New York City Mayor Bill De Blasio's new Times Square proposal was blasted by critics since the plan suggested the pedestrian plazas to be re-opened to vehicle traffic.
De Blasio announced his Times Square proposal Thursday, August 20, wherein the New York mayor aims to restore order to the crowded streets of Manhattan, reports the New York Times. The plan will reportedly address the influx of street performers and topless women wearing body paint who would approach the pedestrians for money. The mayor's proposal also suggested vehicular traffic to be restored to portions of Broadway and Seventh Avenue. The area is frequently filled with tourists, theatergoers and Midtown office workers.
The New York Times report also mentioned the City Hall's plans to form a task force that would look into options on how to further limit activities that are illegal or harmful to the community. De Blasio is reportedly expecting to receive a list of "tangible actions" and enforcement options from the task force by Oct 1. During Thursday's press conference, De Blasio also said that the proposed project is a "big endeavor" and that it comes with its own set of pros and cons. He added, "We're going to look at what those pros and cons would be. You could argue that those plazas have had some very positive impacts. You could also argue they come with a lot of problems."
Meanwhile, New York's the Curbed has compiled some of the negative feedback over De Blasio's Times Square proposal. Tim Tompkins, president of the Times Square Alliance, told the New York Times, "Sure, let's tear up Broadway - we can't govern, manage or police our public spaces." Meanwhile, Michael Kimmelman from the said publication also wrote how it's "hard to grasp his [De Blasio's] calculus" given that one of the mayor's pedestrian safety initiatives named "Vision Zero" is in contrast with the proposal. Kimmelman wrote, "Ripping up the pedestrian plazas in Times Square, restoring cars and forcing millions of people to dodge traffic again, runs headlong into his own policy."
The Curbed report also cited Justin Davidson's feedback who wrote the column "De Blasio's Proposal to Destroy Pedestrian Times Square Is the Opposite of Progressive." In the article, Davidson likened De Blasio's Times Square plan to "blasting away a beach because you object to bikinis or paving a park because you hate squirrels." This was written in reference to the mayor's plan to eradicate the pedestrian plaza "just because you don't like who's walking there."
Davidson added, "It represents such a profound misunderstanding of public space that it makes me question the mayor's perception of what counts as progressive."
