CityRealty Insider > Drivers Not Wanted: Broadway Blocks Traffic, Welcomes Pedestrians

Drivers Not Wanted: Broadway Blocks Traffic, Welcomes Pedestrians

MAY 28, 2009

A new midtown zone welcomes people, not cars.

As of Monday, May 25, two busy sections of Broadway—from 47th to 42nd Street and from 35th to 33rd Street—have been designated as car-free pedestrian mall zones. This latest move by the Mayor's office takes a cue from greener European cities like Amsterdam, where only pedestrians (and bicycles) are allowed in the city's center. The auto-free zones are part of Mayor Bloomberg's plan to reduce pollution and help ease the commonly snarled and occasionally dangerous traffic flow in the area.

Folks on foot seem to be enjoying the new space, strolling, taking lunch breaks and working on laptops in the open mall amid the bustle of Times and Herald Squares. Merchants along the route of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade—down Broadway through Herald Square, past the parade's namesake—are concerned that the loss of foot traffic, hotel room bookings, and national television coverage will level a huge hit to the district's bottom line. The parade route has been the same for 84 years. The changes are being evaluated on a trial basis, and the decision on whether to make the car-free zone a permanent fixture will come at the end of the year.

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