Cars banned in ‘crossroads of world'

One of New York's busiest intersections and most famous tourist landmarks has been made a car-free zone in a bid to reduce the level of pollution and the number of accidents along stretches of Broadway...

Now the naked cowboy really has something to sing about. The famous Times Square busker, who wears a guitar, a cowboy hat and not much else, has become as much a part of the big apple scenery as the neon lights above Broadway.

Now, tourists will be able to get a better view of him and move more easily around Times Square after cars were banned from the area in a bid to make the city more liveable.

Mayor Michael Bloomberg has taken vehicles off the roads between 42nd and 47th Streets at Times Square and 33rd and 35th Streets at Herald Square, near the flagship Macy's department store, to ease traffic at the ‘crossroads of the world.'

Tourists and shoppers will now be able to relax in special pedestrian plazas as part of the ‘Green Light for Midtown' project. New pedestrian malls are also being created in both squares, providing more than three acres of new public space.

The city has scheduled events for the new areas throughout the summer, including a simulcast of the Tony Awards on June 7th in Times Square.

Barriers along parts of Broadway were put in place late on Sunday and yesterday, parts of Times Square were like a street festival with street theatre and beach chairs.

"It's good for traffic, it's good for businesses and we think it is going to be great deal of fun," city Transport Commissioner Janet Sadik-Khan said.

The area has long been notorious for its traffic jams and Ms Khan has announced plans to carefully monitor the situation until people became used to it. It will also help to ease traffic congestion in the surrounding areas.

The Transportation Department also said that Seventh Avenue will be expanded to four lanes through Times Square, which should improve travel times by about 17 per cent, and northbound vehicles on Sixth Avenue will move about 37 per cent faster through Herald Square.

Picture by midweekpost