New York’s Times Square Iconic Landmark Renewal
NEW YORK, NY – Times Square in New York is getting a remake. Times Square is the iconic New York focal point is famous on New Year’s Eve when the big ball comes down to mark the start of the New Year.
New Year’s Eve will be Livestreamed on NetNewsLedger.
Mayor Michael Bloomberg was joined by Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, and Department of Design and Construction Commissioner David Burney to cut a ribbon on the first phase of the permanent reconstruction of Times Square at the first of five public plazas to be redesigned and enhanced.
Designed by world-class architecture firm Snohetta, the plazas are part of the largest ground-up redesign of Times Square in generations. The permanent pedestrian plaza along Broadway between 42nd Street and 43th Street is 30,000-square-feet of newly designed pedestrian space featuring distinctive granite pavers; planned seating scheduled for installation in the coming days; the area’s first permanent electrical, sound and broadcasting connections for the numerous public events in the plazas; the latest in the Department of Transportation’s continuing rollout of pedestrian wayfinding signage; and LED lighting. The $55 million project includes $27 million for the plazas and also the first comprehensive subsurface street reconstruction in a century, replacing utilities, electrical components, sewers and water mains dating back to 1904, as well as removing century-old streetcar tracks long encased under layers of asphalt. This work, completed in time for New Year’s Eve festivities, marks the latest step in the evolution of the Crossroads of the World since the City first introduced temporary plazas in 2009, providing additional space for the more than 400,000 pedestrians who pass through Times Square each day, a nearly 15 percent increase since the project began. The redesign also contributed to a 33 percent reduction in traffic injuries, as well as improved vehicular travel times in West Midtown as part of the simplified traffic patterns at the heart of the city, long known as the Bowtie. The ongoing redesign contributed to as 180 percent increase in area retail rents as well as Times Square’s inclusion in the top ten most valuable retail destinations in the world for the first time ever. The Mayor City officials were joined by plaza’s maintenance partner, the Times Square Alliance.
