New York set to ban cars from Times Square

[The Straight Story]

New York set to ban cars from Times Square

NEW YORK, May 24 (UPI) -- Many New York residents and tourists alike say the city's plan to ban cars from traveling through Times Square is a great idea.

The New York Daily News said Saturday some people have applauded the plan to ban all traffic from Broadway between 42nd and 47th Street in Times Square starting Sunday night.

"I think it's going to bring more people and they'll be more comfortable," local food vendor John Galanopolous said of the plan, which will also ban cars from 33rd and 35th Street in Herald Square.

Pittsburgh resident Bill Buettin agreed the traffic ban in those areas would make pedestrian travel easier in New York.

"Not having to worry about crosswalks and stop lights makes it that much easier," the tourist told the Daily News.

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/05/24/New-York-set-to-ban-cars-from-Times-Square/UPI-99151243189248/

[bluestateguy]

1. They do that on Austin's 6th Street on Friday and Saturday nights

nt

[Jazzgirl]

9. Yes they do bluestateguy.

It's great too! It's wonderful to be able to wander out in the middle of the street (half drunk) and not have to worry about getting run over. Excellent idea!

[slackmaster]

2. As an occasional visitor who enjoys going to NYC, I think that would be extremely cool

I hope they work something out that works for everyone.

[BlueJazz]

3. I like the idea. I wish every City (over a certain size) had a downtown that ...

...was Car/Truck free for about 4 blocks square.

[Jane Austin]

4. Isn't that going to further clog up crosstown traffic

on the other streets?

Yikes.

[DesertFlower]

6. that's my thought.

i'm a former new yorker and though it would be nice, it could be a problem.

[Johnny Noshoes]

27. Since B'way and 7th ave run so close together in Times Sq...

all it will do is just shift the traffic over to 7th avenue and the pedestrian "paradise" of a car free B'way will be a huge joke. I mean really in theory it seems like a great idea but in practice its absurd. No, I don't even own a car or know how to drive being a lifelong New Yorker never felt the need to bother with a car. I think we tried to get congestion pricing for Manhattan but that fell flat. I'd like to see a restriction, on cars with just the driver, in midtown during certain times of the day. Yeah I know it would inconvenience some people but having to breathe exhaust fumes and put up with cars and noise is a DAMN inconvenience too.

[Golden Raisin]

25. Uh, yeah!

Crosstown, Uptown and Downtown as all that traffic will now have to be diverted/detoured somewhere else. I live in Manhattan. This is a lovely idea in principle but a disaster in the making practically. I wonder how happy the tourists staying in the many Times Square hotels will be when their taxis and shuttles coming in from the airports have to drop them and their luggage blocks away.

[Roon]

5. We have a street lined with an open air mall

and cars are banned. Just a free shuttle that comes by every two minutes. Nifty!!

[lame54]

7. Allow the cars - Ban the advertisements

[Johnny Noshoes]

28. Oh the visual pollution in Times Sq is intense.

I have to admit though that it would be very weird to see a "naked" Times Sq - no ads - just too strange.

[backscatter712]

8. A very good idea!

Here in Colorado, it's done in Denver on the 16th St. Mall, in Boulder on Pearl St., and in Fort Collins in Old Town. And it works well! The 16th St. Mall in Denver has a free shuttle that takes you from one end to the other. It's awesome!

Having lived in Germany for a year, I've also seen lots of cities and towns there with Fußgänger-Zones. They work just fine over there!

It takes what would otherwise be yet another busy city street, and makes it into a much more pleasant place to shop and walk around. Every city center should have one! Times Square would make a perfect pedestrian mall!

[RUMMYisFROSTED]

10. Out with GM!

Out with Chrysler!

Out with cars!

Foot Power!

[JVS]

11. That will make trips to the Times Square Olive Garden that much nicer!

Why not ban cars? The whole square has become a disneyfied heap of shit anyway.

[Gwendolyn]

13. True... but still. n/t

[Gwendolyn]

12. Quaint walkways are not meant for New York.

It'll just congest a bad situation even more. Times Square is not "old town" and the city wasn't built for this. I foresee lots of screaming drivers and more beatings and murders based on traffic-related rage.

On the other hand, it'll force more people to use public transit. In a city that already is mostly filled with non-drivers. Lol. Guess the idea is supposed to make tourists overwhelmed by the frenetic pace more comfy, but really, what do they come to NY for anyhow? The fresh air? Not sure what Joisey people will do when they have to park 18 blocks away to get to the play.

[KittyWampus]

15. NYC already shuts down a few blocks every Saturday through late spring summer for street fairs

somehow things still manage to operate.

[Fountain79]

18. That's one day a week and is seasonal....

you don't think it might be different if it is done every day?

[Gwendolyn]

19. Yeah, but with lots of screaming. And where is it now centered? Upper West Side or Tribeca?

I know screaming is par for the course, and I don't mind at all, since I only drive in or to get out. I guess people would adapt, but Times Square? Even though it's Disneyfied beyond all hope, it seems like a strange thing. No cabs, just a bunch of people walking around? I can't see it.

[JVS]

16. Or at least not meant for Broadway

The whole beauty of that street is that it crosses over all the other avenues while still being a N-S corridor. If there are any places I wouldn't put a pedestrian zone, it's on the squares created by broadway intersecting an avenue.

[spanone]

14. cool, i was just there, it's mostly pedestrians on times square already

[Fountain79]

17. Never been to New York

but what would that do for traffic congestion?

[Princess Turandot]

20. They're doing this on a trial basis for (I think) six months ..

the two places where they did this, Times Square and Herald Square (34th St. and Bway) are where Broadway crosses another avenue which is also southbound. (Below 59th Street, Broadway is a one way avenue.) As a result, those intersections have more 2 traffic sequences, since traffic on one downtown avenue has to be stopped to allow traffic to proceed on the other downtown avenue (as well as crosstown.) Their thought, which they admit is possibly wrong, is that having one southbound avenue with a longer period between lights will improve both the car and the pedestrian traffic flow.

[Gman]

21. What about the hookers?

Has anyone considered the impact on them?

[Gwendolyn]

22. Long gone. They've moved away eons ago. n/t

[skooooo]

23. good point. nt

[NYC_SKP]

24. They've already moved. I miss the good old Times Square.

The pre-Disney Times Square. :cry:

[Gman]

31. I haven't been there since 1992 for the DNC

Even then, they had cleaned things up very well. No street people, hookers, etc., until the morning AFTER the convention and all was back to what appeared to be "normal".

[Golden Raisin]

26. TImes Square is all Disneyfied and

family-friendly now. There are occasional days when I momentarily miss the skanky, dangerous, down-n-dirty old days.

[Johnny Noshoes]

30. Amazing ain't it.

Its almost as if Times Sq has become a New York theme park. Well a sort of pretty, unscary, totally unreal version of New York. What gets me are the tourists - probably MOSTLY fellow Americans - who will eat in any of the chain restaurants in the Times Sq area, but won't think to go a few blocks out of their way to find all the restaurants along Ninth Avenue. Their guide books must mention them I would imagine.

[donco6]

29. From what I've seen, it's just a big parking lot anyway.

Who would notice?