Bloomberg: Times Square Pedestrian Plaza Improving Air Quality

Mayor Bloomberg has a new report from the Health Department to rub in the faces of those who oppose Times Square's pedestrian plazas.

The report found a more than 40 percent decrease in vehicle-caused pollutants in the Times Square area since plazas were put in.

"The air quality improved slightly throughout midtown, but really significantly in Times Square where we've been able to reduce the number of vehicles, and that cleaner air makes a huge difference in the health of more than a quarter million pedestrians who pass through Times Square every day," Bloomberg said at a press conference.

Opponents of the plazas claim they cause traffic problems.

Those same concerns caused the city to ax a plan to put pedestrian plazas on 34th street.

In late march, the Times Square Alliance announced that the plazas will turn into sidewalk cafes under a new initiative to bring food service to the tourist mecca.

On Wednesday former President Bill Clinton joined Mayor Bloomberg at Gracie Mansion for a press conference on climate change. Clinton remarked on the new report, and recounted his first visit to Times Square in the 1960's.

From the New York Times:

When I was 18 years in November of 1964, a freshman at Georgetown, I first went to Times Square. I bought a steak at Tad's Steakhouse. I heard a guy ream his mother out, poor working woman, because she'd given him a hi-fi instead of a stereo speaker. I remember everything about it. I saw a hooker approach a man in a gray flannel suit. Pretty heavy stuff for a guy from Arkansas. My view is it's way better now. You have to look at the overall numbers. Yes, look, I still have vivid memories of it. Romantic, fascinating.

Comments

[Max Shaw]

02:54 PM on 04/15/2011

Times Square Used To Be All Steak And Hookers...

Whatever happened to those days? *sigh*...lol.

[jl4141]

02:38 PM on 04/15/2011

. . . and one day that man in the gray flannel suit grew up to become President of the United States!

[jackdaniel58]

02:17 PM on 04/14/2011

Today you can't tell between a hooker and a civilian.

[awwtfp]

01:52 PM on 04/14/2011

Been in New York since 1986. I try to avoid Times Square like a sneeze in the face. The bike lanes are impossible to use in that area so I always use 8th ave.

My first and most vivid impressions of TS from 1984 are of exploitation movies and hookers on 8th ave. Live sex shows on 42st. Funny thing about the new tourist plaza is that it is one of the few places in town where a lot of people can sit and "try" to relax. The city has so little seating for pedestrians it took time to get used to when I first came to "old" New York so I can imagine it must be a shock to a typical tourist.."No place to sit in NYC after walking forever". American tourist walk more on a New York visit than anywhere else in the USA. A big shock to my USA guest.

I don't get all the people who complain about the new plaza's and the bike lanes. New York has the widest avenues with at least four lanes of traffic in every direction and still people want more.

Maybe most New Yorkers are ambivalent about the new plaza however the working class tourist LOVES it. And for that I think it is great. The city needs more leisure activities geared toward this group. Not everyone can afford to take the family to a Broadway show upon arrival in the Big Apple.

[HelloWerld]

01:04 PM on 04/14/2011

Why are New Yorkers against bicycles and outdoor plazas? Most people who live in the city DON'T EVEN DRIVE, so that makes me think something is amiss with the opposition. Less traffic in the city IS A GOOD THING.

[MrColdheart]

12:52 PM on 04/14/2011

I bet you she wasn't even a hooker.

College student Bill Clinton didn't know what he was looking at.

[amro66]

12:07 PM on 04/14/2011

hahahaha...funny, sometimes a person can really miss the old days

[Theatrixnyc]

10:54 AM on 04/14/2011

Gee Bill, I thought the attraction of Times Square was all of the Theatre that surrounds it. The hooker and the steak are what left the impression, huh?

[Tom for Prez]

10:23 AM on 04/14/2011

Billy boy forgot to mention that he was the guy in the gray flannel suit...and him and Denise had a lovely afternoon together...romantic, fascinating even.

[hjo4]

11:53 PM on 04/13/2011

As a New Yorker who walks a lot I can say the pedestrian malls are one of the few good things Bloomberg has done for the City. I suggest they place water fountains permanently and DO NOT add curb or restaurant service at the pedestrian rest stops. The rest malls should be used as a place to rest for a bit, collect ones thoughts and bearings then keep it moving. More parts of Manhattan should have pedestrian rest stops. This is what Bloomberg excels at, he's horrible at running the schools.

[NYC07]

11:10 PM on 04/13/2011

They should turn 79th Street between Lex and 3rd in to a Pedestrian Mall.

[rikster]

08:36 PM on 04/13/2011

no mention of the huge traffic mess created on 9th avenue because of this...and the bike lanes nobody uses.

[calypsolouie]

07:42 PM on 04/13/2011

Of couse no mention of a huge increase in the rat polulation from all the food and garbage thrown on the ground by new yorkers

[rikster]

08:37 PM on 04/13/2011

you mean..tourists visiting NYC..