Yesterday, December 2, was designated a “Gridlock Alert Day” in New York City. Tomorrow will be a Gridlock Alert Day too, according to the New York City Department of Transportation. Friday, November 20 and Wednesday, November 25 were also designated Gridlock Alert Days, and there will be five more between December 11 and December 23.

What makes a day eligible for Gridlock Alert status? Yesterday, it was the tree lighting in Rockefeller Center, which requires a number of blocks in midtown Manhattan to be closed to traffic. The reason for tomorrow’s alert: it’s a Friday during the holiday season, so NYC DOT says you should “consider walking, biking or taking public transportation whenever possible (as if most New Yorkers had an alternative).

Plan ahead to ride with us tomorrow to avoid fighting traffic. The @NYC_DOT has declared tomorrow a #Gridlock Alert Day

— MTA (@MTA) December 3, 2015

How useful is a gridlock alert, anyways? It’s nice of the City to warn us of street closures, but traffic is nothing new in the five boroughs. For example, if someone at TSTC headquarters on West 31st Street were to drive or take a cab 1.6 miles to Grand Central Terminal today– not a Gridlock Alert Day — it would take at least 20 minutes under current traffic conditions. An able-bodied New Yorker could probably hoof it in that amount of time.

20 minutes if you want to drive 1.6 miles to GCT from TSTC HQ near Penn Station. Today is NOT a #Gridlock Alert Day. pic.twitter.com/3CNwwUOYgg

— Tri-State Transportation Campaign (@Tri_State) December 3, 2015

Issuing a special advisory for traffic congestion in New York City — where the term “gridlock” was invented — is like issuing a cold weather advisory in the North Pole. Thanks to toll free bridges, free parking and cheap gas, congestion in New York City is not a bug; it’s a feature.

@LaurenScala4NY every day is gridlock alert day…

— JBS (@jbs319) November 19, 2015