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September 23, 2007

PARK(ing) Day NYC 2007

by Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

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National PARK(ing) Day was a huge hit here in NYC where Transportation Alternatives & The Trust for Public Land organized a of group of motley advocates in liberating parking spaces to open green areas for city residents to enjoy. Last year, NYC had just one spot, but this year nearly two dozen were sponsored across the city - ranging from a mini-gym on Bedford Avenue in Brooklyn to a tribal village (complete with tee pee!) on Manhattan's West Side.

Parking Day photoMost amazing was the overwhelmingly positive response the event received. Residents, tourists, commuters, and drivers (yes drivers!) were seen voicing approval. Peds relished the chance to take a seat or diddle their feet in fresh sod. Some ate pizza. Yum!

Related StreetFilms:
T.A. Parking Spot Squat (June 2006)
Rebar PARK(ing) Day 2006 (September 21, 2006)

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    Benjamin

    Excellent video! Captures what Park(ing) Day was all about much better than the video coverage by NY Times, NY1, etc. Great job Clarence and Transporation Alternatives!

    September 23, 2007 at 6:33 pm Link # 1
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    Ed

    Great job Clarence and all the people involved
    .
    More space to the people!
    Ed

    September 23, 2007 at 7:27 pm Link # 2
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    mike

    Great job Clarence, TPL, TA and all the other groups that put this together!

    Yes, this was much better than that truly awful New York Times video.

    September 23, 2007 at 7:55 pm Link # 3
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    Colin Beavan aka No Impact Man

    Amazing video of an amazing day, Clarence. We want cities for people not cars!

    September 23, 2007 at 8:07 pm Link # 4
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    Anne (sustainableflatbush.org)

    see how much more footage you can get when the filmmakers are on bikes? ;) here's to the no-impact camera crew!

    September 23, 2007 at 8:31 pm Link # 5
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    Roxanne

    Loved this. Thanks for sharing these mini-parks with maxi-punch.

    September 24, 2007 at 7:54 am Link # 6
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    The Herb Girl » (Park)ing Day

    [...] Some neat video from (Park)ing Day, as it was celebrated in NYC. Watching this made me miss NYC in a good way! More parks, less parking. Here’s the link [...]

    September 24, 2007 at 9:17 am Link # 7
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    T & R

    This is as good a StreetFilm ever gets! This guy needs an Academy Award created for his work, I could watch this over and over.

    September 24, 2007 at 9:22 am Link # 8
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    Fran & Tom

    What a terrific idea! We were part of a busload from PA visiting NYC yesterday and saw WHY the need for traffic alternatives is critical. Best wishes for continuing succes.

    September 24, 2007 at 9:42 am Link # 9
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    Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

    Wow, thanks for all the early comments! Keep them coming...I've had so many personal emails telling me this is their favorite StreetFilm. I'm happy about that. I believe this city could be transformed if enough people see this.

    September 24, 2007 at 9:49 am Link # 10
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    More Fun with NYC Parking Spaces | New York City,Politics,Events,Attractions,News

    [...they’ve produced a whole vid of the scene from Columbus Circle to Bedford Avenue. Celebrate Fall by Squatting on a Parking Space [...]

    September 24, 2007 at 10:20 am Link # 11
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    Steve McMaster

    As always, Clarence makes something look simple and casual what is a ton of work. To get around all those places spread throughout the city, and then to edit this and get it out so fast.. its amazing.

    The video highlights the need to concentrate on supporting local initiatives. As Eugene Hutz would say, Support Local, F--K Global. Political solutions rarely work and even when they do are often temporary. Focusing on public education, outreach to all boroughs, direct action, street theatre of this type, all help create a groundswell of opinion. And if we can get enough people to act like this, then we just take back what is ours.

    Politicians just follow opinion: its up to the people to show them the way, not just by casting a vote every four years, but by taking daily action as demonstrated beautifully in this video.

    September 24, 2007 at 10:45 am Link # 12
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    Clarence Eckerson, Jr.

    Thanks Steve. I got around alot for sure, even on sprained ankle, but Nick shot all the Brooklyn locations and Dan shot the Bronx and Upper Manhattan. So props there too. And we were ALL on bike.

    September 24, 2007 at 10:50 am Link # 13
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    loogy

    More parks, less car (parking)!

    September 24, 2007 at 11:47 am Link # 14
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    Geekguyandy

    I hope this expands! It would be great to see this happen multiple times a year

    September 24, 2007 at 9:29 pm Link # 15
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    northamptonist

    Clarence, the work of streetfilms and streetsblog does help contribute to a changing attitude and perception, and will indeed help change nyc.

    Park(ing) day happened up here in Northampton, MA, and here is some video of the event, along with all the links I could find to actions across the nation.

    September 25, 2007 at 5:48 am Link # 16
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    TRL

    This was an awesome job! Well done to everyone who took part in Park(ing) Day. Also, I thank you on behalf of the Lower Eastside Girls Club. We think this film turned out to absolutely great.

    September 25, 2007 at 11:12 am Link # 17
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    IanD

    PARK(ing) Day was so much fun - I wish I could have visited more sites!

    Thanks to LES Girls Club for awesome smoothies, BirdBath Bakery and Time's Up for yummy lemonade and treats, TPL for the grass (shout out to the people I worked with at MoMA and Times Sq.), XDesign of NYU and Prof. Natalie for a bit of micro-scale ecology, Lindsey at TA for coordinating everything.... and of course, Clarence for putting it all on video!

    Great work, all!

    September 25, 2007 at 2:37 pm Link # 18
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    sustainableflatbush.org

    [...] Streetfilms has a great piece that shows most of the locations; if I hadn’t been hanging out in the grass at Cortelyou Rd. Park my first choice would have been to spend the day with the Lower East Side Girls’ Club, sipping on one of their bicycle blender smoothies! [...]

    September 26, 2007 at 12:09 am Link # 19
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    hmmm

    I wonder how many of those people who thought this was a wonderful idea actually owned a car. I bet a lot of them, especially the ones out in Brooklyn.

    It's a great idea, and yeah, parking spaces do need to be priced higher.

    September 27, 2007 at 1:38 pm Link # 20
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    Roxanne Warren

    A beautiful video of this wonderful initiative, and I very much hope a prelude to vision42 - a landscaped, auto-free light rail boulevard on 42nd Street.

    October 11, 2007 at 8:25 pm Link # 21
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    Stefan Doering

    Now this is UnReasonable! I love it. I wonder if your fed the meter for a year if they would let you take two lanes?

    Keep greening our City.

    October 12, 2007 at 9:19 am Link # 22
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    Dia Mundial Sem Carro - clipping « apocalipse motorizado

    [...] [Nova Iorque - Park(ing) Day - vídeo] [...]

    October 14, 2007 at 12:23 pm Link # 23
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    StreetFilms » PARKing Day Redux in Park Slope! (2007)

    [...] [...]

    October 16, 2007 at 12:01 am Link # 24
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    Pile

    How do you keep the POLIZEI from cracking open yer heads and hauling you off to the fine farm?!!!?? I'd feed a meter every day for a nice place to unfold a lounger and do some reading... but I don't have health insurance!!! (or bail money) I can't afford to even ride across bridges in this town...

    October 16, 2007 at 3:15 pm Link # 25
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    sustainableflatbush.org » Blog Archive » 2007 Recap

    [...] Naturally Streetfilms covered this event, and Cortelyou Road Park is featured in their piece… check it out! This event’s special thanks go to Lindsey Lusher of Transportation Alternatives, who [...]

    January 3, 2008 at 12:14 am Link # 26
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    Levanah Ruthschild

    ....FAAANtastic!! moremoremore!

    PLEASE post this on YOU-TUBE so that LOTS MORE people see it: imagine what it might spawn!

    You lift my heart...and it's been dragging way too much these days. Thanks you so.

    January 6, 2008 at 6:19 pm Link # 27
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    Gregory

    Couldn't help but to think of StreetFilms when I read this:
    http://www.theonion.com/content/news/3_by_4_plot_of_green_space

    February 11, 2008 at 2:25 pm Link # 28
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    Réunion pour le Parc(in) jeudi 3 juillet 18h « Montréal à Vélo

    [...] NYC Park(in) /Park(ing) day/Park(ing) day call to [...]

    July 2, 2008 at 12:39 am Link # 29

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