Midtown
Streetsblog Basics
Dan Biederman: “If You Try to Change Things, You Get Opposition”
Here's the second installment of Streetsblog's interview with Dan Biederman, head of the 34th Street Partnership and the Bryant Park Corporation. In the first part of the interview, Biederman discussed reactions to NYC DOT's recent public space projects on Broadway, and why the reality on the ground is much better for Midtown than most press accounts have let on.
August 4, 2011
A Verbal Tour of Midtown With Public Space Maestro Dan Biederman
Before Dan Biederman came to Bryant Park, there were no movable chairs, no free movies on summer evenings, no kiosks selling sandwiches and refreshments. No lunch time crowds and not much in the way of civic life or social activity, either. There was, basically, an open-air drug market in the New York Public Library's backyard.
August 3, 2011
“Midtown in Motion” to Come With Rad Driver-Distracting Apps
As it is, the NYC DOT “Midtown in Motion" initiative is a bit of a head-scratcher. To learn that the city is devoting well over a million dollars in addition to staff resources to speed up car traffic in Midtown, which the mayor has declared the "lifeblood" of the CBD -- is it 2006 again?
July 21, 2011
High-Tech Midtown Traffic System Will Ignore Pedestrians and Buses
The Department of Transportation is rolling out a response to Midtown traffic congestion that is as high-tech as it is intellectually outdated. Microwave sensors, video cameras, and E-ZPass readers will gather traffic information in real-time and beam the information to the DOT's Queens command center, where engineers will instantly adjust the traffic lights as needed in an attempt to fine-tune the workings of the traffic grid.
July 20, 2011
NYPD: Curb-Jumper Hit Senior While Parking, “No Criminality Suspected”
We have an update from NYPD on the curb-jumping motorist who struck and injured a pedestrian in Midtown this morning. Police said the driver hit a 73-year-old woman on the sidewalk while attempting to back into a parking space on 58th Street. The victim was sent to New York Presbyterian Hospital with serious head injuries, according to NYPD; she is now in stable condition.
July 19, 2011
Curb-Jumping Motorist Severs Leg of Pedestrian in Midtown
Reader Liz Patek sends this account from a crash scene in Midtown this morning:
July 19, 2011
Albany Law Aids UN Land Swap to Help Fill East River Greenway Gap
The State Legislature took another step forward in the long and arduous process of filling the Midtown gap in the East River Greenway two weeks ago. By passing a law that would allow a swap of land between the city and the United Nations to move forward, DNAinfo reported yesterday, Albany cleared the way for a deal to be negotiated.
June 30, 2011
Eyes on the Street: Chowing Down in Midtown’s Public Spaces
Yesterday the 18th Annual Taste of Times Square filled up the crossroads of the world, serving dishes to throngs of people. DNAinfo reports that the event broke with tradition a little bit, and the vendors were better off for it:
June 7, 2011
Despite Biased Meeting, CB 6 Committee Endorses DOT Bike Lane Plan
NYC DOT's proposed design for bike lanes from 34th Street to 57th Street along First and Second Avenues, which call for a protected lane on First Avenue from 34th to 49th Streets and shared lanes everywhere else, earned the endorsement of Community Board 6's transportation committee last night. The 7-5 vote in favor of DOT's plan -- the nays thought it included too much space for cyclists, not too little -- came after a misleading discussion in which the committee members seemed not to understand what they were voting on.
June 7, 2011