by Jeff Ferzoco, Creative Director, Regional Plan Association
For the third year running, London Mayor Ken Livingstone closed several premium retail streets, including Oxford and Regent, to car traffic for the largest shopping day of the year (see photo below). Retailers and shoppers alike watched as holiday crowds - and subsequently receipts - surged. Total for the day: an estimated at 1.5 million people gathered and spent close to $100 million pounds, numbers that have been climbing ever since the initiative was put into place in 2005. Mayor Livingston has expressed a desire to expand the program by closing Oxford Street permanently and rerouting bus service around the district within half a decade.
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Many might think that New York lacks the nerve to try such an experiment, but there is precedent - and right here in Midtown. The RPA photo above is our very own Madison Avenue at lunch-hour on April 19th, 1971, when New York City Mayor John Lindsey closed a significant portion of it to traffic. The experiment, which also included Fifth Avenue on Sundays, was highly popular and sustained volume over time, all without reducing pedestrian traffic to the surrounding avenues. Though successful, the idea was never fully taken up by subsequent administrations. Contemporary New York occasionally closes streets, such as Fulton Street during lunch hour or stretches of avenues for the many frequent summer street fairs, but generally major shopping streets are not closed to car traffic during prime shopping days.
What areas would and should we pedestrianize? Observing our major shopping districts of our city over the next few weeks we can get a glimpse of what relief street closings might provide New Yorkers. London claims it regained two-thirds more pedestrian space through the closures. Do the overcrowded sidewalks of Fifth between Rockefeller Center and 59th seem the easy choice? Perhaps Prince between Broadway and 6th? Madison Avenue at lunch-time?
What do Spotlight readers think? Are there major avenues that might benefit from being closed to traffic during the holiday season? Let us know. Send your comments to jferzoco@rpa.org.
For the third year running, London Mayor Ken Livingstone closed several premium retail streets, including Oxford and Regent, to car traffic for the largest shopping day of the year (see photo below). Retailers and shoppers alike watched as holiday crowds - and subsequently receipts - surged. Total for the day: an estimated at 1.5 million people gathered and spent close to $100 million pounds, numbers that have been climbing ever since the initiative was put into place in 2005. Mayor Livingston has expressed a desire to expand the program by closing Oxford Street permanently and rerouting bus service around the district within half a decade.
Image
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Many might think that New York lacks the nerve to try such an experiment, but there is precedent - and right here in Midtown. The RPA photo above is our very own Madison Avenue at lunch-hour on April 19th, 1971, when New York City Mayor John Lindsey closed a significant portion of it to traffic. The experiment, which also included Fifth Avenue on Sundays, was highly popular and sustained volume over time, all without reducing pedestrian traffic to the surrounding avenues. Though successful, the idea was never fully taken up by subsequent administrations. Contemporary New York occasionally closes streets, such as Fulton Street during lunch hour or stretches of avenues for the many frequent summer street fairs, but generally major shopping streets are not closed to car traffic during prime shopping days.
What areas would and should we pedestrianize? Observing our major shopping districts of our city over the next few weeks we can get a glimpse of what relief street closings might provide New Yorkers. London claims it regained two-thirds more pedestrian space through the closures. Do the overcrowded sidewalks of Fifth between Rockefeller Center and 59th seem the easy choice? Perhaps Prince between Broadway and 6th? Madison Avenue at lunch-time?
What do Spotlight readers think? Are there major avenues that might benefit from being closed to traffic during the holiday season? Let us know. Send your comments to jferzoco@rpa.org.
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