Two of my favorite New York City love notes debuted in 2009: the newly pedestrian friendly Times Square and High Line Park in the Meatpacking District.
New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan began pedestrian-friendly Times Square as an experiment in 2009. The response to their people space, created in the heart of the city, has been overwhelmingly positive. Complete with seating and free wifi, the area invites you to sit, people watch and amble in a way that the old Times Square did not. Sidewalks crowded with tourists and busy locals, surrounded by cars, did not make for a lovable place.
The experiment was made permanent in February 2010. Noted New York Magazine: “It took a bureaucrat’s intervention to make the place human again, to clear a little room for leisurely amazement in the lunatic center of this crazed metropolis.”
Street Films – In Appreciation of the NEW Times Square
This video features Danish architect Jan Gehl, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan.
Peter Kageyama from Pedestrian Friendly Times Square