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The reviews are in on the new car-free Broadway's impact on the first day of business since traffic was diverted from the main stem between 47th and 42nd Streets and between 35th and 33rd Streets. Unsurprisingly, the Post has been breathlessly scaremongering in an attempt to milk the populist fear of change for all it's worth, with columnist Andrea Peyser leading the charge in an article headlined "Real NYers 'Malled' by Incredibly Dumb Idea":
Turning the Crossroads of the World from the vibrant, frenetic, center of the universe into a butt-littered suburban parking lot is an idea so ferociously dumb, it harks of other catastrophic decisions... Our mayor, who tried, and failed, to shove congestion pricing down our collective throat, has thrown the mother of all hissy fits. It's payback time. And New Yorkers—those who actually live here—must pay. As I wandered through Times Square, I was struck by how few people actually sat on the flimsy furniture that littered the streets like a going-out-of-business sale.
About those chairs: the tabloid finds that the Times Square Alliance purchased them from Pintchik Hardware in Brooklyn at a steep discount from the $15 retail price. (You know the Post must have been disappointed they weren't bought for thousands of dollars from some weaselly French retailer.) The temporary furniture will be replaced when the new pedestrian plazas are complete in August, but the article makes sure to cherry-pick derisive comments from local wits like hotel manager Nelson Hairry, who beheld the sedentary scene and wondered, "What is this, a lazy day? This encourages people to be lazy."
In yet a third take-down on the pedestrian plaza, the Post is surprised to find that rush hour traffic flowed smoothly down Seventh Avenue, with green lights lasting 20 percent longer. But at what cost!? Pat Bahnken, the president of Local 2507, which represents 3,000 EMTs and fire inspectors, is worried first responders won't be able to get to emergencies in Times Square anymore. (FDNY officials, however, have "requested access to the area in question and that is being provided to us.") And sagacious soda delivery man Jay White, who had to park his truck in one location in Herald Square and make several deliveries, is given the final word: "This is the worst thing Bloomberg has ever done. It's just too complicated."
On the other end of the spectrum, Streetsblog and William Neuman at the Times are both loving the new car-free zone, with the former blog declaring that "the symbolic value of this project is huge. New York City has banished motor vehicles from the Crossroads of the World." And Yesim Bilgic, 36, a Swedish novelist who occupied one of hundreds of lawn chairs set out in the center of Broadway, tells the Times, "This is like a sanctuary. It is chaos and you have your oasis in the middle of it. I love it." Typical lazy Swede!
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"weasly French retailer"? "typical lazy swede"?
you have to resort to childish stereotypes? don't like europe much, huh?
it's called sarcasm....
ok fine, sarcasm - but what the hell would such sarcasm have to do with this article?
swing and a miss.
welcome!
This is a GREAT IDEA.
Because the ONLY way to enjoy Times Square is in a car, I propose that cabs should slow to 15 mph and swerve on the curb to assure the enjoyment of those moving somewhere else.
Andrea Peyser is, has been and will always be a tool.
just another in a long line of insightful, witty and pertinent NY Post columnists.
Andrea and Michelle Malkin are the most insightful and fasinating columnists of the Post, and maybe all of NYC. Keeping liberals, Obama worshippers and their agendas in check are a full time job and their efforts are grade A+.
And I continue not to care what the Post thinks, although wobbleSmith put it better.
so now we've got the cheapo lawn chairs, when does TS get grills for some old fashioned bbq action?
make mine a medium-rare steak and don't forget to kiss the cook!
That congestion pricing failed is an embarrassment to NYers.
Missing TVs, bags of pork rinds and PBR.
Peyser gets paid to be a shrew and she earns her money.
It's so unbelievably stupid to call Times Square a suburban parking lot. That what it was before. In case Peyser didn't notice, the cars are gone.
whatever, the Post can go to hell. As one of the few New Yorkers who actually LIVES in this area, let me tell you, this is a godsend. I don't have to dodge eight lanes of traffic to get coffee in the morning. nor do I have to walk in the fucking street alongside cars because the sidewalks are overflowing with tourists who are just standing around. this is looooooong overdue.
This is embarrassing... Broadway has been turned into a tailgate party.
traffic-free was an overshot. single lanes with extended sidewalks and a smattering of trees/green space would have been sufficient. this solution is doodie.
5 whole blocks in New York City where cars are not allowed. How will we ever survive?
isn't not about survival, honey.
there is no practical reason to ELIMINATE cars there. what, it's useful because oversized tourists can sit and boil in the sun on slabs of asphalt?! true genius.
reduction of traffic: yes
elimination: no.
Reasons:
Pedestrians were spilling into the streets because there was not enough room for all of them on the sidewalks.
Automobiles don't need to go through Times Square to get someplace, they can go around.
Automobiles are noisy and intimidating and regularly kill people on the streets of New York. That can still be done elsewhere.
Roads should not automatically be the domain of automobiles. Other more advanced cities have already realized this.
Those are just a few of the reasons. Honey.
Why is it considered "advanced" to divert traffic from one block to another? it seems so arbitrary to me. Then set up lawn furniture instead? Are you fucking kidding me?
It's not always about "diverting" traffic. If you make it harder to drive somewhere some people will opt to take public transportation. The question is whether the change keeps enough traffic away from the remaining streets so as to not make the traffic even more congested.
ah, so now you've played your hand, honeybuns. you're a self-styled revolutionary rather than a pragmatist. my suggestion already covered the need for more pedestrian space. you're obviously just an anti-car parrot and not someone, like myself, who actually supports shared spaces around the city. have fun with that.
"Shared space?" - and who is occupying more of that "shared" space - the automobile and it's driver, or the pedestrian? Right: the automobile's "share" is more than 20X that of the pedestrian. Even though most New Yorkers don't own an auto. What a fair shake!
Go put some gas in that. Chubby cheeks.
heightened exasperation just makes you sound like more of a loon.
You lost. It would be better for what's left of your dignity if you just stfu now.
awww, need some attention? your mom is calling, better run along little guy.
I don't know what's worse, this or overweight mid-western tourists riding amok on their party bikes!?
Investment bankers and lawyers shuffling down the sidewalk at half the speed of everyone else while staring into their Blackberries are worse than tourists on party bikes if only because there are maybe a half dozen party bikes on the street at any given time.
if the NY Post hates it, it's a good idea.
and the chairs, how is it any different than the chairs and tables being used at Bryant Park.
sometimes I need a place to sit for a bit.
still the stupidest idea of this administration yet. too bad all the obamatons are pre-programmed to hate any dissenter, otherwise they might glean a bit of truth from the shrew.
Mmmm. Now that's some tasty satire.
Ha, SO TRUE! I sure do miss the days of the Bush-acons, when dissenters were warmly embraced and rationally debated.
It's pretty sad when you need to use the Bush administration as an excuse for your behavior.
frankly, i haven't seen this and reserve judgement until i have.
you, on the other hand, are using phrases like "obamatons" which reveals your preprogrammed reactions. "uh oh, liberals in the area! the best defense is a good offense! call them names before either side can make a legitimate point!"
i was merely pointing out what a miserable columnist peyser is.
what an embarassment you are to monty python fans.
"frankly, i haven't seen this and reserve judgement until i have."
What??!? That's crazy talk. Your Gothamist commenter license is hereby revoked.
oh no! my workday fun!
i saw it yesterday.
it doesn't really seem to be a big deal either way. the traffic cops are doing an excellent job of keeping traffic moving. i had to kill about 15 minutes at the corner 44th and b'way and I didn't hear any car horns. people were definitely using the chairs.
you know who the real losers are? those poor bastards who have to hand shit out in TS. now, there is just too much space to get around them easily.
That's funny. Dissent prior to January 20 was probably not even in your vocabulary. The person doing this is our formerly Democrat, formerly Republican and now independent mayor, who I bet a lot of local Obama supporters didn't even vote for.
Why are traffic patterns a conservative/liberal issue? Or is everything to you a conservative/liberal issue?
Holy crap, Times Sq looks like a refugee camp now. Never seen $15 lawn chairs in European town squares.
They're temporary.
Thank you! The plazas won't be done until August. The Times Square Alliance and 34th Street Partnership (the latter run by the folks who bring you Bryant Park, one of Manhattan's best public spaces) are not likely to screw this up.
I LOVE THIS. This is the WAY times square should be. Laying around smoking pot. Enough of the working around with sweaty suit & a stick up your ass. Live right.
Nobody is embarrassed congestion pricing failed. At least the tourists now have a place to rest after walking their fat asses five blocks. Does this mean then wont be walking 5 across now?
What I'd give to be thefact's dentist. He must be grinding his teeth to dust over how popular and successful this is. Bring on Summer Streets! Let's see if we can't get him to head for Jersey or LA, where the car remains king.
I rarely agree with Andrea Peyser but this is an exception. Pedestrian malls have been tried repeatedly in the United States and have failed nearly every time. I'm not sure why. But this is not a new idea. Like many of the Bloomberg administration's ideas its a pretty old urban planning idea that already has a record of failure.
This works differently in the centers of European cities because the streets were laid out in the Middle Ages for people to walk around them on foot. I realize the streets of Midtown were planned in 1810, before the internal combustion engine. But even then there was alot of horse drawn traffic and they were all widened after cars became prevalent. If you create a pedestrian mall on these streets you create, essentially, a mall. People will get tired of it once the novelty fades.
My prediction isn't that Times Square will be abandoned like other pedestrian malls. I think it will turn into a Midtown version of the South Street Seaport, something that New Yorkers view as just for tourists. OK, that has happened already so probably this idea won't be too damaging.
Now what we could do is reverse the widening of the streets. That is something that would make the city more pedestrian friendly.
I forgot, like Bryant park, put in free wifi.
I was on 37th and 7th before and walked up to Times Square to check out the new configuration. I think that what Sadik-Khan has accomplished is awesome. The space actually seems calmer. Traffic seems to be moving faster and the noise level is down. The thing that made me happiest to see was actual living and breathing New Yorkers working in the middle of the street in the lawn chairs! This city will always be filled with obnoxious people focusing on the negative. I'd rather listen to them than honking cars and trucks.
>>Pedestrian malls have been tried repeatedly in the United States and have failed nearly every time.
Maybe because they all drive? Here in Manhattan, only about 10% of households own cars, and I would bet that a similar percentage of hotel occupants arrive in a private car.
Driving a car in Manhattan is only for the super-rich the rest of us use the subway and our feet.
Duh, right? Where else are there more real pedestrians than here?
Cars are only for the super rich?
Really?
Chuck D regarding the NY Post:
"America's oldest continuously published daily piece of bullshit"
I really don't see what the big deal is. If you live in Times Square you're an asshole and if you have a car in Manhattan you're an asshole and if you're a tourist you're definitely an asshole. Seems like this only affects assholes... bfd.
/thread
Governor Paterson just pooped out a Chilkin Bilskits burger from his asshole.
Schfifty five?!
I haven't been there yet -- recovering at home still -- but this looks ridiculous. Calming traffic is one thing, but making Times Square a place for lawn chairs is embarrassing.
www.forgotten-ny.com
Amen brother-disgraceful...
Enough of this stupid shit. Bring back the cars and trucks.
why in the name of Jesus would you want Trucks to fil that space?? your gonna get hit by one.
Duh, to keep the cars from hitting me :)