How NYC Is Banning Cars on Broadway
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Date: 2025-10-11
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Comments and reviews: 20
VanillaMacaron551
Have been to NYC twice, both in past nine years. Landed by luck in 2024 in a hotel in the flower district (basically a street, 28th from memory. Was trying to get down to Battery Point for a boat to see the Statue of Liberty. Got there too late and tix were sold out. Didn't matter because I had a fab day. Had to visit a phone co in the Flatiron Building (nice coincidence for me. Anyway, along the way, I realised it was Broadway I was on - never occurred to me before that Broadway would be here, so far away from the theatre district. It was an absolutely beautiful May Sunday. Market stalls were out along a lot of the way - beautiful hand-made hats, clothes, whatever. then the next few blocks were food stalls, then produce - it all went on for ages and the linear thing actually works well for a market because you can glance at everything and stop where you want, while still progressing to your destination.
Anyway that beautiful cool but sunny, wispy weather, the mood chill of a Sunday with so many families and others, having coffee, enjoying the day, was just adorable.
It made me resolve to go back to NYC and one day try to walk Broadway's entire 13 ) miles. It won't be mid-summer (tks for the tip, yes I will probs avoid Times Square, I will map out some coffee shops, cafes, parks and rest stops before I leave and I'll catch an Uber or taxi back! Will also wear better shoes than I did on my biggest walking day last time. You have re-inspired me on that, thanks.
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Have been to NYC twice, both in past nine years. Landed by luck in 2024 in a hotel in the flower district (basically a street, 28th from memory. Was trying to get down to Battery Point for a boat to see the Statue of Liberty. Got there too late and tix were sold out. Didn't matter because I had a fab day. Had to visit a phone co in the Flatiron Building (nice coincidence for me. Anyway, along the way, I realised it was Broadway I was on - never occurred to me before that Broadway would be here, so far away from the theatre district. It was an absolutely beautiful May Sunday. Market stalls were out along a lot of the way - beautiful hand-made hats, clothes, whatever. then the next few blocks were food stalls, then produce - it all went on for ages and the linear thing actually works well for a market because you can glance at everything and stop where you want, while still progressing to your destination.
Anyway that beautiful cool but sunny, wispy weather, the mood chill of a Sunday with so many families and others, having coffee, enjoying the day, was just adorable.
It made me resolve to go back to NYC and one day try to walk Broadway's entire 13 ) miles. It won't be mid-summer (tks for the tip, yes I will probs avoid Times Square, I will map out some coffee shops, cafes, parks and rest stops before I leave and I'll catch an Uber or taxi back! Will also wear better shoes than I did on my biggest walking day last time. You have re-inspired me on that, thanks.
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city_beautiful
Watching NYC continually grow and evolve is one of the most rewarding aspects of living, working, and enjoying being here. The Broadway Journey from Bowling Green to Inwood is well-worth taking - even if you have to break it up over a couple of days. Witnessing the city transform along its route is really illuminating. And the constant regeneration of the city means that each time you make the journey, you'll see something different. With that in mind, I really appreciate the ad-hoc approach to how neighborhoods utilize Broadway. It's no longer a unified thoroughfare, so each neighborhood might as well make it into what best fits its needs. And I'm looking forward to see these stages evolve and change.
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Watching NYC continually grow and evolve is one of the most rewarding aspects of living, working, and enjoying being here. The Broadway Journey from Bowling Green to Inwood is well-worth taking - even if you have to break it up over a couple of days. Witnessing the city transform along its route is really illuminating. And the constant regeneration of the city means that each time you make the journey, you'll see something different. With that in mind, I really appreciate the ad-hoc approach to how neighborhoods utilize Broadway. It's no longer a unified thoroughfare, so each neighborhood might as well make it into what best fits its needs. And I'm looking forward to see these stages evolve and change.
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pmiskovic
As a lifelong New Yorker that walks everywhere, takes the subway, bikes all the time, takes ubers and has his own car. I love seeing pedestrian spaces expand, we def need more community spaces, but I was also like to see improvements in all other forms of infrastructure. The subways but also the roads themselves, the future will always have cars, and I think diversity in options is key. The fact that I have to pay congestion pricing (with no changes to congestion levels) AND I pay for the subway and I pay NYC taxes, it seems like our money isn't distributed fairly to improve life for all new yorkers.
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As a lifelong New Yorker that walks everywhere, takes the subway, bikes all the time, takes ubers and has his own car. I love seeing pedestrian spaces expand, we def need more community spaces, but I was also like to see improvements in all other forms of infrastructure. The subways but also the roads themselves, the future will always have cars, and I think diversity in options is key. The fact that I have to pay congestion pricing (with no changes to congestion levels) AND I pay for the subway and I pay NYC taxes, it seems like our money isn't distributed fairly to improve life for all new yorkers.
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duck8dodgers
I live a block away from Broadway in the Bronx and work two blocks away from Broadway in lower Manhattan, and I will ride my bike to work on nice days, but I would never do that if I had to use the Broadway bike paths. I use the West Side Greenway. It makes an about 12 mile commute and around 14 mile commute, but since there are few lights and a usually manageable amount of traffic I can make it in an hour and fifteen minutes instead of two hours. I guess my point is that you should do a video on the Greenway next time you're in my neck of the woods.
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I live a block away from Broadway in the Bronx and work two blocks away from Broadway in lower Manhattan, and I will ride my bike to work on nice days, but I would never do that if I had to use the Broadway bike paths. I use the West Side Greenway. It makes an about 12 mile commute and around 14 mile commute, but since there are few lights and a usually manageable amount of traffic I can make it in an hour and fifteen minutes instead of two hours. I guess my point is that you should do a video on the Greenway next time you're in my neck of the woods.
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cdavidg4
As a planner working on the Broadway Vision Plan, the mix match in design choices is partially due to the corridor being a testing ground for new design ideas. Broadway has the city's first shared street, was one of the earliest corridors to utilize aggressive vehicular diversions, and more recent phases are introducing two-way social cycling on one way streets. The long term plan is for it all to be made more consistent as the permanent reconstructions move forward, many of which are in progress!
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As a planner working on the Broadway Vision Plan, the mix match in design choices is partially due to the corridor being a testing ground for new design ideas. Broadway has the city's first shared street, was one of the earliest corridors to utilize aggressive vehicular diversions, and more recent phases are introducing two-way social cycling on one way streets. The long term plan is for it all to be made more consistent as the permanent reconstructions move forward, many of which are in progress!
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russrcook
You're kinda missing the point here. Broadway was the obvious choice because it travels diagonally and created huge chokepoints where it meets the N or S avenues. And due to that, the traffic lights on Broadway could never be synchronized. According to a study, after Broadway was closed to cars, N/S traffic speeds along neighboring avenues actually INCREASED substantially. So the mallification of Broadway made life easier for both pedestrians AND cars.
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You're kinda missing the point here. Broadway was the obvious choice because it travels diagonally and created huge chokepoints where it meets the N or S avenues. And due to that, the traffic lights on Broadway could never be synchronized. According to a study, after Broadway was closed to cars, N/S traffic speeds along neighboring avenues actually INCREASED substantially. So the mallification of Broadway made life easier for both pedestrians AND cars.
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yuriydee
I love that cafe on 23rd and Broadway. Great for coffee in the morning or a beer after work. Broadway has become significantly nicer since I moved to NYC in 2002. Honestly glad that Bloomberg started that. Also, I walked on Broadway so many times and never realized the different neighborhood signs. I knew about them just never put two and two together haha. My biggest complaint now is actually all the car noise from the surrounding streets.
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I love that cafe on 23rd and Broadway. Great for coffee in the morning or a beer after work. Broadway has become significantly nicer since I moved to NYC in 2002. Honestly glad that Bloomberg started that. Also, I walked on Broadway so many times and never realized the different neighborhood signs. I knew about them just never put two and two together haha. My biggest complaint now is actually all the car noise from the surrounding streets.
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justinh. 7846
I visited Broadway and the other areas that got pedestrianized and the atmosphere feels less stressful and more relaxed along with feeling livelier compared. I have seen some people online pushback saying this blocks emergency vehicles. Well, I was at a bar and a friend of a friend drank too much so we called an ambulance and it just used the bike lanes to park right next to us.
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I visited Broadway and the other areas that got pedestrianized and the atmosphere feels less stressful and more relaxed along with feeling livelier compared. I have seen some people online pushback saying this blocks emergency vehicles. Well, I was at a bar and a friend of a friend drank too much so we called an ambulance and it just used the bike lanes to park right next to us.
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jorgebawlitza
when i visited new york this summer i was surprised of broadway, i was stuck with the image of a car infested hell road that i saw last time i visited new york, and even better as i stayed in a building that is a minute walk from madison park/broadway 5th av, it was amazing seeing thousands of people just walking and biking, and enjoying themselfs, it was wonderful.
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when i visited new york this summer i was surprised of broadway, i was stuck with the image of a car infested hell road that i saw last time i visited new york, and even better as i stayed in a building that is a minute walk from madison park/broadway 5th av, it was amazing seeing thousands of people just walking and biking, and enjoying themselfs, it was wonderful.
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thecolorhero1078
The new tolls for midtown and downtown are great and have reduce traffic soooo much. As someone who worked on 54th and Broadway for years, I saw the changes first hand and they were for the better and while this is good, the crosstown (west to east) traffic is wayyyyy worse. If there were better options cross town that would improve traffic even more.
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The new tolls for midtown and downtown are great and have reduce traffic soooo much. As someone who worked on 54th and Broadway for years, I saw the changes first hand and they were for the better and while this is good, the crosstown (west to east) traffic is wayyyyy worse. If there were better options cross town that would improve traffic even more.
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scorpion3128
Theres not a lot i can thank Bloomberg for but his efforts to pedestrianize Times Square were the start of a lot of these efforts across the city.
Edit: Congestion pricing has been great! Ive cycled in from Queens down to Penn Station at rush hour on a Friday with ease going down 7th Ave. Could not even dream of something like that a few years ago.
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Theres not a lot i can thank Bloomberg for but his efforts to pedestrianize Times Square were the start of a lot of these efforts across the city.
Edit: Congestion pricing has been great! Ive cycled in from Queens down to Penn Station at rush hour on a Friday with ease going down 7th Ave. Could not even dream of something like that a few years ago.
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foremanhaste5464
I have a theory on why each block seems different. It may be that it has been done deliberately to test out various styles. Think putting paint samples on your wall to test which color you like. If the changes are all easy to swap and cheap to use, it would be a lot cheaper to flavor test than having to swap styles if they later don't like it.
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I have a theory on why each block seems different. It may be that it has been done deliberately to test out various styles. Think putting paint samples on your wall to test which color you like. If the changes are all easy to swap and cheap to use, it would be a lot cheaper to flavor test than having to swap styles if they later don't like it.
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miyakawaso
I guess I'm a minority, maybe of one, but to me it all seems bland, anodyne, and torpid. Broadway was about busy intersections and honking taxis; the push and shove of cars and pedestrians in overcrowded space; and, yes, soot, exhaust, garbage, and street smells. It all made for a chaotic, exhilarating experience. It's as if Broadway got a lobotomy.
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I guess I'm a minority, maybe of one, but to me it all seems bland, anodyne, and torpid. Broadway was about busy intersections and honking taxis; the push and shove of cars and pedestrians in overcrowded space; and, yes, soot, exhaust, garbage, and street smells. It all made for a chaotic, exhilarating experience. It's as if Broadway got a lobotomy.
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CalebRoenigk
The biggest issue with the bike lanes on Broadway (esp the touristy areas) is that often people (mostly non-locals) are standing in or walking through the bike lanes in a way that is dangerous to both the bikers and the peds. I love what they are doing with Broadway but the social two-way cycling should likely be moved to a different street.
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The biggest issue with the bike lanes on Broadway (esp the touristy areas) is that often people (mostly non-locals) are standing in or walking through the bike lanes in a way that is dangerous to both the bikers and the peds. I love what they are doing with Broadway but the social two-way cycling should likely be moved to a different street.
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AnotherDuck
It's good if the bike path meanders a little bit, as long as it flows well, since a straight path can easily lead to quite high speeds. The area's way too populated for that, and it's not an isolated path. Since people treat bikes more carelessly than cars, accidents still happen even if they're overall easier to avoid.
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It's good if the bike path meanders a little bit, as long as it flows well, since a straight path can easily lead to quite high speeds. The area's way too populated for that, and it's not an isolated path. Since people treat bikes more carelessly than cars, accidents still happen even if they're overall easier to avoid.
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GetSmartish
Some of my fondest memories living there were walking the Brooklyn Bridge then up Broadway to Music Row on nice days, picking up some roasted peanuts from a vendor and stopping at bookstores on the way up. Then I'd hop the C train back home. Good times. But, yeah. Lots of traffic back then. I'M WALKIN HERE!
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Some of my fondest memories living there were walking the Brooklyn Bridge then up Broadway to Music Row on nice days, picking up some roasted peanuts from a vendor and stopping at bookstores on the way up. Then I'd hop the C train back home. Good times. But, yeah. Lots of traffic back then. I'M WALKIN HERE!
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Random. ChanneI
Great video, but the name origin was mostly because of the Dutch and not the Brits actually; ) ''The name Broadway originates from its Dutch predecessor, Breede weg (broad road, which the British then translated to Broadway due to the street's unusual width''. Wide=Breed in Dutch so it makes sense.
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Great video, but the name origin was mostly because of the Dutch and not the Brits actually; ) ''The name Broadway originates from its Dutch predecessor, Breede weg (broad road, which the British then translated to Broadway due to the street's unusual width''. Wide=Breed in Dutch so it makes sense.
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ishathakor
ever since i visited nyc for the first time i have been thinking that broadway shouldn't have cars on it. the last time i visited was in 2021 and it had genuinely already improved so much even back then. they had narrowed it and added public seating by then and it was so much nicer to walk down broadway
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ever since i visited nyc for the first time i have been thinking that broadway shouldn't have cars on it. the last time i visited was in 2021 and it had genuinely already improved so much even back then. they had narrowed it and added public seating by then and it was so much nicer to walk down broadway
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redizit
I am so excited for more pedestrian friendly town centers all throughout the world, places with amazing architecture, cafes, food trucks, ice cream spots, bars, theaters, entertainment centers, rivers and nature, places were the towns people can socialize and just hang out with no cars in sight
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I am so excited for more pedestrian friendly town centers all throughout the world, places with amazing architecture, cafes, food trucks, ice cream spots, bars, theaters, entertainment centers, rivers and nature, places were the towns people can socialize and just hang out with no cars in sight
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PositiveEmo
the change in Broadway is the first city improvement thing i have noticed. I grew up with that change and every year i visit it i notice something new about it. the plan still confuses me because some days/months cares are allowed and some day/months they arent.
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the change in Broadway is the first city improvement thing i have noticed. I grew up with that change and every year i visit it i notice something new about it. the plan still confuses me because some days/months cares are allowed and some day/months they arent.
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