Broadway Dreams to be Realized

Many more people will soon get their chance to be on Broadway.  In a bold and exciting development, Janette Sadik-Kahn, the head of NYC DOT, announced that the city will close several sections of Broadway to car traffic as early as May. The street closures will be filled with tables, seating and other pedestrian amenities from 47-42nd St., and from 35-33rd St.  The public space improvements are being billed as an experiment that, if deemed successful, will become permanent.

PPS and its partners in the New York City Streets Renaissance have advocated for a similarly bold vision for Broadway, one of the biggest opportunties for public space improvement in NYC.  The concept of Broadway being built around  destinations was something we originally introduced in the NYCSR exhibit in 2006, as well as in PPS’s New York City commentary. During the exhibit, we also held a panel discussion with a number of local visionaries including representatives from the 34th St. Partnership, and the Times Square Alliance.  The Times Square Alliance subsequently hired PPS to perform the groundwork and initial visioning for today’s plan.

More information:

Streetsblog: The Great Pedestrian Way: First Look at the Car-Free Broadway Plan

NYT: Mayor Plans to Close Parts of Broadway to Traffic

PPS: Times Square Project Experience

DOT: “Green Light to Broadway”