In the first significant setback to the plans of Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Kahn to remap much of the city's streets for exclusive use of bicyclists and picnickers, the city yesterday decided to cancel her plans to close 34th Street between Fifth Avenue and Herald Square to all traffic except buses.
"There isn't going to be a plaza, she said yesterday, adding that "the changes we are talking about reflect what we have heard from the community," according to an article in today's edition of The New York Post by Bill Sanderson and David Seifman.
The city's decision to scrap the plaza, the article continued, was welcomed by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer as "a step in the right direction," who also said that "clearly, discussions between the various stakeholders are having an impact."
The city, however, is not abandoning its intention to do something with the traffic on 34th Street. The article said that the commissioner indicated that "curbside access for deliveries and rapid bus lanes are likely to be part of the plans for the street o be unveiled on March 14."
A plaza on the block "had been the centerpiece of an ambitious reimagining of the Midtown thoroughfare, a plan that included dedicated bus lanes separated by a concrete barrier from other traffic," according to an article by Michael M. Grynbaum in today's edition of The New York Times.
The article described the city's change of heart on the plan "an abrupt concession to community complaints "that "the bus lanes would block access to their buildings and that cars seeking a route across town could clog up surrounding side streets."
"The decision to abandon the plaza plan is a stark contrast to the fate of previous unorthodox ideas put forward by Ms. Sadik-Khan, who has banned cars from parts of Times, Herald and Union Squares," the article said.
"There isn't going to be a plaza, she said yesterday, adding that "the changes we are talking about reflect what we have heard from the community," according to an article in today's edition of The New York Post by Bill Sanderson and David Seifman.
The city's decision to scrap the plaza, the article continued, was welcomed by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer as "a step in the right direction," who also said that "clearly, discussions between the various stakeholders are having an impact."
The city, however, is not abandoning its intention to do something with the traffic on 34th Street. The article said that the commissioner indicated that "curbside access for deliveries and rapid bus lanes are likely to be part of the plans for the street o be unveiled on March 14."
A plaza on the block "had been the centerpiece of an ambitious reimagining of the Midtown thoroughfare, a plan that included dedicated bus lanes separated by a concrete barrier from other traffic," according to an article by Michael M. Grynbaum in today's edition of The New York Times.
The article described the city's change of heart on the plan "an abrupt concession to community complaints "that "the bus lanes would block access to their buildings and that cars seeking a route across town could clog up surrounding side streets."
"The decision to abandon the plaza plan is a stark contrast to the fate of previous unorthodox ideas put forward by Ms. Sadik-Khan, who has banned cars from parts of Times, Herald and Union Squares," the article said.
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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