Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Car-Free Streets

The Crossroads of the World Goes Car-Free

By Aaron Naparstek | May 26, 2009 | 29 Comments

I’ve lived in New York City for just about twenty years now but yesterday was my first trip to Times Square. Sure, I’ve been to Times Square before. Plenty of times. But until yesterday Times Square had never ever been a destination for me. Rather, it had always been a place to avoid or, if […]

Car-Free Space Is an Instant Hit on Broadway

By Aaron Naparstek | May 24, 2009 | 36 Comments

Here’s the view from 45th Street looking south at about 1 pm today, about 30 minutes after the city Dept. of Transportation closed Broadway to motor vehicle traffic in Midtown. It’s obviously way too soon to judge how this experiment is working but today, at least, car-free Broadway appears to be a huge hit. If […]

Happy Memorial Day Weekend (With Gusto This Time)

By Ben Fried | May 22, 2009 | 13 Comments

The full transformation will take a few months to set up, but come Memorial Day, pedestrians will finally have some breathing room at Times Square. When Memorial Day weekend rolls around, here at Streetsblog we usually take the opportunity to note the advent of the summer driving season — and all the waste and violence […]

Coming Soon: The Broadway You’ve Been Waiting For

By Brad Aaron | May 19, 2009 | 7 Comments

Vehicles will be redirected from Broadway to Seventh Avenue, as the orange sticker says, "Starting Sun May 24" DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan today officially announced that work on new pedestrian spaces at Times and Herald Squares — the "Green Light for Midtown" pilot program — will enter a new phase this Sunday night, when auto […]

Report: New Yorkers Like Ped Streets More Than They Expected

By Ben Fried | Apr 9, 2009 | 5 Comments

Enjoying a game of four-square out on the street in Jackson Heights. Photo: Transportation Alternatives. In addition to last summer’s blockbuster car-free event, Summer Streets, three New York neighborhoods tried out pedestrian streets on a more intimate scale. Williamsburg Walks, Summer Space in Brooklyn Heights, and the 78th Street Play Street in Jackson Heights gave […]

Wiki Wednesday: The Transformation of Trafalgar Square

By Ben Fried | Mar 4, 2009 | 2 Comments

There’s no place quite like Times Square, and no exact precedent for the reclamation of street space along Broadway that Mayor Bloomberg and NYCDOT unveiled last week. But London’s pedestrian improvements to Trafalgar Square certainly invite comparison. DianaD describes those changes in this week’s StreetsWiki entry: Because it formed the intersection of some of London’s […]

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