Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
34th Street Pedestrian Plaza Scrapped by DOT
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 3, 2011
Modified Mar 3, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
John Del Signore
Published Mar 3, 2011
Modified Mar 3, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Last night NY Post columnist Steve Cuozzo triumphantly tweeted: "City has dropped insane plan for 34th St mall! Maybe they read my warning." Cuozzo, as you probably know, hates these pedestrian plazas, and the Post has waged a relentless editorial war to pressure the DOT to abandon a proposal that would radically transform 34th Street to prioritize buses and pedestrians over passenger cars. DOT Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan (whom the Post calls "Sadist-Khan") says the reversal comes in response to community feedback, not tabloid demagoguery. But we all know what Steve Cuozzo's new pick-up line is.
"The design has evolved as we continue to work with the community,” Sadik-Khan told the Times last night. “We want the public process to play itself out.” There are still big changes in store for 34th Street, but the DOT is waiting until March 14th to announce them. The original proposal would have essentially cut 34th Street in half, with the section west of Sixth Avenue running one way toward the Hudson River, and the section east of Fifth Avenue running one way toward the East River. Buses would have traveled in both directions in their own special lanes, and between Fifth and Sixth there was to be that infamous pedestrian plaza.
The DOT says there will still be express "Select" bus lanes in the final plan, but the rest is TBA. The changes were received with guarded optimism from local opponent Tim Hughes (he of the priceless "I can't get my bottled water, 30 pounds of Goya beans and my 3-year-old and 1-year-old inside because the city has determined that a one-minute improvement is more important for a guy from Ronkonkoma!" quote). Hughes tells the Times he's glad the pedestrian plaza died on the vine, but he still fears for his curbside access. Other critics were more sanguine. "You need the traffic flow. If you stop it, it's like stopping a heartbeat," declares one Yvette Mercado, 50, who we're guessing is a traffic expert who moonlights as a heart surgeon.
Tagged
34th street transitway
dot
express bus
pedestrian plaza
select bus
John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Deer are all over New Jersey roads looking for sex, state officials warn
Mid-October through mid-December is deer mating season, which can be a danger to drivers as the sex-seeking creatures cross roadways throughout the Garden State.
By
Rosemary Misdary
Published Oct 16, 2026 at 4:22 p.m. ET
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
News
Man messaged 'I got straight poison' before giving NYC college students fentanyl, feds say
A transcript from an April court hearing sheds new light on what transpired at Fashion Institute of Technology.
By
Samantha Max
Inside the plan to fix the nearly collapsed Pfizer Building, 1/64th of an inch at a time
By
David Brand
School bus carrying autistic students got lost in Brooklyn for 4 hours last year
By
Jessica Gould
NYC’s bridges can last 'forever,' if we take care of them
By
Clayton Guse
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .