New York City news

I met Gordon Price this week. He is the Director of the City Program at Simon Fraser University (Vancouver, Canada) and is here in Brisbane for a week. Attended a great presentation on the impending demise of motordom (car centric development) and had a look at his great selection of on-line newsletters, Price Tags. They are like study tours from the comfort of your study.

Two caught my attention: Cycling in NYC and Times Square. They give a fantastic overview of what the city is doing to support cycling and are worthwhile distributing because they are engaging and easy to read. The New York article is now out of date but it still is a good read.

(photo: NYCDOT via Streetsblog)
The news is that the Times Square experiment has now been made permanent after a report found that it was a resounding success. According to this article by Cityrealty the Mayor announced on 11 Feb 2010 that Broadway will remain a pedestrian mall through Times Square.

A report found that closing Broadway and reducing roadway capacity reduced taxi travel times through the area by 7% on average. Injuries to motorists and pedestrians are down 63% and 35% respectively. Workers in the area, visitors and businesses love it and theater goers say it improves their experience.