Recent Streetsblog NYC posts about Midtown

Bus Tracking Sabotage: NYPD Clogs 34th Street Lane After Displays Go Live

By Ben Fried | Aug 12, 2009 | 17 Comments

We’ve got two dispatches from the opening day of real-time bus arrival displays on 34th Street. First, the good photo: A reader sent the above shot of the display inside the shelter at Third Avenue. That’s a nice crisp presentation. Are the times accurate? None of the dailies ran blaring headlines about haywire displays today, […]

Real-Time Bus Tracking Pilot Is Live on 34th Street [Updated]

By Ben Fried | Aug 11, 2009 | 17 Comments

DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan announces the 34th Street pilot this morning. On the left are MTA Bus president Joseph Smith, Mayor Bloomberg, and acting MTA chief Helena Williams. Will the third time be the charm for reliable bus arrival displays in Manhattan? NYCDOT and the MTA announced today that, yes, they will deliver a tracking […]

Streetfilms: Carmaggeddon Averted as Broadway Comes to Life

By Clarence Eckerson Jr. | Jul 20, 2009 | 19 Comments

When New York City opened up new pedestrian zones in the heart of Midtown this summer, naysayers predicted a traffic nightmare. Nearly two months later, we’re still waiting for the much-feared Carmaggedon. In this video, Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton takes us on a tour of Broadway’s car-free squares and boulevard-style blocks, where conditions have improved […]

Eyes on the Street: NYPD Shows Bus Lane Scofflaws How It’s Done

By Ben Fried | Jul 9, 2009 | 19 Comments

Thanks to Chris O’Leary at On Transport for posting the best documentation we’ve seen so far of NYPD’s utter disregard for the 34th Street bus lane. He took this picture yesterday during the middle of the evening rush, around 6 p.m., a time when there’s absolutely no excuse: The shoulder lane is dedicated to buses […]

Independence Day Special: The Freedom to Sit

By Ben Fried | Jul 2, 2009 | 10 Comments

This was the scene at Herald Square yesterday afternoon. It’s full of people doing what the Times’ Susan Dominus finds so un-New York: sitting down. Some of these loafers are actually putting their feet up, right in the heart of our fast-paced, cutthroat city. It’s like they’ve never even seen The Sweet Smell of Success. […]

Fifth Avenue, 1909: So Long Promenade, Hello Motorway

By Ben Fried | Jun 29, 2009 | 14 Comments

Image: New York Times. This image of Fifth Avenue unearthed by the Times’ Jennifer 8. Lee (nice headline!) is a fascinating relic from the dawn of the motoring age. The new geometry pictured here nicked 15 feet of sidewalk from pedestrians to make room for two traffic lanes. In one fell swoop, the balance of […]

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