The streets in a city are for people. That is, after all, the point of living an urban life. We don’t want to be beholden to automobiles to get around. We want to enjoy walking unencumbered by all that comes with living in a suburb.
In a way, while revenue for the MTA was one of its main goals, congestion pricing would have gone a long way toward returning New York City’s streets to its people. By disincentivizing driving, by charging tolls, by closing lanes, cities can turn the tide on congestion.
While proponents of more lanes claim those lanes alleviate traffic, as we learned from Robert Moses, more roads simply means more cars. The opposite is true too: Fewer lanes lead to fewer cars. This May, in what is being hailed as a groundbreaking move for an American city, New York City will close Broadway to cars from 47th to 42nd Sts. and then from 35th to 32nd Sts. As anyone who has every walked around Times Square or Herald Square knows, the people need this space.
For more on this plan, check out Streetsblog’s coverage here and here; take a peak at the NYCDOT documents about the closures; and listen to Janette Sadik-Kahn, DOT commissioner, discuss it Brian Lehrer.
Hopefully, this will be a successful pilot program with many more pedestrian-friendly and livable streets plans to come. Now on with the service advisories.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, uptown 1 & 2 trains skip 79th and 86th Street due to tunnel lighting rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, 2 trains run in two sections (due to switch renewal at Nostrand Avenue):
- Between 241st Street and Franklin Avenue and
- Between Franklin and Flatbush Avenues
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, February 27 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, free shuttle buses replace 3 trains between Franklin and Utica Avenues due to switch renewal at Nostrand Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, shuttle trains run between Utica and New Lots Avenues due to switch renewal at Nostrand Avenue.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, February 27 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, there is no 4 train service between Atlantic and Utica Avenues. Free shuttle buses replace 4 trains between Franklin and Utica Avenues. These changes are due to switch renewal at Nostrand Avenue. The 2 & 3 and free shuttle buses provide alternative service.
From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Saturday, March 2, Bronx-bound 4 trains run express from 167th Street to Mosholu Parkway due to switch replacement north of Burnside Avenue.
From 12:01 a.m. to 7 a.m. Saturday, February 28; from 12:01 a.m. to 8 a.m. Sunday, March 1; and from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, Brooklyn-bound 4 trains run local from Grand Central-42nd Street to Brooklyn Bridge due to rail repairs.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, there is no 5 train service between Bowling Green and East 180th Street due to track panel installation north of Gun Hill Road and cable tray installation north of East 180th Street. Customers may take the 2 or 4 instead. 5 shuttle trains run every 30 minutes between Dyre Avenue and East 180th Street.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, February 27 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, there are no 7 trains between Times Square-42nd Street and Queensboro Plaza due to track panel installation on the Davis Street curve and security conduit and cable installation in the under river tube. The NQ and free shuttle buses provide alternate service. The 42nd Street Shuttle S operates overnight to replace 7 service between Times Square-42nd Street and Grand Central-42nd Street.
From 12:01 a.m. to 8 a.m. Saturday, February 28; from 8 p.m. Saturday, February 28 to 8 a.m. Sunday, March 1; and from 8 p.m. Sunday, March 1 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, Queens-bound A trains run local from 168th Street to Euclid Avenue due to Chambers Street Signal Modernization.
From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1, Queens-bound A trains run local from 168th to 59th Streets, then express to Canal Street, then local to Euclid Avenue. These changes are due to rail work.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, Manhattan-bound A trains run local from Euclid Avenue to Jay Street, then on the F line to West 4th Street, then local A service to 168th Street. These changes are due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, there are no C trains running due to the Chambers Street Signal Modernization. Customers should take the A instead and note that Manhattan-bound A trains run on the F line from Jay Street to West 4th Street.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, uptown D trains run local from 59th Street to 145th Street due to switch renewal south of 81st Street.
From 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., Saturday, February 28 and Sunday, March 1, downtown E trains skip 23rd and Spring Streets due to rail work.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, Manhattan-bound F trains skip Ft. Hamilton Parkway, 15th Street-Prospect Park and 4th Avenue due to rehabilitation of the Caton Avenue substation.
From 8:30 p.m. Friday, February 27 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2 (until further notice), there are no G trains between Forest Hills-71st Avenue and Court Square. Customers should take the E or R instead.
From 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, February 28, Queens-bound J trains skip Hewes Street, Lorimer Street and Flushing Avenue due to rail work.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, Manhattan-bound N & R trains are rerouted over the Manhattan Bridge from DeKalb Avenue to Canal Street due to subway tunnel rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, N trains run local between Pacific Street (Brooklyn) and 59th Street-4th Avenue (Brooklyn) due to work on the Broadway-Lafayette/Bleecker Street transfer connection.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, Q trains run local between Canal Street and 57th Street and are extended to the Ditmars Boulevard N station due to track panel installation on the Davis Street curve and security conduit and cable installation in the under river tube.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, Manhattan-bound Q trains run express from Kings Highway to Prospect Park and bypass Newkirk Avenue due to station rehabilitation.
From 12:01 a.m. Saturday, February 28 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, midnight R shuttle trains terminate at 59th Street-4th Avenue due to work on the Broadway-Lafayette/Bleecker Street transfer connection.
From 11:30 p.m. Friday, February 27 to 5 a.m. Monday, March 2, the 42nd Street Shuttle S operates overnight to replace 7 service between Times Square-42nd Street and Grand Central-42nd Street due to track panel installation on the Davis Street curve and security conduit and cable installation in the under river tube.
3 comments
In general, I’m not a fan of pedestrian-only streets; they’re especially depressing on cold winter mornings, and in the evenings if there isn’t nightlife close by. Times Square pedestrians have a much more pressing need for extra space because the sidewalks are packed all day and into the night. I could see this idea working there because of the tourists, nightlife, and street vendors. I really don’t think Herald Square needs it. I can see that area looking very depressing and empty at night, and feeling less safe. Every southbound car diverted from Broadway in that area is another car packed onto 7th Ave in front of MSG & Penn Station.
As a daily PATH commuter, yes, Herald Square needs it. The place is so mobbed, although late at night it’s not, there are still a sizeable amount of people there. Hint: take a PATH train from 33rd Street late at night and you’ll see how packed these things are.
And you should see the furor the politicians and their allies in the right-wing media are fuming about this. And worse, people are actually buying this! A lot of whiny naysayers think streets should be for cars, but I know that there are a lot of people-perhaps a silent majority (even the poll on the right-wing NY Post’s website hints that there is) that understands that the streets belong to us, the working folks, not wealthy aristocrats who ride in cabs and black cars all the time, and gas guzzlers who ruin our city with their hummers.
Yeah, Herald Square needs it too. I avoid the crowds there just as much as Times Square.
Speaking of the Times, they seem supportive of the plan, but when it comes to who our streets are ultimately meant to serve, even they don’t get it:
Can I imagine? Yes, I can. I can imagine the dramatic increase in the quality of life on our streets if they weren’t one-way speedways. I can imagine it, but it won’t happen.