* img by Runs With Scissors
Thanks to Teresa Toro of CB1, for four consecutive Saturdays this Summer, Bedford Avenue will be closed to cars and opened to pedestrians. You’ll be able to walk right into the street without looking both ways. It’ll be just like a regular Saturday, only without the aggravated drivers!
Williamsburg Walks is a celebration of the Williamsburg community, centered around a pedestrian-only Bedford Avenue, occurring four Saturdays, from July 19th to August 9th, 2008.
Not a street festival or street fair, Williamsburg Walks is an experimental temporary pedestrian street closure intended to promote the enjoyment of Northside Brooklyn, both on Bedford Avenue and beyond, by encouraging the community to come together to shop, stroll, and socialize in an area unobstructed by traffic.
Williamsburg Walks places emphasis on allowing the community to self-organize and enjoy the spaces they have at their disposal. These events will focus on community involvement, and feedback from each Williamsburg Walks weekend will influence subsequent events.
This will be nice though I have to say many people in the area already act as though it’s closed off. Just the other day I saw a young women almost get nailed by a car after she proceeded to just cross bedford and N 7th without even looking.
Thanks for the nod, but I just put some people together in a room to talk, and Williamsburg Walks was born. The real spartans who’ve kept this going are Jason Jeffries and Connie Colvin over at Blenderbox. Look for them on July 19th, on the first day of Williamsburg Walks, and thank them, not me!
–Teresa Toro
I just spent time in Montreal (best city I’ve ever been to) and they’ve done that on Rue St-Catherine this summer, it was wonderful, I do have to say. Looking forward to seeing how this turns out.