Some business owners are speaking out over the "ruinous" impact of the 12-block-long pedestrian and bike lanes on Broadway north of 47th Street, according to an article in today's edition of The New York Post by Steve Cuozzo.
"The Broadway pedestrian and bike lanes from West 47th Street to Columbus Circle are irrefutable evidence of the DOT's failure to respect a basic fact of city life: People want to be on the sidewalk near stores, restaurants and building entrances - not in the middle of the road," the article maintained, adding that "while the DOT's Times Square 'plazas' are popular with burger-chomping tourists, the Broadway lanes to the north - as wide as 20 feet at some points - are universally shunned."
"The resulting estrangement of the east-blockfront sidewalk from the rest of Broadway has been catastrophic both for mom-and-pop stores and for some of the city's most famous institutions. None would quantify the impact in terms of dollars, but their thrust was clear," the article continued.
Broadway Association chief Cristyne Nicholas, whose organization promotes the interests of many area businesses as well as theater owners, told The Post that "Our members have complained that it's confusing and has a negative impact on their business," adding that "it has been a deterrent to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic because the lane makes it look isolated."
The article said that "Caroline Hirsch, owner of legendary Caroline's comedy club at Broadway and 49th Street, says, 'It's changed every rhythm on that street. My weekend business is totally off because of it.'"
Stephen Hanson is the president of B.R. Guest, the restaurant company that owns Ruby Foo's at Broadway at 49th Street, said in the article that "It's hurt our business there tremendously. There's no walk-by traffic we used to have at night, because everybody's in a mad dash to get to the central arcade area."
The article said that Mr. Hanson said his Blue Fin restaurant at 47th Street has benefited from the Times Square plazas, but added that "their popularity, combined with the inhospitability of the bike/pedestrian lane to the north, sucked the energy out of Broadway above 47th Street - 'anything for 10 blocks up is getting a vacuum effect,' he said."
The article said that DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan "has little taste for the street energy that helped make New York the world's most dynamic (and economically potent) city; her priorities lie in the cyclist-heaven Copenhagen of her urban-phobic imagination."
"The Broadway pedestrian and bike lanes from West 47th Street to Columbus Circle are irrefutable evidence of the DOT's failure to respect a basic fact of city life: People want to be on the sidewalk near stores, restaurants and building entrances - not in the middle of the road," the article maintained, adding that "while the DOT's Times Square 'plazas' are popular with burger-chomping tourists, the Broadway lanes to the north - as wide as 20 feet at some points - are universally shunned."
"The resulting estrangement of the east-blockfront sidewalk from the rest of Broadway has been catastrophic both for mom-and-pop stores and for some of the city's most famous institutions. None would quantify the impact in terms of dollars, but their thrust was clear," the article continued.
Broadway Association chief Cristyne Nicholas, whose organization promotes the interests of many area businesses as well as theater owners, told The Post that "Our members have complained that it's confusing and has a negative impact on their business," adding that "it has been a deterrent to both pedestrian and vehicular traffic because the lane makes it look isolated."
The article said that "Caroline Hirsch, owner of legendary Caroline's comedy club at Broadway and 49th Street, says, 'It's changed every rhythm on that street. My weekend business is totally off because of it.'"
Stephen Hanson is the president of B.R. Guest, the restaurant company that owns Ruby Foo's at Broadway at 49th Street, said in the article that "It's hurt our business there tremendously. There's no walk-by traffic we used to have at night, because everybody's in a mad dash to get to the central arcade area."
The article said that Mr. Hanson said his Blue Fin restaurant at 47th Street has benefited from the Times Square plazas, but added that "their popularity, combined with the inhospitability of the bike/pedestrian lane to the north, sucked the energy out of Broadway above 47th Street - 'anything for 10 blocks up is getting a vacuum effect,' he said."
The article said that DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan "has little taste for the street energy that helped make New York the world's most dynamic (and economically potent) city; her priorities lie in the cyclist-heaven Copenhagen of her urban-phobic imagination."
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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