Thursday, February 11, 2010
A New Great White Way: Times Square Pedestrian Mall Will Become Permanent
Playbill.com: "The temporary pedestrian mall created in Times Square in summer 2009 is a Broadway hit, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has green-lighted construction of a permanent plaza."
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9 comments:
Oh! That's what i saw! I was in Times Square recently, wandering around the tables in the middle of the street, and enjoying my day. I didn't realize that this was a pilot project to make the area more friendly. And indeed it has. The modern tourist city has these pedestrian malls, and now New York is no different. The street is a center of culture and food and retail. My only concern with it is that the feel of New York disappears a little bit when the traffic and the bustle of the cars disappears from the landmark location in New York. But I think that a change such as this, changing the hustle and bustle to that of people rather than traffic, is appropriate and effective.
I wish I could go to New York City and experience this. I have never been, so I will never know what it was like before hand. It seems like a great change though, as it has improved the safety of those in the areas. From the pictures, the pedestrian mall looks very nice and very friendly in comparison to buses and taxis zooming by. I hope the construction making this area permanent goes well.
This is a fantastic idea. I'm not surprised about the increase in pedestrians. I would have no problem spending HOURS just hanging around this area. It gives a nice sense of community to a very large "lost in the crowd" lifestyle. The people watching must be amazing as well. If NYC didn't have winters I would definitely live there for these specific kinds of areas.
This seems like a very interesting thing for New York City. I had heard about this but I did not know that it was limiting the car traffic through the area. I hope that this helps with making Times Square a place that people think of as a welcoming place and not crowded. I like that this is making it more safe for the people walking in the area. This reworking of Times Square will make people think of walking instead of driving. This project should help the traffic problem in the Times Square area. For the low cost of 1.5 million to put this into effect for the trial time is a great investment for New York City’s tourism.
I was in NYC last Spring on a field trip and I saw this. At the time, it was great for us kids as we just needed a place to sit and wait for our show to begin. I asked a cop at the time what was going on and he explained the project. I have spent a lot of time in NYC over the years considering my family is from there and we live 30 minutes away, and I can tell you first hand that this project made travel in time Square so much more pleasant. It was no longer people squeezing onto a sidewalk too small for the number of people traveling on it. This is a great initiative and I love that it will be permanent.
As a full-time pedestrian, I'm a big fan of plans like this. I'm not anti-car, but especially where things are densely distributed, asserting that some space is reserved for pedestrians is a very positive thing. We had a little taste of this here last weekend, when before the roads were cleared, crowds of folks walked in the streets, parting only for the occasional ambulance of police car. In addition to cordoning off protected areas though, I think it's important that transportation officials look at shared road use as well. As a pedestrian, I'm constantly reminded that cars refuse to yield, even at crosswalks or red lights, where I have the right of way. Driveways are another common problem, where drivers will park in such a way that we're forced to walk into the street to get around. Along with the privilege of owning a car, comes the responsibility to drive it and store it in a way that doesn't endanger others. Too often, this is forgotten.
I think thats it great that all the injuries have gone down i kind of miss the nostalgia of the cars. for me it made the city more magical. its not my love of cars thats talking, but when i was younger i was amazed by the lights and the cars and everything that was going on. It all added to the magic. BUt then again its prob still just as magical.
The pedestrian mall in times square has helped a lot. I know that a lot of New Yorkers, myself included, hate going to Times Square, and this has definitely made it a little more enjoyable. People didn't even like driving in Times Square in the first place because of the awful traffic. I think this is better all around. Crossing the street in Times Square was awful before with all the cars coming at you from every direction, this makes it feel much safer. One less thing to worry about when in such a densely populated area, now if only they could get rid of the pick pockets.
New York City is one of my favorite cities in the world. This is not only because of the amazing theatre, but also because of the sense of being a part of the city. I think that this is a fantastic idea, and cannot wait to go back to New York to experience it. I understand the concern that this change would change the normal hustle and bustle caused by the interaction of the cars and the people (and would make all of those corny sped up montages of New York City obsolete). This area is also a high accident area and by giving the pedestrians and the vehicles different paths, these accidents could be avoided.
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