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Rendering of "Broadway Boulevard" courtesy DOT.
Surprise! Without a formal public announcement, the city has been moving ahead with a $700,000 plan to shrink part of Broadway in midtown from a four-lane to a two-lane street and use the rest of the space for a public esplanade, which the DOT is calling “Broadway Boulevard.” The change will be complete on August 15th, when the east side of Broadway between 42nd Street and Herald Square is turned over to a bicycle lane and a pedestrian walkway, teeming with cafe tables, chairs, umbrellas and flower-filled planters.
Speaking to the Times, local fashion worker and naysayer Corey Baker predicts that because of their proximity to Broadway traffic, lunchtime diners will “have carbon monoxide in their tuna fish.” But transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan insists that the new Broadway Boulevard, designed by Danish urban planner Jan Gehl, will ease traffic as drivers to eschew that tighter stretch of Broadway for the avenues.
The local business improvement districts will pay for the upkeep of the esplanade, which mainly includes buying and tending to the plants for the planters, which will be the only thing shielding pedestrians from the passing traffic. And not all the men on the street who talked to the Times were as sour as Baker; Andre Fisher, a 54-year-old clothing manufacturer, drew a line in the sand between drivers and sitters: “I think we’ve got enough places for cars and not enough places for people to sit.” To the barricades – er, planters!
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Are you serious? Worst Idea ever.
Andre Fisher got it right. Too much car space, not enough people space.
too narrow
This is a great idea. More protected bike lanes the better. Riding a bike down Broadway, even with the on lane path is nuts through those two areas. Too many tourists not paying attention to where they are walking. Actually they may block up the new bike lane a lot too but at least you won't have to worry about people and cars at the same time. I really don't see how you can hate on this, unless you live outside of NYC and drive into the city in which case who really gives a shit about you and why are you driving into the city anyway.
New York City tiptoes into 20th century urban planning.
They should have moved the bike lane next to the car lane. People will have to dodge the bikers zipping by to get to the turf? "park."
And not to worry there will be plenty of cars and buses still using Broadway. They will just be more frustrated and will lay on their horns longer. How about deliveries? Why did they go overseas for a designer of such a simple problem? Plus the rendering sucks.
how soon til an accident happens
how soon til an accident happens
Now that's funny!
I'd rather have the bike lane going down 2nd ave or something actually.
ITA #4.
?
What a lousy idea. Another step towards turning Manhattan into a mall. I hate Bloomberg.
i like the idea, i've seen them working on it while walking to work, but the congestion has already gotten out of hand.
i hope it works out, i think it will be great. and i can't quite see how people could be opposed to more space for pedestrians--but that's gothamist for you!
madison square traffic is also being revamped: clicky
good
anyone against this idea should move to tenessee and drive as much as their white trash ass wants
There are about 3000 people missing from the rendering.
With two lanes less traffic there might actually be room to walk around the tourists now.
I agree--it's a great idea. The city needs more spaces like this. Anything to encourage more foot/bike traffic and discourage all the stinky, polluting cars and trucks.
(What a bunch of cranks. Why do you people hate progress? I hate to break it to you, but it ain't 1979 any more and fucking CBGBs is closed and Joey Ramone is dead and there are too many cars and the city is polluted and crowded, something needs to be done, so GET OVER IT.)
#12: How is this in any way helping to turn Manhattan into a mall? Reclaiming space from cars for pedestrians and bicyclists is a good thing and helps to make the street a more, not less, vibrant place.
Great idea!
Cyclists can now legally terrorize pedestrians on sidewalks.
Reclaiming what for pedestrians and cyclists?
Cyclists and peds never had it!
Before there were cars, there were horses.
You prefer horse crap?
Anyone who thinks this is progress, should think of moving to Portland, where these are very common.
I've ridden down Broadway in that neighborhood many times... it seems to me that most of the cars turn onto 7th Avenue out of Times Square rather than continuing down Broadway.
However, any actions taken to protect cyclists and pedestrians from the cars that do choose Broadway to speed down to Herald Square are okay in my book.
This is cool. And it ain't no mall. Turning it into a mall would mean creating a 120-acre parking lot and filling the middle of it with Radio Shacks and Bennigans. This is giving space back to the people.
Although Bloomberg's bravado for progress and development has spawned some questionable decisions, the DOT is certainly making some amazing strides during his time in office.
This plan has been in the works for years and years and I'm glad it's finally coming to fruition. NY needs this kind of public space and Times Square is the perfect place for it. Many great European cities have plaza's and piazza's but NY is sadly lacking in them.
It boggles my mind why anyone would be opposed to this. This plan is nothing like a mall, unles you mean a mall like Washington D.C. With less cars and more room for pedestrians I would think there is less chance of accidents.
And as usual, "thefacts" has nothing of the sort. Roads were originally paved for bicycles in the 1890s, back when bikes were called "boneshakers." Horses never needed paved roads and in fact do better on dirt because their hooves like soft surfaces. It wasn't until cars became affordable consumer items a couple of decades later that they took over paved roads.
Corey Baker is an idiot and stick to fashion. He probably doesn't even know what carbon monoxide is.
Janette Sadik-Khan rocks! What a change from her predecessor.
I think it's a good idea and disagree with bxbrian about the traffic. Its not out of hand, or at least, I think it's no worse and probably better than other avenues in the city now that the space is largely "claimed" away from the cars.
Actually, it'll get better when it's done because the left turn only lanes are blocked for most of the area now. Once those open up, traffic will be eased a bit.
"How about deliveries?"
While not all the lines have been fully drawn in, I believe they are creating spaces like the one on Broadway between 42 and 43rd for deliveries.
Before they were paved, streets were cobblestoned to facilitate the iron cart wheels drawn by horses.
Check out the many cobblestoned streets in the older parts of the city.
Eg, Stone Street in lower Manhattan was the first or second Dutch street to paved, pre-1664.
Who claims there were bikes in 1664?
This is good. The bike lane is separated from the street to discourage drivers from using it and the reference to making Manhattan a mall is a complete non sequitur. I remember an interview with Gehl in NY Mag (I think) months ago in which he laid out this plan.
Does anyone know what the crazy construction around 96th street and B'way is all about? They have narrowed the sidewalks there and cut strange angles into them. Is this part of a greater master plan to shut down B'way entirely to car traffic and turn it into a bus only artery for the city?
A bunch of you need to stay on streetsblog.
Please.
SP, that's for the renovation of the 96th street subway station, which requires widening the median for a new building in the center of Broadway. Unfortunately, instead of taking space away from cars in order to make room for the median they chose to narrow the sidewalks by half in order to preserve the traffic lanes. So the thousands of people who walk by there every hour have to be crammed onto narrow sidewalks while the cars get to keep their space.
ottoemezzo:
is copenhagen "a mall"? making streets better for pedestrians and cyclists does not equal gentrification.
I just rode down part of this new bike lane this morning (they were putting the finishing touches on the lane paintings.) It's a great idea, however they should not have put the bike lane next to the curb. People and bikes are definately going to collide as a result of this.
#33
Exactly. Hundreds of tourists gonna be all up in the bike lane since the rest of the space created will be 'teeming with cafe tables, chairs, umbrellas and flower-filled planters.'
There will be bike/pedestrian/car/truck/flower filled planter collisions left, right and centre.
Too narrow.
There aren't *that* many tourists in that area. It's a boring stretch of office buildings, for Chrissakes. In fact, when I worked at 1375 Broadway (at 37th), the area was markedly bereft of tourists despite being between Times Square and Herald Square. I am sure there must be tourists walking between the two, but not so many that it's teeming with them.
I too am warming up to Janette Sadik-Khan. I love how she can get all this finalized under the radar of nay-sayers.
BTW: ITA = I totally agree :-)
Before they were paved, streets were cobblestoned to facilitate the iron cart wheels drawn by horses.
Check out the many cobblestoned streets in the older parts of the city.
Eg, Stone Street in lower Manhattan was the first or second Dutch street to paved, pre-1664.
Who claims there were bikes in 1664?
Cobblestones are not the same as paved streets. They're for completely different purposes. Cobblestones and Belgian blocks are to prevent rutting from repeated traffic compared to dirt roads. Smoothly paved streets were introduced for bicycles, like it or not, to give greater speed, safety and comfort. In the 1890s, Americans loved bicycling with a passion not seen since, a passion displaced by automobiles which appealed to their laziness. That was when macadam and paved roads became common, pushed by the League of American Wheelmen (now League of American Bicyclists). Do try to do some research before coming up with such asinine statements, Mr. "thefacts."
Good idea, lousy name.
And BTW, legally terrorizing pedestrians will never work. It takes all the fun out of it.
If over a hundred non-motorists are killed a year by motorists, and none by cyclists, who's doing the terrorizing?
I've lived in Chelsea for 30 years and can vouch that the Ninth Avenue lane reduction is not an improvement. I don't own a car or a bike and walk as much as possible. Removing a lane has caused nearly constant traffic jams, with blaring horns throughout the night. Nor do I wish to, or intend to move to Portland or some other bucolic setting. As a 5th generation NYer I'll stay right here. It will take more than the likes of a clueless Janette Sakik-Kahn to drive me away from the city I love.