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With seven blocks along Broadway in Times Square and Herald Square closed to vehicular traffic for pedestrian promenading pleasure (oh, and to ease traffic congestion too) on Sunday, New Yorkers and tourists alike have been testing out the suddenly clear streets. The Broadway pedestrian plazas are between 42nd and 47th Streets and between 33rd and 35th Streets, and in the Times Square stretch, there were lawn chairs for perambulators.
A Queens resident was enthusiastic to the Post, "It'll encourage people to drive less and walk around more. It raises awareness about alternate transportation and cleaner air. I think New Yorkers can adjust to anything... It's a little chaotic right now, but a place like this, in the middle of Manhattan, will be very unique." The NY Times spied a couple who made the trip all the way from Inwood—with their 14-month-old child in tow—to see the change—the wife said, "I like the experience because now I don’t feel like I’m competing with cars."
And a European tourist was approving, telling the Daily News, "This is good, I must say. In Amsterdam, where I live, in the city center, you're not allowed to drive. It feels a lot safer that way." But naturally, there were detractors—namely the drivers, such as the cabbies who complained to the News: One said, "I think it's really stupid. It's going to mess up all the traffic in midtown" and another worried, "The [pedicab] bikers will take away our business because taxis can't pick up people in front of Macy's anymore."
The project is the brainchild of Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan; she told WCBS 2, "There'll be a period of adjustment as people get used to the new traffic patterns. But we believe particularly on Sixth Avenue we're going to see some immediate relief." She has also emphasized it's a work in progress and that adjustments may be made.
NY Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff tells those worried about Times Square losing its je ne sais quoi, "Well, I’m happy to report that, a day after the stretch of Broadway between 42nd and 47th Streets was closed to cars, the soul of Times Square remains intact. The neon still sparkles. Tourists still wander around bewildered. The whiff of last night’s junk food still hangs in the air," but says the jury is still out on the plan, "I worry about the character of the mall, with its string of disconnected plazas....they feel like odd leftover spaces. Until the city commissions a plan for a more detailed design, we won’t know what they will become."
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So far everyone likes it except drivers and stasis-loving curmudgeons. But this morning I've noticed a new demographic of haters—reporters and anchors who drive to work.
This morning it was Sukanya Krishnan—co-anchor on PIX Morning News—who said that "it's good for tourists, but the rest of us have to deal with it". Speak for yourself sweetie.
Another one from a while back is CBS News's infamous Steve Bartelstein. The way he reacted to congestion pricing, you'd think his cancer would come back, he'd shave his head, and zap his neighbors with lasers again.
Ha! Roger C lark of NY1 seemed giddy about how weird the plazas were this morning.
But I would think this is better for the people who work in the area, because before, it was madness to get around on Broadway—I know that when I am there, I tend to walk in the street, right by the curb, because the sidewalks are filled with slower moving folk who often stop to take pictures.
Topic tangent:
The only thing I miss since getting FiOS is MSNBC and most of all NY1. On-demand video on their site is not the same. Bobby Cuza was my favorite.
the thing is -- between 2am and 5am, times square was a pleasure to drive through -- few tourists, few cars, it really was one of the fastest ways to get downtown. those are the hours that the news people come in.
but they shouldn't really complain, since there's no traffic anyway, and it'll only cost at most five minutes!
Plazas or not - I will continue to avoid Times Square like the plague.
Baby steps, to be sure, and a long way still to go, but perhaps this presages the beginning of the end for cars on the island of Manahatta?
Yeah, nothing eases congestion like people sitting in chairs in the middle of the street.
It may be counter-intuitive, but when it comes to traffic flows, it is possible for less to be more.
Whether this will actually happen... who knows.
Not at all counter-intuitive. Don't build it - they won't come. That is: the cars and their drivers will adjust quickly. And Times Square businesses will be getting that much more foot traffic.
I agree with you completely. However, if you un-build something, they won't stop coming. They'll only further congest the remaining thoroughfares, which will be even harder to navigate due to increased pedestrian traffic.
Like all environments, things tend to balance out and fluctuate within an acceptable range of sustainable population. If the side streets absolutely can not handle any more capacity and that capacity is absolutely needed, drivers will eventually find better routes or the outcry will become so severe that B'way will reopen to vehicular traffic.
This is an experiment and we'll see how it pans out over the course of a year.
Read Henry Barnes' (traffic commissioner and nemesis to Robert Moses) autobiography The Man with Red and Green Eyes. You'll note that even though drivers usually vehemently oppose changes to traffic routing, the changes usually result in positive outcomes for them.
Your statement is correct when you assume that the majority of drivers that take Broadway through Times Square aren't tourists or driving for the benefit of tourists. Drivers that specifically seek the experience of going through Times Square will not alter their routes around it. I honestly don't know what their percentages are, but I can only assume that commuters that are simply trying to get from A to B would have avoided the area a long time ago. Indeed it will be an interesting experiment (especially since I don't frequent there often) and at the very least NYC will gain some much-needed public space.
The surrounding streets were always congested and they'll remain so. But now there's about ten blocks of Broadway for people on foot instead of people in cars. And that's a good thing.
I talked to Mike Sheehan this morning and he said he had no problem getting to work. In fact he liked the idea that no horses were allowed in those areas.
"No sir, I didn't like it."
i couldn't tell from the photos, how are they making sure sticky-finger people do not walk off with those folding lawn chairs?
Anyone know if the lawn chairs are supposed to be permanent?
If you spread out the people and create a nice environment with tables, chairs, greenery, and bums (there will definitely be bums -- no way around that) -- that MIGHT attract people to sit. But just sitting...it's boring. What you really need are little tourist trap restaurants, where you can take your meal out in the middle of the square and eat. (Either with waiters waiting on the outside crowd, like in Europe, or just takeout.)
Of course, I wouldn't be caught dead at any such restaurant -- but they'd make a killing, and give people something to do in the square other than get in my damned way.
I wouldn't be surprised if that's the next step.
Yeah. Now the fat tourists will be able to sit down after walking 2 blocks. Its gonna be sweet in January.
Fresh air invades Times Square.
Public space FTW!!! I hate Bloomberg with all my soul but I gotta say I do love how he's doing this.
any restrooms to go with the seating?
It looks more and more like the main drag at Disneyland.
I smell pork.
This area is a fresh new breeding ground for pickpockets, scam artists, three-card monte dealers, and "veterans" peddling garbage...
so the old TSQ will be coming back in drips and drabs? I know some curmudgeons who would love to know that.
Lately Broadway in the 50s has also been adding a separated bike lane, so this stretch will be completely transformed!