Williamsburg Walks on June 20th - CANCELED

Feel free to be singing in the rain, but there won't be any walking in the rain. Due to the particularly bad weather forecast for tomorrow, we are forced to cancel the Williamsburg Walks.

Williamsburg Walks Forum

Did you enjoy Williamsburg Walks as much as we did? Would you like to see it come back again? Do you have feedback for the organizers on how to improve it? Join organizers of Williamsburg Walks this coming Wednesday the 27th at 6pm at a public forum to discuss the future of the event!

Williamsburg Walks Public Forum
LOCATION: Music Hall of Williamsburg (66 N 6th)
DATE: August 27th (Wednesday)
TIME: 6pm, doors open

Please come to the public forum to express your praise or constructive criticism. If you are not able to make it to the event, feel free to send a detailed email to williamsburgwalks@billburg.com

Feedback will be collated into a section of the Williamsburg Walks Final Report. In the report, we will also include implications of the event, Best Practices, Lessons Learned and potential scenarios for the future. If you or your organization would like to take on more responsibility for any potential Williamsburg Walks events or similar events, please email williamsburgwalks@billburg.com with your ideal level of commitment.

Feedback will be collated into a section of the Williamsburg Walks Final Report. In the report, we will also include implications of the event, Best Practices, Lessons Learned and potential scenarios for the future. If you or your organization would like to take on more responsibility for any potential Williamsburg Walks events or similar events, please email williamsburgwalks@billburg.com with your ideal level of commitment.

Got Photos of Williamsburg Walks?
If you have flickr photos of the event, tag them "Williamsburg Walks" so it will be on an automatic photo feed at billburg.com

Williamsburg Walks Is Over (For Now)

Williamsburg Walks seems to have gone off fairly well over the four experimental weekends. No hordes of illegal vendors yet. Only one scorching day and two hours of a torrential downpour over four Saturdays. All in all, a very nice place to spend an afternoon.

There seem to have been some important lessons in the event about how to set up a street for pedestrian use- people are attracted to where other people and vibrant uses are. When the merchants were set up towards the sidewalk and there were no activities in the street, people stayed on the sidewalk. When the interactive "shootbooth", Kung Fu demonstration, and ping pong tournament set up in the street, they were a subtle, but effective encouragement for pedestrians to fill up the streetbed. As a result, this past weekend felt like the street was truly being activated.

The most positive, unexpected aspect of Williamsburg Walks was the community-building aspect. People who normally would brush by each other on the tight confines of Bedford stopped, met, and chatted. More interactions like this and we'll be able to reestablish some of the continuity and social stability that the neighborhood has rapidly lost over the past few years.

Our friends over at billburg.com who did some of the major organization of the events have a comment form up. They would love to have your feedback/support/thoughts about how to improve the event. If it's going to come back, there is going to have to be a lot of positive feedback about it. There will be a public forum at some point in the near future about Williamsburg Walks- watch this space for more information .

Last Williamsburg Walks (For Now)

Passing along a note from our friends at billburg.com who were major organizers of Williamsburg Walks. The event has been particularly successful at building community and getting neighbors to meet each other in a calm, traffic-free environment. We look forward to Williamsburg Walks returning in some form that works for businesses (both on and off Bedford) and residents alike.

Dear all--

This weekend brings us to the last Williamsburg Walks in our 4 week experiment. Last week started rainy and dreary, but after the sun came out so did everyone else!

Public Forum

After this Saturday, the next step will be the public forum! We are still finalizing location and dates, but will send an announcement once final. If we have confirmed everything by Saturday, the information will be available at the info tent.

The best way to show your support of the event is to attend the public forum and to send a detailed email to williamsburgwalks@billburg.com of your praise and constructive criticism. Your feedback will be included in the End Report that will have recommendations for future similar pedestrian events. As always, you can also route feedback to us via emailing williamsburgwalks@billburg.com.

Saturday Volunteers

The volunteer outpouring has been amazing thus far! We've run out of shirts, but will still have water, coffee & bagels for volunteers.

If anyone would like to volunteer for this Saturday, we'll need the most help at set up and tear down times. Set up begins at 11am, tear down at 7pm. The early morning tasks will include putting up the barricades, setting up the tables & chairs and putting together the information tent. Find event coordinator Connie Colvin once in the area. This week the info tent will be set up on Bedford between North 7th and 8th.

For those arriving during the day, stop at the info tent to "check-in". We'll have volunteer duties for you ranging from drawing hopscotch on the street in chalk to moving tables to the shade to getting email addresses to update everyone of the public forum.

As important as volunteers, we are looking for people to enjoy the street space during Williamsburg Walks this upcoming Saturday. Williamsburg Walks is really what you make of it.

Thank you!

We would like to thank our sponsors, volunteers & everyone who has supported this event. We could not have done it without you.

See you Saturday!
Jason & Connie

Hey! I'm Growin' Here!

We've seen a lot of bikes locked up to street trees, especially young trees, particularly on Bedford Ave and Franklin Street. While there is clearly a lack of bike parking relative to demand in the neighborhood, it's not cool to lock a bike to a tree.

The jostling and scraping from a bike lock or chain can cause scarring of the bark and can make the tree more vulnerable to diseases by offering an opening for fungus and parasites. We've lost a lot of trees to the Asian Longhorn Beetle and can't afford to lose any more. Street trees not only absorb global warming-inducing carbon dioxide, they seem to filter other pollutants from urban air that have very local impacts on respiratory health.

So if you're doing your part to reduce car traffic and pollution by biking, please respect the trees and lock your bike to a bike rack, lamppost, or street sign pole. (And while you're at it, please try to keep it from creating a choke point on the sidewalk or blocking gates or subway entrances.)

What would a good phrase for a sign asking people to not lock their bike to a tree be? Leave your answers in the comments.

Take Action
There's clearly not enough bike parking in the neighborhood. Request a bike rack from the city for your home, work, or a place you frequent online.

Handy Tips
How to safely lock your bike in New York City.

Williamsburg Walks #2

The second Williamsburg Walks went off successfully with a much milder temperature and a much more crowded street. We were visited by Assembly Member Joe Lentol, Council Member Diana Reyna, and Borough President Marty Markowitz (pictured below with billburg.com founder Jason Jefferies on right and Yvette Helin's "pedestrians")



Organizers are measuring the success of the events to see how it impacts the street, merchants and residents. Some inital results are out from fellow co-sponsor Transportation Alternative's press release which notes:

Foot traffic on Bedford Avenue was 96% higher than the average Saturday, based on pedestrian counts. The number of children and seniors using the street also increased. And because so much more space was available for walking and sitting, the street felt open and uncongested.

Interested in volunteering for Williamsburg Walks?
We need people to help set up, close up, and do voter registration. Drop us an email at (info (*at*) nag-brooklyn * org)

Welcome Williamsburg Walks

Photo:sabeth718

The first Williamsburg Walks (a pedestrianization of Bedford Avenue from Metropolitan to N. 9th Street on four Saturdays this summer) was a success!

Even though it was a hot, humid day, hundreds came out to enjoy the reclaimed street. Many folks took the opportunity to draw with chalk, mingle with neighbors, enjoy an outdoor meal or cool-off in the sprinklers. Attendees were also treated to performance art by local resident, artist and custom costume manufacturer Yvette Helin.

NAG, a co-sponsor of the event, was there promoting our tenant-aid services, our construction watchdog project, and registering people to vote.

A special thanks is owed to Teresa Toro, Chair of Community Board One's Transportation Committee and Jason Jefferies & Connie Colvin of Blenderbox.com, who initiated and organized the event, as well as the many businesses who supported the event.

We view this event as an evolving creature-- tweaks will need to be made on an on-going basis. As the event continues to develop, we hope to be able to allow off-Bedford businesses to participate and to make sure that the impact on Bedford Avenue residents is minimalized. We'd also like to see more of the creative spirit of Williamsburgers showcased-- so let's find ways to use and activate the new street space!

Early reactions to the event at 11211
Neat StreetsFilm about the event at streetsblog
Give feedback to the organizers of Williamsburg Walks at billburg.com

Photo:sabeth718