Tri-State Transportation Campaign staffers took to a car-free Broadway today.
New York City closed sections of Broadway to traffic over Memorial Day weekend, an audacious plan to decongest the sidewalks, create new public spaces, and speed up traffic on 6th and 7th Avenues to boot. TSTC staffers were on Broadway today to see the results. We loved it — and so did the visitors and residents we talked to. Here’s what they had to say:
“Wonderful. Only in New York can you come and sit in a lawn chair in the street.” – Carolyn, visiting from Buffalo. (More photos and quotes after the jump:)
Traffic on 7th Avenue and side streets was heavy as usual but appeared to be moving steadily (our visit took place in the afternoon). Traffic on 8th and 9th Avenues was free flow.
“It’s about time!” – 3 postal workers on break.
Architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussof wrote in yesterday's NY Times that "standing in the middle of Broadway, you have the sense of being in a big public room... This adds to the intimacy of the plaza itself, which, however undefined, can now function as a genuine social space."
“This is something unique. I’m enjoying it.” – Rakesh, visiting New York for the first time, from India.
Times Square has rarely felt this relaxing.
“It’s cool. I don’t mind it at all. Now I can cross this street (pointing at Broadway) without worrying about traffic, and now it’s not as congested.” – Winston, resident of Midtown Manhattan for 23 years.
[...] More Praise for Car-Free Broadway (MTR) [...]
[...] Photo via Tri-State Transportation Campaign. [...]
How are deliveries to the businesses along these segments of Broadway working out?
[...] by a margin of 58%-34%, and 44% of New Yorkers have been to the car-free zones. (Tri-State visited back in May, and we enjoyed the spaces [...]
I’ll bet greedy street peddlers are making a killing off lawnchairs
[...] pace. NYCDOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan has continued the department’s sustainable ways. Car-free Broadway and the city’s first bus rapid transit route could be legacy projects in themselves. Expect [...]