About Williamsburg Walks

Williamsburg Walks is a four week experiment during which Bedford Avenue will be closed to traffic (from Metropolitan Ave to North 9th) and the community is invited to re-imagine the street as a community destination.  Williamsburg Walks will happen on July 19th,  July 26th,  August 2nd, & August 9th from noon to 7pm.

It is a “green” event and it is very much in the spirit of the Mayor’s PlaNYC initiative to make the city a more inviting and livable place by 2030.

Williamsburg Walks built upon the concept of “streets as places.” Not to be confused with a street fair or failed attempts to create pedestrian malls, Williamsburg Walks is taking an already dynamic place and opening it up to the community.

If you build more streets, you get more cars. If you build more pedestrian-friendly areas, street furniture and bike lanes, you will get more pedestrians, bikers and a social environment for the community.

If this four week experiment is a success, we hope to extend it and consider the possibility that Bedford Avenue could be closed every Saturday the same way Orchard Street has been closed on Sundays since the 60s.

We are doing everything we can to ensure that this event is a success. We want it to be remembered as a clean, safe and well-organized event. We are trying to be inclusive and address the needs, issues and concerns of the community. We want your feedback, good or bad, and we hope to learn lessons each weekend and apply them to the next.