Park Avenue Redesign Moves Forward As City Seeks Proposals

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The age-old dream of putting the "park" back in Park Avenue is inching closer to reality, as a huge rebuild of Grand Central Terminal prompts the city to consider ways to remake the thoroughfare.

Sometime this spring, the city plans to issue a request for proposals ("RFP") to hire a landscape architect charged with redesigning Park Avenue's medians between East 46th and 57th Streets.

Specifically, the RFP will call for "replacing the existing Park Avenue malls with new, world class, active open space," City Councilmember Keith Powers announced Tuesday.

As the name suggests, Park Avenue was once home to 40-foot-wide, plant-covered pedestrian malls that allowed residents to stroll down the boulevard for blocks, resting on benches and enjoying the greenery. But the medians were narrowed in 1927 to add extra lanes of car traffic, and Park Avenue has remained largely car-dominated ever since.

That may change thanks to the $2 billion rehabilitation of the Grand Central train shed, which is forcing the city to tear up a stretch of the avenue over a 20-year period as workers repair tunnels.

The release of the RFP later this spring will include opportunities for local input, as well as a preliminary landscape design, according to Powers's office. A chosen design will be shared by next winter, with a final plan in place in summer 2023.

Local groups have spent years advocating for Park Avenue's redesign. Real estate firm Fisher Brothers launched a 2018 design competition, resulting in fantastical submissions like a huge aquarium and an artificial mountain. Soon after, the Grand Central Partnership began pushing the city to consider the project in earnest.

An online portal about the Park Avenue redesign launched in late 2020, with an overview of the avenue's history, a list of possible improvements and a survey in which more than 1,700 New Yorkers weighed in on what changes they wanted to see.

"With this news, we’re taking a major step forward in creating more open, accessible public space for people and businesses in the bustling area of East Midtown," said Powers, who also chairs a neighborhood group focused on public realm improvements that emerged from the 2017 East Midtown rezoning.

"The pandemic has already accelerated a movement towards a more pedestrian-friendly experience across the city, and this project is a great example of how shifting priorities can help shape a more enjoyable streetscape," Powers said.

Powers also suggested the project could help draw foot traffic back to Midtown following the pandemic, citing a recent study by HR&A Advisors which found that Park Avenue has 80 percent less space per office worker than similar districts around New York City.

Related coverage: Help Redesign Park Avenue, City Asks New Yorkers