\t\t\tRecommended<\/p>\n
\t\t Five years later, in April 2025, Adams personally ordered<\/a> cars back onto Silver Lake Park Road. And in December 2025 \u2014 the final month of his tumultuous mayoralty \u2014 his underlings reopened Freedom Drive, too.<\/p>\n Silver Lake Park Road reverted to its pre-Covid schedule of going car-free only on during weekends and public school holidays, and Freedom Drive went back to allowing car traffic between October and April. Parks officials describe this six-month-long period as the department\u2019s \u201coff-season,\u201d even though many New Yorkers continue to use the city\u2019s outdoor spaces in the colder months.<\/p>\n In both cases, Adams pandered to his fellow car-first politicians and overrode officials within his own Parks and Transportation departments, who said the pandemic-era road closures provided more safe open space to residents of the World\u2019s Borough and the Rock.<\/p>\n Cars returned to Freedom Drive on Oct. 7 without any warning \u2014 several weeks before the city\u2019s official schedule, which bans car from the corridor through October<\/a>. \u201cThere was nothing, it was just open for business and come what may,\u201d Smith said. \u201cWe were all surprised.\u201d The New York Times first reported<\/a> the drive\u2019s reintroduction of cars on Friday.<\/p>\n Parks spokesperson Judd Faulkner said that the agency \u201cinitially anticipated reopening\u201d Freedom Drive \u201cnear the end\u201d of October, but \u201cwere able to open the road on October 7.\u201d But Faulkner did not clarify why officials chose to cut the car-free schedule short by nearly a full month.<\/p>\n \u201cOur parks are our backyard, and we will continue to work with our partners to explore additional opportunities for New Yorkers to enjoy the outdoors while listening to the specific needs of each community,\u201d the rep said.<\/p>\n Smith has repeatedly documented the dangers of drivers whizzing back on the roads where pedestrians had enjoyed free rein just days prior.<\/p>\n The depredation of Freedom Drive traces to an earlier push from local Republican Council Member Joann Ariola and the chairwoman of Queens Community Board 9. Two years ago, the pair signed a letter<\/a> that claimed the closure created a \u201cconstant headache\u201d for constituents.<\/p>\n On Silver Lake Park Road, the city caved to Staten Island District Attorney Mike McMahon<\/a>, Council Member Kamillah Hanks and Borough President Vito Fossella. The bipartisan trio wrote a letter with a similar request in March 2025<\/a>, and supercharged their effort after a man attempted to rape<\/a> a jogger in April of that year.<\/p>\n \t\t\tRecommended<\/p>\n \t\t One advocate and attorney argued that motorists simply wanted to reclaim a convenient shortcut and looked for pretexts to do so. <\/p>\n \u201cThey had always wanted to do this,\u201d said Chris Greene, a lawyer with Vaccaro Law. \u201cIt was a real loss and one that was conducted, in my view, on the basis of a false pretense.\u201d<\/p>\n In a letter<\/a> sent to Mamdani at the beginning of his term, advocates begged the new mayor to re-pedestrianize the two drives and keep his promise to transform the streets of New York City into the \u201cenvy of the world<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou would think he would bring that same line of thinking to parks, which should most obviously be for people,\u201d said Rose Uscianowski, a Staten Island resident who advocates with Transportation Alternatives. \u201cReturn them back to recreational spaces. Parks are for people, not for cars.\u201d<\/p>\n Adam Ganser, the executive director of New Yorkers for Parks, said Mamdani could effectively double size of the two parks by barring car traffic on interior drives, which were originally intended<\/a> to carry New Yorkers riding horses and carriages.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you have a drive through the park, it really halves the size of the park,\u201d Ganser said. \u201cWhen those drives are closed, people can meander back and forth. It doubles the size of their park experience.\u201d<\/p>\n Former Mayor Bill de Blasio reclaimed park drives from cars to great success in Central<\/a>\u00a0and Prospect Parks in 2018. The Parks Department describes Silver Lake Park as Staten Island\u2019s answer<\/a> to those iconic green spaces. Frederick Law Olmsted, the firm that designed<\/a> both parks, also designed Forest Park.<\/p>\n
\n \t![\"From](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/cassidy-silver-lake-park-road-with-adams.jpg\")
\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/park-drive-maps.png\")
Somehow, the city believes this is better than just banning cars altogether. Maps: DOT<\/p>\n
\n \t![\"Danger](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/smith-Freedom-Drive-winter-dec-25-with-cars.jpg\")
\n \t\t<\/a><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/Silver-Lake-Park-Road.jpg\")
Does Silver Lake Park Road look like it needs cars? Photo: Rose Uscianowski<\/p>\n