After covering PARK(ing) Day events since 2006, this year we took it down a notch. We figured it was about time we got to relax a little and enjoy the space and -- frankly -- not get dehydrated from bicycling about all day. So sit back and enjoy.

This year more than 20 countries participated. New York City featured about 50 spaces filled to the gills with people, sod, chairs, food, fun, games, and, in one case, bubble-wrap galore! You'll also get a look at "Hex Pack Patio," the POP.Park design competition winner from Samina Iqbal.

After the jump, more scenes from Park(ing) Day in San Francisco, courtesy of John Hamilton.

New Yorkers were again granted gorgeous Park(ing) Day weather today. Here's a sampling of reader-submitted photos from local space-reclamation festivities, plus a bonus shot from down in DC.

Keep an eye out for late additions to the Park(ing) Day NYC Flickr and Twitter feeds, and if you're looking for more pics from other locales, you can start here.

Enjoy the weekend, and Shana Tova.

In preparation for Park(ing) Day festivities tomorrow, here's a flashback to last year. If you're setting up a spot, or will be hanging out in one or more the 50-plus spaces to be reclaimed for the day, share your photos with us by tagging them "parkingdaynyc" and "streetsblog" on Flickr. We'll be posting pics from across the boroughs.

Transportation Alternatives will also unveil the winner of the POP.Park competition on St. Marks Place between First and Second Avenues.

See you at the park, wherever it may be.

We've got a date for the third annual Park(ing) Day NYC festivities: September 18. For those unfamiliar with Park(ing) Day, it's kind of like the Christmas of livable streets. Or maybe Sukkot is a better analogy. Parking spaces all over the city will be converted to mini-parks and pedestrian zones. For a day, the potential to re-program space for cars as space for people feels much more tangible.

Each year the designs get a little more creative, and people in more cities participate. This time around there's a new wrinkle. Transportation Alternatives is organizing a competition called POP.Park in search of a portable, low-cost, pre-fab design for a Park(ing) spot conversion. These are the rules TA has laid out:

• POP.Parks must fold into a box, reusable bag or tote that one person can carry while walking or riding public transportation.
• Building materials that have little impact on the environment are encouraged.
• When assembled, POP.Parks should be no larger than 8'x15' - the size of a parking spot.
• Materials can be found or purchased, but must not exceed $20 in cost.

The deadline for entries is September 1, with finalists invited to set up their designs on Park(ing) Day. The winner will be selected, American Idol style, through a text message vote. Creative people: Feeling up to the challenge? Here are the details.

Sunday marks the 14th Annual Tour de Bronx, a free bike ride tailored to all ages and skill levels. Participants in the 25-mile ride will be escorted by ride marshals and police, and there is a 40-mile route for experienced cyclists. Check-in times range from 8 to 10 a.m., depending on the starting point.

The Tour de Bronx is co-sponsored by Transportation Alternatives and Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrion. See the Streetfilm of last year's ride here.

Image: Transportation Alternatives

Four strangers engaged in an intense Scrabble game at the busy corner of Atlantic Ave. and Court St. in Downtown Brooklyn, my first stop.

The Park(ing) spot on Montague St. in Brooklyn Heights was jam packed with teenagers from St. Anne's on their lunch break. These two played Connect Four.

The Montague St. spot was designed to accommodate all ages...

...and all species.

In Manhattan, this Park(ing) spot next to Noguchi's Red Cube on Broadway and Liberty offered fine halal food and a front row seat to the global financial metldown.

In Soho, on Thompson between Prince and Spring, DEGW's "City in a Box" spot was exceptionally pleasant.

Over on LaGuardia Place, a block away from NYU, the owner of Washington Square Wine and Liquor argued with these Park(ers) from the Center for Architecture that the loss of this parking spot was hurting his business. Forget that only six percent of Soho shopping trips are done by car -- I didn't have the heart to tell this upstanding merchant that if he's having trouble selling liquor on a Friday afternoon in the middle of a college campus, Park(ing) Day is the least of his problems.  

There was less controversy on Sixth Ave. near W. 4th St. where NYU Wagner School students sunned themselves, tossed beanbags and provided cool drinks to passersby.

Christine Berthet and Ian Dutton (standing and talking at left) represented Manhattan Community Boards 2 and 4 over on Eighth Ave. and 14th St. That's Ian's wife Shea on the bench with the incredible red hair.

And explaining all of this to New Yorkers via NY1 was Streetswiki producer Lily Bernheimer at The Open Planning Project's super-high concept "Open Source City Park" spot on 8th Ave. and 15th St.

One week from today, on September 19, New Yorkers will stake their claim to some of the city's most valuable, yet cheapest, real estate in celebration of Park(ing) Day.

For the uninitiated, Park(ing) Day entails the reclamation of public space by setting up temporary parks in on-street parking spots. Here's the skinny on the 2008 edition from the Park(ing) Day NYC web site:

This year, Park(ing) Day NYC will double the fun with double the locations: 50+ parks in the Brooklyn, the Bronx, Manhattan and Queens. In addition, park builders are putting new emphasis on site-specific designs that will reflect the social, cultural and architectural contexts in which they're situated, as well as generate innovative proof-of-concept designs for permanent public space reclamation. Seating areas, art installations, and community engagement will all make the case for a more sensible and human-friendly distribution of available urban public space.

Park(ing) Day 2008 will be followed on October 18 by Park(ing) Day REDUX, featuring a rebuild of selected spots along with photos and other media from this year's event, in front of EYEBEAM Art and Technology Center on 21st Street.

With more locations to choose from this year, and Summer Streets having whetted appetites for car-free street space, can NYC finally outdo San Francisco in (Park)ing Day participation?

Photo: Keka Marzagão via Sustainable Flatbush/Flickr

Streetfilms is celebrating its first-ever foreign language translation with this video, of last year's (Park)ing Day, subtitled in Spanish. Clarence Eckerson says to expect three more Spanish subtitled vids to be posted in the coming weeks.

And speaking of (Park)ing Day, the 2008 event is just a couple of weeks away. Volunteer or reserve your spot today.

Mark September 19 on your calendars. That's when Park(ing) Day returns to New York. Last year, neighborhood groups all over the city got into the street reclamation groove, converting 25 parking spots into temporary parks. Park(ing) Day 2008 figures to be even more visible. Fifty spots will be set aside to show how public street space can be put to better use than storing cars.

If you want to get in on the action, the Park(ing) Day organizers have set up a handy website where you can apply for a space. The deadline to apply is August 8, and mini-grants are available for materials and supplies. Call me a Park(ing) Day traditionalist, but I'm partial to the spots that roll out some nice, cushy sod.