Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Midtown

DOT to Extend East Side Bike Lanes to 57th, But Mostly With Shared Lanes

By Noah Kazis | Apr 28, 2011 | 33 Comments

The First and Second Avenue bike lanes on Manhattan’s East Side will only be extended from 34th Street to 57th Street this year, not up to 125th Street as advanced in a plan that won community board approvals in 2010. While First Avenue will receive Manhattan’s first northbound parking-protected bike lane above 34th Street, the […]

Pedestrians, Including Bill Clinton, Breathe Easier in the New Times Square

By Brad Aaron | Apr 13, 2011 | 4 Comments

A new study commissioned by the city finds that air quality in Times Square has notably improved since the 2009 installation of pedestrian plazas on Broadway. Street-level readings taken by the New York City Community Air Survey, a city-wide air quality monitoring program created as part of PlaNYC, show that “concentrations of traffic-related pollutants were […]

Efforts to Close East River Greenway Gap Advance With Feasibility Study

By Noah Kazis | Apr 12, 2011 | 10 Comments

New York took a step forward today in attempts to close the 22 block gap in the East River Esplanade, which forces cyclists into traffic in the ultra-congested heart of Midtown and deprives East Side communities of valuable riverfront open space. Thanks to state and federal funding, including an earmark from Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, the […]

Tonight and Thursday: DOT Accepting Public Input on 34th Street Revamp

By Brad Aaron | Mar 30, 2011 | No Comments

Just a quick reminder about the NYCDOT open houses for the 34th Street Transitway, to be held today and Thursday. Though the initial plan to make 34th Street more accessible to the vast majority of its users has been compromised considerably, bus riders and pedestrians still have a lot to gain by making their presence […]

DOT Presents Scaled-Back Concept for 34th Street

By Ben Fried | Mar 15, 2011 | 14 Comments

“Consensus” and “process” were the buzzwords last night when NYC DOT presented its new concept for improving transit on 34th Street [PDF]. Gone was the plan for New York’s first physically separated busway — scuttled by local property owners and residents seeking drive-up curbside access. In its place was a package very similar to Select […]

DOT to Daylight All Left Turns on Lexington Avenue in Midtown

By Noah Kazis | Mar 8, 2011 | 26 Comments

In last year’s landmark pedestrian safety study, the Department of Transportation found that three times as many crashes that kill or seriously injure pedestrians involve left turns as right turns. To respond to the heightened danger of left-turning vehicles, DOT promised in its action plan to “daylight” all left turns on a major Manhattan avenue, […]

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