GRIDLOCK SAM

Sunday, May 22 - Saturday, May 28

ALTERNATE SIDE PARKING RULES ARE SUSPENDED THURSDAY FOR SOLEMNITY OF THE HOLY ASSUMPTION REMINDER:

The Celebrate Israel Parade will kick off from 57th St. at 11:30 a.m. Sunday and proceed up 5th Ave. to 74th St.

The March Against Gun Violence will start at 1 p.m. at Flatbush Ave. and Church Ave. At the same time, the Bans Off Our Bodies March will commence at Staten Island’s Alice Austen Park, at Hylan Blvd. and Edgewater St.

Things continue to heat up on the ice, with the Hurricanes facing off against the Rangers for Round 2, Game 4 of the Stanley Cup, Tuesday at 7 p.m. at Madison Square Garden.

The Orioles fly north to play the Yankees, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday at 7 p.m.

Russ will play Radio City Music Hall on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Expect big crowds at Madison Square Garden for The Who on Thursday at 7:30 p.m.

There will be full intermittent 15 min. closures of the Queensboro Bridge bike and pedestrian path from Monday to Friday, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.

Lexington Ave. line commuters, be warned! There will be reduced service on the downtown 5 train during the peak of the morning rush, Monday to Friday, 7:20 a.m. to 8:50 a.m., through Sept. 15 as the MTA makes accessibility improvements. Some trains will run via the 2 from 149th St.-Grand Concourse to either Chambers St. (and then proceed via the 1 to Rector

St., the last stop) or Franklin Ave.-Medgar Evers College (continuing via the 3 / 4 to Crown Hts.-Utica Ave., the last stop).

Mailbag Dear Gridlock Sam,

Why are private cars still legal in all of Manhattan? Charles

Dear Charles,

There’s only one mayor who ever considered banning cars from a swath of Manhattan and that’s John Lindsay. In 1971, to coincide with Earth Week, he planned to ban cars 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. from 37th to 57th streets, 3rd to 7th Aves. I worked on that project and two weeks before implementation Lindsay got cold feet and succumbed to pressure from the business community. The Traffic Department had even manufactured the signs — one of which hangs in the N.Y. Office of Sam Schwartz Engineering.

I think a better solution is something I’ve been fighting for for more than a half-century since I started in the Lindsay administration: congestion pricing. While the current mayor and governor say they support it and the legislature passed a law allowing it, I still worry about feet getting cold again! Stay tuned!