Looks like it’s going to be gorgeous out for the second Summer Streets installment of 2011. Shutterbugs: To add your Summer Streets photos to our Flickr pool, label them with the “Streetsblog” tag.

Graphic via weather.com

Photo: Premshree Pillai/Flickr

The cast of "Goldilocks and the Three Polar Bears" puts on a show on Centre Street. Photo: Zuzu*Petals/Flickr

Transportation Alternatives' bike valet parking at 24th Street. Photo: Asterisk611/Flickr

The eye-popping sand castle competition at Foley Square Photo: bitchcakesny/Flickr

The Whole Foods rest stop on 24th Street, site of free refreshments and bike traffic bottlenecks. Photo: Asterisk611/Flickr

Got more Summer Streets pics? Upload them to Flickr and add the “Streetsblog” tag.

Last year, New Yorkers took to Park Avenue on foot, on bikes, and on rollerblades to enjoy all the extra space of a car-free street. Photo: Jeff Prant

Get ready to stretch out your legs, New York City. The fourth annual Summer Streets starts tomorrow morning at 7:00 a.m. — the first of three car-free Saturdays on Park Avenue.

Last year’s dumpster pools are gone, replaced with a climbing wall, sand sculptures and New York City sports legends. Sure to remain are crowds of people eager to break out from narrow sidewalks and traffic-clogged streets and use the full width of Park Avenue for walking, biking, rollerblading, playing and relaxing.

The details, including a map of the Park Avenue route and the location of rest stops and activities, can be found on the Department of Transportation’s website.

Photo: Jeff Prant

Jackson Heights’ 78th Street Play Street, a summertime street closure won in last year’s best feel-good story of grassroots activism, has been expanded from two months of car-free space to three this year. If all goes well in September, when the school year has started, some sort of year-round street closure should be in the works for the kids of Jackson Heights.

“We’re on track to reforming the way that whole piece of street works,” said Donovan Finn, a member of the Jackson Heights Green Alliance. Both the Department of Transportation and City Council Member Daniel Dromm are “pretty solidly on board” with making some sort of big change in the next year or so should all go well this summer, Finn reported.

By extending the play street through September — last year, the block of 78th adjacent to Travers Park was closed 24/7 in July and August — neighborhood residents and city officials will be able to see how it works when school is in session. The private Garden School uses the street both to access its five-space parking garage and for loading and unloading school buses. “That’s actually the only use that faces the street,” said Finn.

DOT and Dromm specifically requested that the play street be extended into September in order to test out how the school would make a year-round closure work, whether full- or part-time.

We’ll see what happens in September, but so far the play street is again wildly popular in the open space-starved neighborhood. “Within 20 minutes of having it closed, there were kids out there running around,” said Finn. Once amenities like picnic tables, umbrellas, and astroturf are brought out, he said, residents will be able to use the new public space in even more ways.

Clarence put together these highlights from the morning presser with former Mets southpaw John Franco, all-time Knicks overachiever John Starks, and DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announcing the 2011 season of Summer Streets and Weekend Walks.

Said Brooklyn native Franco: “Events like this bring the city closer and makes everybody one big happy family.”

Clarence also worked some footage from the past few years of car-free events in there. I think this needs to go in the highlight reel too:

Former Mets closer John Franco, DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, and Knicks star John Starks announce the program for Summer Streets 2011. Photo: Noah Kazis

This August, Park Avenue will again be closed to motor vehicles for three Saturday mornings as part of the fourth annual Summer Streets event.

The details are largely the same as in years past: The route will run for seven miles from 72nd Street south to Foley Square from 7:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. When asked what the Department of Transportation had learned from last year’s event, Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan simply replied, “We’ve learned that it’s wildly popular.” Last year, 60,000 New Yorkers enjoyed the car-free street each Saturday, she said.

While the main attraction hasn’t changed, a new slate of programming will be available for families to enjoy. Sports fans should appreciate the participation of the New York Knicks and Mets — record-holding Mets closer John Franco and 1990s Knicks star John Starks were on hand at the press conference announcing Summer Streets this afternoon. “Maybe you can learn a few tips about shooting a basketball from me,” Starks promised potential Summer Streets attendees. Each team will have a presence at the event but it’s not quite clear if active players will be there as well.

Also along the route will be sand sculptures, a 25-foot climbing wall, and free bicycle and rollerblade rentals.

The flagship Park Avenue Summer Streets event will be joined by 18 neighborhood “Weekend Walks,” across all five boroughs.

At this point, the only question that remains about Summer Streets is when those 60,000 people will be able to come back for a fourth or fifth car-free weekend day. The state of Massachusetts, for comparison’s sake, closes Memorial Drive, a riverfront highway in Cambridge, to cars all day every Sunday from April through November.

Neighbors gather on Fulton Street to watch a fashion show at a Summer Streets event last year. Photo: NYC DOT

The traffic and transportation committee of Brooklyn CB 10 endorsed the concept of a weekend street closure along Bay Ridge’s Third Avenue Wednesday night, but due to a large number of unknowns, they held off on voting for the actual proposal. The elected officials supporting the Bay Ridge Summer Streets plan — State Senator Marty Golden and City Council Member Vincent Gentile — are now working to find answers to the community board’s questions in time for the full board to vote on the plan.

The decision came after a lengthy discussion of the merits of bringing Weekend Walks, DOT’s program to turn city streets into car-free community gathering places on summer weekends, to Bay Ridge. “They generally supported the concept, but they felt that there were a number of issues that were not complete,” said district manager Josephine Beckmann. “It’s new to us, so we have a lot of questions.”

The board’s unanswered questions included where a Third Avenue bus would be rerouted, how to provide programming for the closed street, such as fitness events or local art exhibits, and what time the street would have to be closed for events to start taking place by 6:00 p.m.

Some of the confusion was due to the fact that no representatives from the city were on hand to answer the more technical questions. Golden has pushed hard for the Summer Streets plan on economic development grounds, but isn’t the person to explain the nitty-gritty of implementation.

“Hopefully all of these answers can be provided,” said Beckmann. If a more concrete plan is in place by CB 10′s full board meeting on June 20, she said, the board could reconsider then.

[The CB 10] Traffic & Transportation Committee will host a public hearing to discuss our elected officials’ suggestion to create a “Summer Streets Pedestrian Mall” along 3rd Avenue between 82nd and 92nd Streets on Friday evenings from 6:00 p.m. to 11:00 p.m. during the months of July and August. This would involve the street closure of 3rd Avenue to vehicular traffic with side street crossings remaining open to traffic from 82nd Street to 92nd Street.

This proposal has the support of Sen. Marty Golden but has received the customary preemptive drubbing in the media. With southern Brooklyn rivaling Park Slope as the epicenter of livable streets battles, opposition is expected. Here are the details, if you can make it: St. Anselm’s McMahon Auditorium, 365 83rd St. Handicapped access ramp is located at the side of the Church. 7 p.m.

Should a pedestrian-friendly Times Square serve as a model for other American cities? Who would ask such a thing? Certainly not the real New Yorkers who constitute the city’s hard-bitten press corps.

No, for meaningful analysis of the use of public space, it’s best to look elsewhere. Case in point: MSNBC’s “The Dylan Ratigan Show,” which recently dedicated a full eight minutes to the redesigned Times Square. Spurred by the report that air quality has improved since Broadway traffic lanes were reclaimed for pedestrians, Ratigan asked Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, and Ben Goldhirsh, publisher of GOOD Magazine, whether such measures are “good for America.”

Ratigan, who used to work in Times Square, was once a skeptic, but two years later he’s a convert who ultimately makes no bones about his “bias.” Yet he still manages to hold a rational discussion about car-free spaces, punctuated by facts and figures, leaving the hysterics and fear-mongering to the pros.

Los Angeles’s CicLAvia is more than a seven and a half mile street party with a funny name. In a city so closely associated with cars and car culture, it’s one of the many signs that Los Angeles is changing and one’s status is not represented by the vehicle one owns.

For the people that took to the streets on April 10, CicLAvia was about a lot of other things too: freedom, fun, fellowship and community were just some of the answers we got when we asked Angelenos what CicLAvia meant to them. And what’s a film without some cameo appearances? Look for Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and an even more famous cyclist on this trip through a car-free Southern Californian Sunday.

DOT's new interactive map of Jackson Heights can display several layers of information, like the number of traffic crashes and pedestrian volumes at certain intersections.

Since 2009, the Department of Transportation has been engaged in a major study of Jackson Heights’ streets and sidewalks. At the request of community groups and with federal funding from Rep. Joe Crowley, DOT has been developing a plan to make the neighborhood safer, less congested, and more transit-accessible. After two years of research and community engagement, DOT will be presenting its first recommendations next Saturday, February 12.

In preparation for the release of those plans, DOT has also launched a first-of-its-kind data portal collecting all the information about the Jackson Heights Transportation Study. (The portal was developed by a division of OpenPlans, Streetsblog’s parent organization.) Everything from community board presentations to raw, block-by-block data about parking occupancy is in one place.

The portal includes a new interactive map of Jackson Heights. Presenting information like vehicle speeds, pedestrian volumes, traffic crashes and parking occupancy, the map helps visualize what happens on the neighborhood’s streets. You can see, for example, how rampant double-parking blocks buses along Broadway: On one block, there are an average of 32 percent more cars parked than there are spaces. According to DOT, even more features should be available after next Saturday.

What’s presented on the 12th could also be extremely exciting. At presentations to Community Boards 3 and 4 last June, DOT proposed classifying all neighborhood streets into four categories laid out in the department’s Street Design Manual.

• Through streets would be redesigned to move vehicular traffic more efficiently, without causing speeding.
• Transit streets would have bus lanes, curb extensions at bus stops and lights coordinated with the buses. 74th and 75th Streets are likely candidates.
• Slow streets would calm traffic with re-timed signals and traffic-calming treatments like neckdowns.
• Some streets could be pedestrianized, with furniture and greenery creating new public spaces.

On top of that, DOT is looking at using curbside space more efficiently by adding more parking meters and extending metered hours, adding delivery zones for commercial vehicles, and using PARK Smart to price peak-hour parking more effectively. They’re also considering adding bike lanes and bike parking in the neighborhood.

Several ideas in this vein have been bubbling up through community-based efforts like the Green Agenda for Jackson Heights, a blueprint for making the neighborhood more sustainable released last spring.

All these possible improvements are only Phase I of the project, meaning they’re considered short-term improvements. Implementation would begin this spring. Phase II will explore larger improvements requiring either capital construction or more intense coordination with other agencies.

Of course, an ambitious list of potential improvements doesn’t necessarily turn into ambitious implementation. We’ll find out on the 12th.

A little weekend viewing from the west coast of England. Since the summer of 2009, neighbors in Bristol have organized “Playing Out” events on seven streets, setting aside car-free hours for kids to play in the street without constant parental supervision. Watching this video immediately brought to mind Clarence’s Streetfilm of the 78th Street play street in Jackson Heights.

The Bristol moms behind “Playing Out” have put together a stellar web site laying out the case for car-free time on residential streets. I especially like their answer to the question: “Why do children need to play in the street when there are parks nearby?”

Parks are great for family outings and for older children who can get there independently but, unless you happen to live right next to a park, it usually involves a special trip, escorted and supervised by adults. Street play is very different. Firstly, it is literally on the doorstep so children can play ‘semi-supervised’ whilst parents get on with other things. This allows for more free, unstructured play, without being under the constant gaze of adults. Secondly, it is a step towards greater independence, giving both children and parents more confidence to gradually extend their ‘freedom to roam’, leading to children eventually being able to get to parks and other local places by themselves.

For Angelenos, Sunday was a day that we’ll never forget. Our first Open Streets party was an unparalleled success.  So much so that even the critics of the concept grudgingly came on board when it was obvious that they missed the boat on supporting and experiencing a groundbreaking day.

The Los Angeles Times estimates that 100,000 people took to the streets to celebrate CicLAvia.  Of course, that number doesn’t count all of the residents that sat on their porches or balconies and enjoyed the car-free festival environment that permeated the air.

But perhaps the image that will remain after these festivals become the norm will be L.A.’s suddenly bike-friendly mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa, hopping on a bike and pedaling away from Hollenbeck Park at the start of the festival with a smile on his face and a shout of joy coming from his heart.

“Let’s Go!”  he shouted as he took off to celebrate the day. Hopefully Sunday was the turning point for Los Angeles as we all go into our clean transportation future.

(This film was shot by Robin Adams and was funded entirely through Streetsblog LA reader donations.)

Back in 2008, Jackson Heights residents banded together to win car-free Sundays on 78th Street, creating a new, temporary public space for children and families in one of NYC’s most park-starved neighborhoods. This year neighborhood activists aimed much higher: They wanted to make the street car-free 24-7 for the entire months of July and August.

As you’ll see, thanks to committed volunteers and strong leadership from District 25 Council Member Daniel Dromm, they overcame initial hesitation from the local community board’s transportation committee — which voted the idea down — to make it happen.

The fight was worth it, Dromm told us. “It was recognized just about two weeks ago in The Queens Tribune as being one of the best things about Queens – this play street,” he said. “So imagine if we hadn’t done it?” Indeed. We hope other electeds are in tune with their neighborhoods as much as Council Member Dromm.

All summer long, 78th Street was filled with a warm, family atmosphere, sometimes well after sundown. As for next year, there’s talk of possibly giving this car-free street even greater permanence.  Stay tuned.

The first 2010 installment of Summer Streets is tomorrow, and I can't think of a better way to get in the mood than to check in on this inspiring grassroots victory for livable streets in New York City.

These are pictures Clarence took last Friday at the 78th Street Play Street in Jackson Heights. The play street started out as a car-free experiment on summer Sundays in 2008, giving kids and families some more space to play and socialize in one of New York's most park-starved neighborhoods. As a candidate for City Council, Dan Dromm supported the play street, and in office he joined hundreds of constituents on a march to the local Community Board, helping to win a vote for making the street car-free seven days a week, all summer long.

This summer, the street has gradually gained popularity as a public space, and now it attracts up to 200 people at a time, according to Dudley Stewart, president of the Jackson Heights Green Alliance. High school students who help supervise activities for younger kids throughout the week estimate that over the course of a busy day, several hundred people come over and enjoy the street.

"In the evenings you can have 100 people," said Stewart. "People are there well after eight." Even after the play equipment is put away, he said, people will linger on the benches, toddlers will play on the astroturf, and kids will ride bikes up and down the street.

Have a look at more of Clarence's pictures after the jump. Wouldn't it be great if kids had free reign on the street all year round, and traffic never invaded this space again?

In Copenhagen, you never have to travel very far to see a beautiful public space or car-free street packed with people soaking up the day. In fact, since the early 1960s, 18 parking lots in the downtown area have been converted into public spaces for playing, meeting, and generally just doing things that human beings enjoy doing. If you're hungry, there are over 7,500 cafe seats in the city.

But as you walk and bike the city, you also quickly become aware of something else: Most Copenhagen streets have a speed limit of 30 to 40 km/h (19 to 25 mph). There are blocks in some neighborhoods with limits as low as 15 km/h (9 mph), where cars must yield to residents. Still other areas are "shared spaces" where cars, bikes and pedestrians mix freely with no stress, usually thanks to traffic calming measures (speed bumps are popular), textured road surfaces and common sense.

We mesmerized you last month with our look at bicycling in Copenhagen, now sit back and watch livable streets experts Jan Gehl and Gil Penalosa share their observations about pedestrian life. You'll also hear Ida Auken, a member of Denmark's Parliament, and Niels Tørsløv, traffic director for the City of Copenhagen, talk about their enthusiasm for street reclamation and its effect on their city.