Car-Free Parks

Eyes on the Street: A Smorgasburg of Traffic in Prospect Park [Updated]

Yesterday, popular food market Smorgasburg launched its first outpost in Prospect Park -- and brought a traffic mess into what's ostensibly a car-free park.

By Stephen Miller

2:22 PM EDT on August 31, 2015

Gridlock at Ocean Avenue and Lincoln Road as Smorgasburg drivers snake through Prospect Park. Photo: Stanley Greenberg — Smorgasburg traffic snaked out from the interior of the park across the loop road yesterday. Photo copyright Stanley Greenberg

Yesterday, popular food market Smorgasburg launched its first outpost in Prospect Park — and brought a traffic mess into what’s ostensibly a car-free park.

The food market, which features 100 vendors at Breeze Hill, used the park entrance at Lincoln Road for vehicle access. Event staff were on hand to direct motorists but were quickly overmatched, says reader Stanley Greenberg, who said there was actually a traffic jam in the park as the event wound down at around 6 p.m. yesterday.

A van driver attempts to turn around, using a Prospect Park sidewalk. Photo: Stanley Greenberg — A van driver attempts to turn around, using a Prospect Park sidewalk. Photo copyright Stanley Greenberg

A line of vans and cars snaked out of the park from Breeze Hill and clogged the crossing where Lincoln Road intersects with the park loop. Some drivers turned around after sitting in line, performing three-point turns and backing up onto sidewalks to exit the park, Greenberg said.

Looks like a relaxing spot for recreation. Photo: Stanley Greenberg — The late-afternoon scene. Photo copyright Stanley Greenberg

Smorgasburg moved to Prospect Park this month after three years in a fenced lot at Pier 5 in Brooklyn Bridge Park. That space, which has nearby street access to Furman Street, will soon become parkland.

Update 2:50 p.m.: Only vendors were allowed to drive into the park, said Prospect Park Alliance spokesperson Deborah Kirschner. Drivers were allowed between 8 a.m. and 10 a.m. to set up before the market opened at 11 a.m., and then had to find their own parking outside the park. They were allowed to drive back into the park between 6 p.m. and 8 p.m., after the market closed, to clean up and break down their tents.

“A majority of vendors arrived with a vehicle, although some arrived on bike and a few wheeled their goods into the park by foot,” Kirschner said in an email. “Overall, vendor load in and load out on our first day went smoothly, particularly given that it was the first event and vendors were familiarizing themselves with the route, although we understand there were congestion issues on Ocean Avenue, and this is something we will work to address for future Smorgasburg events.”

Smorgasburg estimates 5,000 people attended yesterday’s market, Kirschner said.

Stephen Miller

In spring 2017, Stephen wrote for Streetsblog USA, covering the livable streets movement and transportation policy developments around the nation. From August 2012 to October 2015, he was a reporter for Streetsblog NYC, covering livable streets and transportation issues in the city and the region. After joining Streetsblog, he covered the tail end of the Bloomberg administration and the launch of Citi Bike. Since then, he covered mayoral elections, the de Blasio administration's ongoing Vision Zero campaign, and New York City's ever-evolving street safety and livable streets movements.

Car-Free Parks | Eyes on the Street | Prospect Park

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