New Yorkers Want To Block Rockefeller Center Streets: Survey

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The results are in, and most Patch readers support the proposal to block off streets near Rockefeller Center to car traffic for the holiday season.

Well over 200 people completed our survey, asking whether readers favored the proposal by two Manhattan officials to close two busy streets to allow hordes of holiday travelers to roam freely near the Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and the nearby department store displays.

All told, about 68 percent of respondents favored some traffic restrictions near Rockefeller Center. The biggest chunk of people — about 44 percent — said the city should stick to the plan floated by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and Councilmember Keith Powers, which would revive the 2019 initiative that closed 49th and 50th streets between Fifth and Sixth avenues starting in late November.

About 16 percent of readers said the city should go bigger, and close off even more streets. Another 8 percent said the city should close fewer streets than last time.

Meanwhile, about 32 percent said there should be no closures at all, and that car traffic should continue to reign supreme on the busy Midtown blocks.

For our second question, we asked whether the closed-off streets should remain permanent after the holidays, as Brewer and Powers both suggested.

That idea was a bit less popular: just 38 percent of readers favored the permanent closures, while 62 percent said the streets should reopen.

So far, Mayor Bill de Blasio has been noncommital on the possibility of implementing street closures this fall. Asked about it last week, he said the proposal is under discussion, but acknowledged weighing pedestrians' needs against the risk of worsening traffic nearby.

"We want to be really smart about it," de Blasio said. "Lots of folks are going to want to come out who didn't have as much opportunity last year."

Brewer and Powers argued that the closed-off streets would boost nearby businesses and help keep pedestrians safe on the thronged streets.

Related coverage:

• Rockefeller Center Pedestrianization Plan: What Does NYC Think?
  
• Pedestrianize Rockefeller Center Again For Holidays, Pols Say