Dept. of Transportation street design projects are moving incredibly fast these days. Only a few weeks ago the City announced that, in response to long-standing community requests,
it would create a new public plaza, buffered bike lane, and major pedestrian improvements at that big, crazy intersection in
the middle of the Meatpacking District.
Work has already begun. Yesterday, (in the middle of a driving rain storm) Ben Kabak, author of the Second Avenue Sagas blog, snapped the photo above, and these too.
It's not too pretty right now but when it's all done it's supposed to look something like this: