At a second when the pandemic has unleashed demand for open area, programs could transform the medians of Park Avenue in Manhattan and restore them to their authentic splendor.
Amid the alternatives New York City is contemplating: bringing back chairs and benches, expanding the median, getting rid of targeted traffic lanes and carving out space for bike and strolling paths.
The revamping of Park Avenue is getting driven by a big transit task beneath ground. A cavernous shed utilized by Metro-North commuter trains that travel in and out of Grand Central Terminal is more than a century outdated and in want of big repairs.
The function involves ripping up almost a dozen streets along Park Avenue, from East 46th to East 57th Streets, producing probable a new vision.
Elimination of targeted traffic lanes is probable to elicit backlash from drivers who complain that pedestrian plazas and bike lanes across the city have created it tricky to get all over.
But other individuals say the city would be additional livable with fewer vehicles, producing streets safer for pedestrians and bicyclists as nicely as polluting significantly less.