On March 25th 2009 Manhattan’s iconic Herald Square and Times Square were closed to traffic. Broadway is now a pedestrian mall from 47th to 42nd Sts. and from 35th to 33rd Sts. Mayor Bloomberg and other proponents of the street shutdown believe that their decision to close the area to motor vehicles will make New York more livable by reducing pollution, cutting down on pedestrian accidents, and helping traffic flow more smoothly.
Now, some people say they believe the city should take an even more radical step: close 42nd Street to car traffic and build a light rail system to run the width of Manhattan.
The main supporter of this proposal is an organization called Vision 42, a citizens’ group with dozens of supporters. Formed in 1999 by the Institute for Rational Urban Mobility, Vision 42 is a nonprofit corporation that finances its initiative with grants from the New York Community Trust/Community Funds Inc. and the John Todd McDowell Environmental Fund.
The proposal put forth by Vision 42 would add a light rail line that would connect the 39th Street ferry terminal on the Hudson River, near the Jacob K. Javits Convention Center on the West Side Highway, with the 36th Street ferry terminal on the East River, near the undeveloped Con Edison sites on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive. The plan also includes a proposal to turn the full length of 42nd Street into a pedestrian mall.
George Haikalis, an engineer who serves as a co-chairman of Vision 42, says the light rail system, which would cost an estimated $500 million, would run from terminal to terminal in about 20 minutes—half the time that the current bus system takes.
Advocates for Vision 42 say they have large owners of real estate on 42nd Street on board with the proposal; however they have not been able to get the city involved in a discussion. Many advocates of the light rail line believe that Mayor Bloomberg is worried about the rail system competing with the plan to extend the No. 7 subway line.
Advocates of light rail said that there was still a need for better surface transportation, since the No. 7 line has no stops east of Grand Central Terminal at Lexington Avenue. Jeffrey Gural, the chairman of Newmark Knight Frank, a real estate company that manages office buildings along 42nd Street, said it would make sense to connect the Javits Center to the United Nations, which currently has no subway stop. The light rail would stop at every intersection along 42nd Street and produce less pollution than the bus system.
Citizens and visitors to cities such as Amsterdam, where traffic is cut off to the city center and light rails serve as the main means of transportation, say the city feels much safer. “Real estate people should take a look at what’s happened with real estate values in other cities where there are these walking streets,” said Mr. Douglas Durst, the chairman of the Durst Organization, which owns five office buildings on 42nd Street, including One Bryant Park and 4 Times Square. “They’ve increased tremendously.”
An economic study done by the consulting firm Urbanomics of New York, projected that about 398 office properties along 42nd Street would have an average increase in lot value of $188 a square foot because of the time saved with a light rail line, a combined increase in value of 4 percent. The study also showed that completely closing 42nd Street to cars and adding light rail would increase the pedestrian volume by about 35 percent, producing a proportional annual increase in sales of about $380 million for the street’s 126 retail outlets.
While the benefits to having a light rail system seem to be clear cut, it is yet to be seen whether or not city bureaucrats will jump on board with the proposal.
What do you think?
NYC Real Estate
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