Midtown, Fifth Avenue Will Go Pedestrian-Only For NYC Holiday Season

NEW YORK CITY — The gift of pedestrian-only streets is coming to the heart of Manhattan this holiday season.

Eleven city blocks will be car-free in December, including a stretch of Fifth Avenue for the first time in a half century, officials announced Tuesday.

Streets near Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall will also be open for foot traffic-only, as they have in recent holiday seasons, officials said.

Mayor Eric Adams said move aims to make the city more welcoming during the holiday season.

"This year, we are going to make that experience safer and more enjoyable for all New Yorkers and visitors with more access to Open Streets,” he said in a statement.

Car-free Open Streets near Rockefeller Center have proven popular among New Yorkers during the holidays, although many expressed skepticism over whether they should become permanent.

The new holiday Open Streets plan will expand beyond what people have seen in recent years.

Perhaps the most visible change will be turning Fifth Avenue from 48th Street to 57th Street into a pedestrian-only thoroughfare on three Sundays. Such a move hasn't been done in roughly 50 years, officials said.

The closures — or, rather, pedestrian openings — will be Dec. 4, 11 and 18 from 12 p.m. to 6 p.m.

Moveable barriers will also be placed on the avenue's east and west side between 48th and 52nd streets, officials said.

On days the street is not designated an Open Street, beginning in the early afternoon on weekdays and in the morning on weekends, these barriers will be used to repurpose a lane of traffic on each side of the avenue as additional pedestrian space," a City Hall release states.

Choirs, drum lines, a samba group and food and beverage vendors will serve the area on the Sundays, officials said. See a full list of activities and amenities here.

The streets near Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall will be pedestrian-only starting with the Christmas Tree lighting on Nov. 30, officials said. The Open Streets will stay up until mid-January.

The hours will be 11 a.m. to midnight every day, officials said.

Sixth Avenue also will be car-free between 48th and 52nd streets from Nov. 30 to mid-January, according to City Hall.

Advocates and elected officials have pushed for more Open Streets near Rockefeller Center during the holidays.