Life & Style | Travel

Space and the City

New York is known for its traffic-jammed streets and screaming taxi drivers. But the tide may be turning

  • By Andrea Sachs, Los Angeles Times-Washington Post News Service
  • Published: 23:23 June 26, 2009
  • Explore

  • Image Credit: Los Angeles Times-Washington Post
  • The 'garden in the sky' sits 18 to 30 feet above ground and is 1.5 miles long
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In the city that never stops driving, cars and pedestrians have always tussled over the island's finite turf.

To the casual eye, it always seemed that automobiles had the advantage — but pedestrians are gaining ground.

On their feet

“Developing the High Line (a new park), creating pedestrian space and reclaiming the waterfront — all of these elements are getting people out of their cars and on to their feet,'' said Amanda Burden, director of the Department of City Planning.

The city is also revealing its green colours, which also benefits walkers and bikers.

Two years ago on Earth Day, Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled PlaNYC, an agenda that addresses quality-of-life issues such as air pollution, land use and public transportation.

The project is to run through 2030, when the city's population of more than 8.3 million is expected to have grown by a million more but some goals have already been met.

For instance, in the past year and a half, 49 acres have been transferred from car usage to public space.

“The idea of PlaNYC is to get people on bikes and use pedestrian spaces more,'' said Monty Dean, a spokesman for the city's Department of Transportation.

“We can't build our way out of the congestion but we can acknowledge how the streets are being used.''

The plan safeguards tourist activities such as staring at skyscrapers, taking photos of iconic sights and crossing Broadway in Times Square to make an 8pm curtain. Here is a handful of the pro-pedestrian projects to look for.

Biking initiatives: The city has formulated plans that encourage and protect cyclists. For instance, 200 new miles of bike lanes will be installed, part of a 1,800 mile master plan scheduled for completion by 2030. Free cycling maps are available at area bike stores or online.

East River Waterfront Project: The riverfront revitalisation plan, covers a two-mile stretch from Battery Park to East River Park in Lower Manhattan; it also closes a gap in the Manhattan Greenway.

When complete, pedestrians will be able to walk an unbroken path linking the Financial District, South Street Seaport, Chinatown and the Lower East Side.

The walkway, to be beautified with plants, benches, pavilions and other amenities, remedies the loss of waterfront access caused by the construction of FDR Drive and the industries of yore.

Governors Island: On weekends between May 30 and October 11, visitors to the 172-acre island can bike or hike along seven miles of pavement, including a 2.2-mile trail along the periphery.

The recent addition on the southern end completes the loop. Free bike rentals on Fridays; a fee of $15 (Dh55) for two hours will be charged for the rest of the weekend.

Green Light for Midtown: Allowing pedestrians to take over stretches of Broadway might seem insane in a city with about 13,000 taxis, until you hear the facts.

According to the city's officials, more than 356,000 walkers — or 4.5 times as many people as cars — pass through Times Square a day.

However, only 11 per cent of the terrain is set aside for pedestrians, one likely reason that 140 per cent more accidents occur on Broadway in Times Square than happen on parallel avenues along the same stretch.

The city will ban cars from Broadway around Times Square and Herald Square, creating three acres of open space for pedestrians.

The High Line: Built in 1934 and active until the 1980s, the High Line once supported freight trains transporting goods to and from city factories and warehouses.

The line's elevated train trestle will transport pedestrians away from concrete sidewalks into a green space.

The 1.5-mile “garden in the sky'' sits 18-30 feet above ground and ribbons through three neighbourhoods: Hell's Kitchen/
Hudson Yards, West Chelsea and the Gansevoort Market Historic District. Because of its narrowness (20 to 60 feet across), the design will be kept simple.

Manhattan Waterfront Greenway: “The West Side has been effectively turned into a recreational waterfront site,'' said Adrian Benepe, parks and recreation commissioner.

“You can walk the entire length of the island without crossing a city street.'' The 16-mile route along the Hudson River extends from Battery Park to Inwood Hill Park and is part of a 32-mile master trail that will eventually circle the island.

The factories, piers and other vestiges of old commerce have been replaced with boardwalks, cafés, lawns, recreational centres, boathouses and other attractions.

Stretch your cash in NYC

If you do make it on holiday to New York, here are tips to help you take a bigger bite of Manhattan.

CULTURE

  • Try the lottery. Many shows, especially on Broadway, are picking names out of a hat to sell day-of tickets. Most require that you visit the theatre to enter draws; ticket winners are generally announced two hours before showtime and are allowed to buy no more than one pair of tickets.
  • Dance for dollars. Seats at the New York City Ballet go for as little as $20 (Dh73) and although they won't be the best in the house, there's hardly a bad seat at Lincoln Centre's David H. Koch (formerly the State) Theatre.
  • How to get to Carnegie Hall? Practising is important but so is showing up at the box office at West 57th Street and Seventh Avenue at 11am (noon on Sundays) to buy $10 (Dh36) tickets for the day's performances. Seats are often partial-view but Carnegie's legendary acoustics will never let you down.

FOOD

  • In blogs we trust. New York gourmands are all over the internet and their blogs are indispensable for bargain hunters. Eater's DealFeed (www.eater.com) features interactive maps of restaurants with cut-rate deals in Manhattan and Brooklyn.
  • Booking it. Eater's editor, Amanda Kludt, tracks restaurant availability in the website's ResyFeed feature. “There is a new crop of affordable restaurants. But a great deal of once-impossible reservations are much easier to come by,'' she said. To reserve at a popular spot, Kludt recommends calling: “just when their reservations lines open or when you want to see if there are any cancellations. Or be willing to eat early (6pm) or late (after 10pm).

HOTELS

  • Be flexible on dates. Hotel rates are “very date-driven,'' said John Fox of the consulting firm PKF. “Hotels and aggregators are good at adjusting prices day by day, depending on demand.''
  • Include a Sunday in your stay. It's the slowest day of the week for hotels. Weekends are cheaper than weeknights, although that trend may be changing because of the fall-off in business travel, Fox said.
  • Stay out of Midtown. Hotels on the East Side and downtown have lower rates, said Hari Nair of Hotels.com. Fox also recommends Chelsea and on the West Side.

SHOPPING

  • Big department stores such as Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, etc. usually have a sale going on. For more reductions ask for discounts for being an out-of-towner.
  • Hit up the sample sales, which give huge discounts on overstock and fashion industry leftovers. Find the sales through websites such as DailyCandy.com and Lazarshopping.com or look for listings in New York magazine and Time Out New York.
  • Scour the small boutiques around neighbourhoods such as SoHo and Nolita for discounts. At the very least, these independently run shops will have a designated rack of sale items.

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