Because some of the spaces are tucked behind closed doors and others are frequently blocked by parked trucks, many locals have no idea about the stretch of public corridors hidden between Sixth and Seventh Avenues between West 51st and West 57th streets, according to an article today at DNAinfo.com by Jill Colvin.
The plazas and interior walkways, which form a contiguous six-block pathway, are owned by private buildings but open to the public, allowing pedestrians to travel north and south without having to travel all the way to the major avenues on either end of the blocks.
"I'm a life-long New Yorker and I had no idea you could walk mid-block from 51st to 57th," said Tom Miller, Transportation Chair of Midtown's Community Board 5, which is home to more privately owned public spaces than any other district, the article said.
"But Brian Nesin, the founder of 'Friends of Privately Owned Public Spaces' is hoping to change that. Nesin, 41, is lobbying to give the spaces more recognition with a new name - the 'Holly Whyte Way' - and wants to add new signs to make them more visible. He's also pushing the Department of Transportation to make it easier for pedestrians to safely cross the street between the blocks, floating ideas such as adding new traffic lights, stop signs or speed bumps mid-block, the article said.
"When you come out of one, you don't even know there's a connection on the other side because there's a truck parked there," said Nesin, who appeared before CB5's transportation committee Monday night to ask them to support a request he submitted to the DOT earlier this month to study his suggested changes, the article said.
"Mr. Nesin," the article continued, "argued his plan would boost pedestrian life as well as help mid-block businesses sandwiched between Sixth and Seventh avenues - the longest Midtown block. Committee members agreed that the plan was worth studying. 'It's a win-win all around,' said board member and local resident Daly Reville."
The DOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether they will consider the plan.
William Hollingsworth "Holly" Whyte (1917 - 12 January 1999) was the author of several important books on urban planning.
He joined Fortune magazine in 1946 and ten years later wrote "The Organization Man," and subsequently worked with the New York City Planning Commission and wrote "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces" in 1980.
The plazas and interior walkways, which form a contiguous six-block pathway, are owned by private buildings but open to the public, allowing pedestrians to travel north and south without having to travel all the way to the major avenues on either end of the blocks.
"I'm a life-long New Yorker and I had no idea you could walk mid-block from 51st to 57th," said Tom Miller, Transportation Chair of Midtown's Community Board 5, which is home to more privately owned public spaces than any other district, the article said.
"But Brian Nesin, the founder of 'Friends of Privately Owned Public Spaces' is hoping to change that. Nesin, 41, is lobbying to give the spaces more recognition with a new name - the 'Holly Whyte Way' - and wants to add new signs to make them more visible. He's also pushing the Department of Transportation to make it easier for pedestrians to safely cross the street between the blocks, floating ideas such as adding new traffic lights, stop signs or speed bumps mid-block, the article said.
"When you come out of one, you don't even know there's a connection on the other side because there's a truck parked there," said Nesin, who appeared before CB5's transportation committee Monday night to ask them to support a request he submitted to the DOT earlier this month to study his suggested changes, the article said.
"Mr. Nesin," the article continued, "argued his plan would boost pedestrian life as well as help mid-block businesses sandwiched between Sixth and Seventh avenues - the longest Midtown block. Committee members agreed that the plan was worth studying. 'It's a win-win all around,' said board member and local resident Daly Reville."
The DOT did not immediately respond to a request for comment about whether they will consider the plan.
William Hollingsworth "Holly" Whyte (1917 - 12 January 1999) was the author of several important books on urban planning.
He joined Fortune magazine in 1946 and ten years later wrote "The Organization Man," and subsequently worked with the New York City Planning Commission and wrote "The Social Life of Small Urban Spaces" in 1980.
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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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