A Walk In Times Sq

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/BWW_Poll_Should_New_York_Make_the_Times_Square_Pedestrian_Mall_Permanent_20100207

Its great that they have pedestrianized a lot of the area but is the most awful job that they have done. It is absolutely dreadful.

Great Sam , you are off to New York, is this your first trip?

I quite like it myself, especially when I was out there in June, as I could get a frappy ans sit out and take the world in, it would be better if they pedestrianised the whole lot!

I have to say though the part pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square is a lot better, especially when they have something going on.

Hope you have a fab time over there and your first time would be memorable, I remember second time I went and it was -15, with wind chill factor it was -25 in other words bloody freezing.

My three bits of advice to you are;

1 - Spend only one day down town and cram as much as possible, so that mean doing Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island, then when back on mainland see Wall Street and Trinity Church, see 9/11 memorial if you must, just one big building site now. Then get a taxi to seaport and have a quick look round and there is a TKTS there, then to finish walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, the catch subway line C (blue line) back to Times Square (42nd street) ready for a show.

2 - Do a ESTA application if you haven't already.

3 - Have a fab time.

Have you lined your shows up yet?

What is a ESTA application?

The US government want every single little detail about you filled out online before you fly- usually more than seven days prior to your departure.
You also MUST fill in the traditional forms they give you on the aircraft!

I would take a sicky for the dance classes and use that for shopping instead!!!

Not much time there and shame you are getting such a late flight, I like an earlier flight and arrive 2:30-4:00pm so I can take in a evening show.

I absolutely LOVE the new pedestrianized Times Square. It used to be a nightmare trying to plough your way through coz it was always so congested with people waiting to cross the road every few yards. Now there is such a wide space for people and less roads to cross with traffic, it's brilliant. Plus the seating area is fab and the view from the top of the new TKTS steps is fantastic. Can't wait till I'm there again in 6 weeks time!

---

Updated On: 2/7/10 at 07:20 PM

New York goes all cosmopolitan.

The temporary pedestrian mall created in Times Square in summer 2009 is a Broadway hit, and New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has green-lighted construction of a permanent plaza.

The city's Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) first announced the Green Light for Midtown initiative in February 2009. It was the city's test effort "to improve mobility and safety." Implementation began Memorial Day weekend in 2009 at various major intersections in Manhattan, including Herald Square and Times Square between 42nd and 47th Streets.

NYCDOT "will begin a capital project to design and build the plazas and corridor treatments with permanent, high quality materials," according to a Feb. 11 statement. No completion date was announced; the existing pilot areas will stay in place until they are refurbished as permanent.

Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of The Broadway League, responded to the news by telling Playbill.com, "For theatregoers, the Broadway plazas are a new stage in the world's premier theatre district. Times Square is hallowed ground for theatre lovers and a point of pride for New Yorkers. By making these spaces permanent, the city helps improve traffic flow to the area, and ensures that this iconic neighborhood remains vibrant and welcoming for future generations to come."

Beginning in late May 2009, pedestrians and theatregoers were able to move more freely in the Times Square area under the pilot plan to close five blocks of Broadway to automobile traffic. (View Playbill.com's Photo Gallery of the changes by clicking here.)
Broadway between 42nd Street and 47th Street became a pedestrian mall, with café tables, umbrellas, planters and room for cyclists and foot traffic. Seventh Avenue runs (somewhat) parallel to Broadway at Times Square and took on the major southbound traffic burden. Cross streets remained open, feeding the theatre district.

The northern part of Times Square is where Duffy Square sits, and where Theatre Development Fund's TKTS discount ticket booth is located. The newly closed Broadway and Duffy Square are separated only by a curb, and the area became a wide safe zone for lounging, picture-taking and meeting.

Victoria Bailey, executive director of Theatre Development Fund, said on Feb. 11, "We believe that increased pedestrian traffic in Times Square and on the red steps leads to increased attendance in the Broadway and Off Broadway theatres in the area."

The estimated cost of the program was $1.5 million.

According to a Feb. 11 statement, "Both before and after implementing Green Light for Midtown as a pilot, NYCDOT collected extensive data on travel times, traffic volumes, pedestrian volumes and traffic accidents in the months just prior and just following project implementation. According to this data, the project is delivering on its expectations."

Here is some of what NYCDOT found:

Injuries to motorists and passengers in the project area are down 63 percent, pedestrian injuries are down 35 percent and 80 percent fewer pedestrians are walking in the roadway in Times Square.
74 percent of New Yorkers surveyed by the Times Square Alliance agree that Times Square has improved dramatically over the last year.
The number of people walking along Broadway and Seventh Avenue in Times Square is up 11 percent and pedestrian volume is up six percent in Herald Square.

What makes me piss is when Americans complain that they have to fill in a landing card to get into the UK.
All that is asked of them is name, age, address. THAT IS IT!
...and they complain about it as only Americans can.

We, on the other hand have to give over the most incredible amount of personal details etc etc -its just laughable!

Talk about paranoid!

LOL LOL LOL LOL