Photo: Jay Willett/WBZ NewsRadio
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — It was clear skies and clear roads for the largest Open Streets Boston event of the summer Sunday.
The third annual Open Streets Boston closes more than a mile of roads to vehicular traffic in six neighborhoods on six different weekends, letting local businesses expand into the street and creating safe room for games, music, community tabling, and more.
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Sunday's car-free event in Jamaica Plain closed Centre Street from Jackson Square to South Street.
"JP gets the biggest," said Shana Bryant, event specialist and organizer for Open Streets Boston. "We’re just really excited to have 8,000-10,000 folks come out."
With so many pedestrians showing up, there was no shortage of activity up and down the block.
"We’ve got kids hubs, we’ve got three different zones with the music and the vendors and the market grove, and we’ve got free petty cabs," Bryant told WBZ NewsRadio.
"The petty cabs create this cohesive glue," said driver Christian Matyi. "Somehow we’ve become like the scuttlebutt of the streets, so to speak."
1 of 2 Photo: Jay Willett/WBZ NewsRadio
2 of 2 Photo: Jay Willett/WBZ NewsRadio
While many of the vendors were local, some came from across the city to sell their goods.
"They keep saying Boston is the most segregated city in the north, so some of this is trying to dispel those rumors," one vendor said.
Jamie Williams of the JP Chess Club shared the same sentiment.
"We opened it up to everyone," said Williams. "We have players not just from Jamaica Plain, but from all over Boston coming in."
The next Open Streets Boston event is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 11 on River Street in Hyde Park.
WBZ's Jay Willett (@JayWillettWBZ) reports.
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