Mckenzie Lacroix

Not all New Yorkers could get away to the beach or other fresh air. The Community Councils, a group of private citizens, operated 40 “play streets,” which were part of a city-wide summer recreation program that temporarily suspended traffic on 483 streets on weekday afternoons during July and August. Each street was painted, following a diagram that laid out shuffle board courts, paddle tennis courts, and a circular area for free play. The crew repainted the lines every two weeks. The Sanitation Department provided showers, placed in the middle of the streets, which were a big draw, attracting “hundreds of children into the play block who may never have come for game purposes.” The one above was alongside the Queensboro Bridge, June 22, 1934.