Our NYC Ferry team recently headed to the Car Free NYC event sponsored by Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez on January 31st, to learn more about environmentally friendly transit options for New York City.

The event also hosted a variety of brief presentations from Brooklyn Borough President Eric L. Adams, CEO of Motivate (the Citibike operator) Jay Walder, Transportation Alternatives, Regional Plan Association, Diane Anderson (Director of the Office of Sustainability at NYU), and more.

The panel discussion was focused on subways being a “default choice” for New Yorkers and that people “can’t live without it,” yet people don’t generally LOVE their public transportation. But in fact, it’s often the better choice for many reasons than simply being “the most convenient choice” as there are 8.5 million New Yorkers, and 77% of city streets are designed for moving or parking private automobiles. The hosts of this event were trying to open up a dialogue about the better ways in which we can use our streets to be safer, more efficient, cleaner, and how other cities around the world could take notice of New York City’s efforts and reutilize their city streets as well.

The goal of the event was to discuss ways to reach the common goal of a car-free NYC and the upcoming Earth Day event on April 22nd, where streets will be closed to cars and public spaces will be reused for pedestrians, cyclists, and encourage people to utilize public transportation and leave their cars at home. Or as Council Member Rodriguez stated, “Cars are not a symbol of progress anymore. Giving up a car can mean freedom instead of isolation.”

Earth Day falls on a Saturday in 2017, so we encourage everyone to get out on the streets to enjoy the “pop-up pedestrian streets,” take photographs of New York from angles you have not had the chance to spot before, and celebrate the push to become a more sustainable city. There will be a whole Earth Week worth of exciting green events across the five boroughs, including a 5K green walk and Earth Day markets!