New York set to ban cars from Times Square

[photoLith]

What in the world is that blue 🞵🞵🞵🞵 on the street? They are actively trying to ruin Times Square and turn it into even more of a DisneyLand 🞵🞵🞵🞵 experience. As long as it doesnt spread all over the city, I guess it will be fine.

[10023]

Originally Posted by photolitherland

What in the world is that blue 🞵🞵🞵🞵 on the street? They are actively trying to ruin Times Square and turn it into even more of a DisneyLand 🞵🞵🞵🞵 experience. As long as it doesnt spread all over the city, I guess it will be fine.

How can you ruin something that's already as miserable as Times Square?

Look, Times Square is for tourists and that's it. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a "Disneyland: Times Square" at some point in the future. With a big indoor roller coaster...

[ColDayMan]

They already got the indoor Ferris Wheel with Geoffrey the Giraffe...

[Dac150]

Sounds like they’re trying new ideas to see what works; it’s clear that this new Times Square is going to be long term, so why not experiment with some potentially long term amenities. Frankly I think they should scale down the size of this ‘plaza’ and institute it as a seasonal function. I will say though that if the weather is pleasant and I happen to be down there, it’s not a ‘terrible’ concept. It’s funny though because the sidewalks are still packed, even when the open ‘plaza’ runs parallel. I still don’t think people have fully grasped the ‘plaza’ concept.

[Dac150]

Originally Posted by 10023

How can you ruin something that's already as miserable as Times Square?

Brutal at times with crowds, yes. Miserable, no. It’s admittedly a part of town I like to avoid if necessary, but it’s a fascinating place nonetheless. It’s as much a business district now as it is tourist.

[pesto]

Originally Posted by 10023

How can you ruin something that's already as miserable as Times Square?

Look, Times Square is for tourists and that's it. I wouldn't be surprised if there was a "Disneyland: Times Square" at some point in the future. With a big indoor roller coaster...

A stroke of genius. Get Mickey on the phone. I want signable documents in 10 days.

[Lecom]

I support the move. Times Square has long been an inhospitable environment, with plenty of adjacent attractions yet no real destination/focal point/public gathering space. When you'd go there, you'd just stumble around the sidewalks without any particular purpose or destination. Besides, the sidewalks got so crowded that the space actually became overwhelmed. The curbs have been dams, and now they have burst, allowing people to actually slow down and enjoy the environment. Imagine if the Rockefeller Center's promenade and skating rink would have been automobile streets instead, and if the forums angrily protested when they decided to dedicate that space to pedestrians instead. As of Disneyfication - what do you expect? It's a tourist trap. Should we forbid people from going into ancient Egyptian temples because back in their heyday, they were sacred spaces only accessible by priests? Might as well bring back the tradition of worshipping Amon-Ra while they're at it, and Mumbarak should be allowed back in office so he can construct himself a funerary pyramid built using traditional methods on the backs of the Egyptian people.

There is no such thing as "authenticity" in Times Square, as it's one of the most rapidly changing urban areas on Earth. What IS authentic Times Square? The 90's, with the onset of attractions and a lack of pedestrian environment? The grimy area with the hookers and pimps? Come here to North Philly and you can experience for yourself the glamor of getting robbed at gunpoint. The 20's, with its theater district? The 1900's, when Times Tower was first built? Before that, when it was Longacre Square? I'd rather have Times Square as a living, dynamic, evolving tourist trap than some poor attempt at freezing time and turning the space into a rigid museum, which reeks more of Disneyfication than anything that's been going on in the past 20 years.

The ideal solution would've been tunneling Broadway under the square to relieve the resulting gridlock on surrounding streets, but even this is good enough.

[mthq]

Originally Posted by NYguy

worldarchitecturenews.com

I see they've also felt the need to announce TimesSquare's presence with a corny sign (left) on the side eh?

btw whats with the faux facade beside it? renovation?

[djlx2]

Originally Posted by Dac150

Sounds like they’re trying new ideas to see what works; it’s clear that this new Times Square is going to be long term, so why not experiment with some potentially long term amenities. Frankly I think they should scale down the size of this ‘plaza’ and institute it as a seasonal function. I will say though that if the weather is pleasant and I happen to be down there, it’s not a ‘terrible’ concept. It’s funny though because the sidewalks are still packed, even when the open ‘plaza’ runs parallel. I still don’t think people have fully grasped the ‘plaza’ concept.

True, the entire idea of a Plaza in Times square is sort of atypical of your typical plaza. Even I haven't grasped what's going on there in terms of foot traffic. Take that staircase in the visual centerpiece: my idea in the pictures was that this was just where locals went, either for private business conversations, or else just to check in on how they're doing. So on the latter, I've been passing by there to see what steps they're sitting on, but it would be good to know if any and how many of them are tourists.

If you're talking more about the larger plaza with all of the street traffic, yeah, as far as that goes, it's a maze. When I'm there I kind of just stare at the swarm of locals. Sometimes I'm almost positive I've seen a coworker, other times I'm seeing someone who just looks a bit like them for some reason, and then I'll end up trying to follow them five blocks down through the herd of pedestrians just to find out it was the wrong person all along. It would be great if the plaza worked as a place where locals meet up, so I don't end up doing that.

[10023]

Originally Posted by Lecom

The ideal solution would've been tunneling Broadway under the square to relieve the resulting gridlock on surrounding streets, but even this is good enough.

Tunneling Broadway underground from just south of Columbus Circle to just north of Madison Square Park would be a brilliant idea. Forget Times Square (and Herald Square), just having a thoroughfare that bypasses Midtown to go from Uptown to Downtown would be extremely beneficial to the city and its residents.

But also very expensive, so it'll never happen.

[Stratosphere 2020]

And the Disnification of New York continues, so sad!

[JBoston]

Originally Posted by 10023

Tunneling Broadway underground from just south of Columbus Circle to just north of Madison Square Park would be a brilliant idea. Forget Times Square (and Herald Square), just having a thoroughfare that bypasses Midtown to go from Uptown to Downtown would be extremely beneficial to the city and its residents.

But also very expensive, so it'll never happen.

This seems like a great solution in theory, but the infrastructure required for such an undertaking would ruin Columbus Circle and Madison Square Park. There would be two gaping holes which would disrupt both areas, not to mention the speeding traffic spewing out onto the intersection in front of the Flatiron and the mutilation of the Columbus Circle rotary. If you want to get from uptown to downtown quickly and you're already on the west side, why wouldn't you just take the West Side Highway?

[sabino86]

Originally Posted by 10023

Tunneling Broadway underground from just south of Columbus Circle to just north of Madison Square Park would be a brilliant idea. Forget Times Square (and Herald Square), just having a thoroughfare that bypasses Midtown to go from Uptown to Downtown would be extremely beneficial to the city and its residents.

But also very expensive, so it'll never happen.

Don't forget those pesky subway lines there too...

[M II A II R II K]

Times Square's Pedestrian Plazas Made Air Quality Better




Read More: http://gothamist.com/2011/04/13/times_squares_pedestrian_plazas_mad.php

Report: http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/me...r120-11.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1

Breathe in that fresh...Times Square air? According to the most recent New York City Community Air Survey, those Times Square pedestrian plazas are doing their job. The report shows, "After the conversion to a pedestrian plaza, NO pollution levels in Times Square went down by 63 percent while, NO2 levels went down by 41 percent." Just maybe don't hang out in all those places around the pedestrian plazas...where the diverted cars are.

Mayor Bloomberg said, “We created pedestrian plazas right in the heart of our City to straighten out some of the chokepoints in our street grid and to help traffic flow more smoothly and quickly through Midtown. We also expected that by reducing the numbers of vehicles in and around Times Square, we would also improve the area’s air quality, and that’s exactly what the numbers now show." The numbers also show that 25 percent of the city's taxi fleet were hybrids as of April 2010 and a decreasing concentration average of particulate matter in the air since 2000.

.....

[10023]

Originally Posted by JBoston

This seems like a great solution in theory, but the infrastructure required for such an undertaking would ruin Columbus Circle and Madison Square Park. There would be two gaping holes which would disrupt both areas, not to mention the speeding traffic spewing out onto the intersection in front of the Flatiron and the mutilation of the Columbus Circle rotary. If you want to get from uptown to downtown quickly and you're already on the west side, why wouldn't you just take the West Side Highway?

Well the WSH is a lot further west than Madison Square, which is right in the middle.

Anyway, I very consciously said south of Columbus Circle to north of Madison Square. Definitely wouldn't want to run either... but Broadway in the mid 50s and in the upper 20s are 🞵🞵🞵🞵 anyway. I also think the infrastructure required would be quite minimal if it was not a toll tunnel. Urban tunnels like this exist in Europe and Asia.

[M II A II R II K]

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[youngregina]

I.. just don't understand any of it really. This is the largest tourist trap that I can think of. NYC could have done so much in the way of making the street presence feel magical. Instead, they cover what once was a street in advertising. I prefer the street with cars and buses and the like because that says you're in NYC more than anything. This.. this just makes me never want to step anywhere near there. I would have loved to go even 5 years ago. Now its just, so strange.

[Loqy Lion]

Hate this 🞵🞵🞵🞵.

I have no problem with the "Disneyland" stuff, but I have a problem with turning streets at the heart of the world's most important city into asphalt beaches for fatass and stupid tourists.

[M II A II R II K]

It's too bad that Times Square doesn't have an actual square in the first place.

[fflint]

Originally Posted by youngregina

I prefer the street with cars and buses and the like because that says you're in NYC more than anything.

You think, more than anything, cars and buses signify you're in New York City?