Streetfilms | Fulton Street

Jeff Prant collects signatures on his petition to maintain Fulton Street's car-free hours.

Jeff Prant: [00:20] Right here to let people know that the city’s planning on ending car-free hours on Fulton Street. And we think that people are… when they find out about it will be very upset and so many people, as you can see, come out here, enjoy their lunchtime and enjoy the car-free atmosphere. We made up some petitions, we’re just going to come out here for an hour, we’re going to test the waters and see what people’s reaction is. Please sign our petition. Help keep Fulton Street car-free on the lunchtime. Do you like the way it is? Speaker: [00:48] Yes. Jeff Prant: [00:48] Do you like the way it is? Speaker: [00:49] Yes. Jeff Prant: [00:49] Okay. Speaker: [00:50] We should have car-free hours here cos it gives people a chance to wander round the streets and shop, and it brings business to the places and makes life a lot more pleasant, which is tough in New York City. Speaker: [01:02] It’s a joy to be able to walk openly. It’s almost like walking at a green field where you’re going to be… you’re not going to bump into anybody, you have a lot more freedom. It’s nice during lunch to be able to get out and have that freedom, you know, you’re not confined to your desk. Lindsey: [01:13] My name is Lindsey, I am the manager at Strand Annex and we like car-free hours here because nobody in a car is going to stop in and buy a book. I mean a lot of people on the streets, if you come down and the lunch hour is packed. Speaker: [01:26] I feel that we need the street closed because we get a lot of people here during this period of time from out of town and it’s more safe for everyone. Speaker: [01:36] I love the street. It’s great. It’s great for shopping reasons, safe for the kids. And plus after 9/11 you don’t want any cars down here. Speaker: [01:46] I work in the area and it’s good for the stores, it’s good for the people, and the cars don’t really need this street, they can get around easily enough. So I think they should keep it open and I’m going to sign your petition. Speaker: [01:56] In the summertime it’s great to come out here, relax, feel free without walking up and down the street and not worry about any cars and things, relaxing atmosphere to get away from the job, you know, power, hope we can nail… keep it up for the next couple of summers. Speaker: [02:07] I believe that car-free hours is a great way for us to walk around on Fulton Street and we can have our lunch in peace. We don’t need cars, you know, running us over or anything like that. So I think this is a really great idea and it should be kept. Speaker: [02:21] Not only should this stay open, there should be more of this. And I don’t even live down here, I live up at Duchess County. I work here. I definitely think there should be more open malls like this. Jeff Prant: [02:30] In order for a city to thrive economically and socially, we have to create places where people want to be. And as you can see, this is a place where people really want to be. And rather than threatening the place like this that we have, we ought to be creating a lot more of them. This is a model for what the rest of the city could be. Speaker: [02:48] It’s so relaxing. I mean don’t mess around and take away my car-free zone. This is… this is the best part about working in this area. Speaker: [02:58] A car-free lunchtime, well, I mean it’s gone on for so many years, so many people come here and they shop, they eat, you know, it’s… it’s not right. We have a lot of people who want to bring flowers to the site here and I will trade, put a memorial and, you know, it’s going to affect a lot of people that way. Speaker: [03:15] It’s terribly relaxing and I think it’s a tourist attraction. You know it’s nice to have a good street like this with lots of shops and no cars. Speaker: [03:23] If we have cars on the street we only have an hour for lunch, we’re all going to be tied on the sidewalk, we’re going to be stressed for our lunch period and have to go back to work and still deal with our jobs. That hour was supposed to be relaxed so we can go back, have a good lunch and get back to work. Speaker: [03:41] We need to have less pollution, less exhaust, it’s bad. If you don’t live in Manhattan, you shouldn’t be able to drive in Manhattan. Speaker: [03:48] It’s not a good idea and it gives space, you know, so the stroller, you know, women with strollers and... Jeff Prant: [03:56] You feel safer when you’re pushing the baby? Speaker: [03:57] Yes, definitely. Speaker: [03:59] I think it’s a shame because I think this area’s a real pedestrian area. You can see it has a life to it with people on the streets and I think instead of bringing cars back in, this area should be designed for pedestrians. Speaker: [04:11] There are so many people that are around, there are so many people that shop in these little stores. Since 9/11, I mean a lot of businesses have closed and it’s been really hard and they’ve been struggling. So the fact that the streets are open, they get so much more business that way. Speaker: [04:23] Been here a long time, 18 years. Good for business, you know. It’s good for business if they keep car-free hour. Speaker: [04:32] Well I think it’s really important to have an opportunity to walk during the lunch hour. As you can see, there are a lot of crowds around here. If the street is full of traffic, people will be crowding the sidewalks, they won’t come out as much, it won’t be good for anybody. I really think we ought to keep it the way it is, or even make it better. Thanks. Jeff Prant: [04:51] We were just out here for about an hour and the response was overwhelming. People were so enthusiastic for maintaining car-free hours on Fulton Street and I was struck by the fact that there wasn’t a single person we spoke to that knew that the city was planning to end this. Tresa Horney: [05:06] Most of the responses were a balance as far as residential versus employee point of view, but the common thread was that cars that take away pedestrian space, jeopardise safety and be overall bad for business. Speaker: [05:21] People are very upset about it. People enjoy it. People incorporate into their lunchtime and people shop more here. People spend more time here. People linger because it is car-free and pleasant. http://transcriptdivas.ca/transcription-canada/

Levanah Ruthschild

Thank you for doing this! It's 6 Jan 08, and I just learned of this: hope the outcome has been positive. At a time when I frequently despair of "the People," this gives me heart to work on for a sane world. Thanks to the organizers and to all the wonderful New Yorkers who spoke with such good sense and heart!