Streets Near Grand Central To Become Pedestrian Plaza, City Says

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A new pedestrian plaza will be constructed on a busy Midtown Manhattan street blocks from Grand Central Terminal, city officials announced Friday.

The East Midtown Public Realm Improvement Fund Governing Group voted unanimously Friday to approve the construction of a pedestrian plaza at Pershing Square East between 41st and 42nd Streets, according to a city Department of Transportation press release.

The new pedestrian plaza will restrict all car travel from the Pershing Square area, creating more pedestrian-friendly streets near Grand Central. Last year, officials announced plans to create a "shared street" with minimal vehicle traffic on East 43rd Street between Lexington and Third avenues.

"The real-time improvement of transit and public space in East Midtown is underway," Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen said in a statement. "When riders and commuters at Grand Central get off the trains each morning, they’ll walk into wide open plazas with room to breathe."

Both improvement projects will be managed by the city Department of Transportation and are made possible by the Greater East Midtown Rezoning plan passed by the city in the summer of 2017.

While much of the focus of the East Midtown rezoning plan was upgrading the neighborhood's aging office building stock, nearly $1 billion will be invested into public improvements above and below the ground, former City Councilman Garodnick said during an event to announced the "shared street" in September.

The city Department of Transportation is preparing to conduct public outreach regarding the street improvements in the coming months, according to a press release. The department will work with local businesses and property owners on both streets to discuss issues such as circulation, transit connections, building and loading dock access, pick-up and drop-offs and parking.

"In addition to maintaining New York’s status as an economic powerhouse, the new and vibrant public spaces will benefit all who work and visit East Midtown," DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said in a statement. "The unanimous vote allows for the complete build-out of a 43rd Street ‘shared street’ as well as the formal transformation of Pershing Square East into a pedestrian plaza. We will be easing pedestrian congestion in this incredibly busy neighborhood while at the same time creating welcoming outdoor public spaces for thousands of people every day."

Image courtesy New York City Department of Transportation