The Times ran a feature on the pedestrian crush in New York City today, and as good as the photos are, they don't do the situation justice. To get a sense of just how inadequate the sidewalks are in Midtown, you need to go there -- or failing that, watch this Streetfilm from 2009 with narration by Streetsblog publisher Mark Gorton.
Believe it or not, these scenes of people overflowing off the sidewalk were shot during a post-recession ebb in pedestrian traffic, according to DOT counts cited by the Times. Since this video was made, the crowding has actually gotten worse.
New York didn't always have such meager sidewalks -- over the years, the city systematically shrank pedestrian space to make room for motor vehicles. Here's a look at the sidewalk on Lexington Avenue and 89th Street today, and the much more accommodating dimensions near the turn of the 20th Century, courtesy of architect John Massengale:
Ben Fried started as a Streetsblog reporter in 2008 and led the site as editor-in-chief from 2010 to 2018. He lives in Ditmas Park, Brooklyn, with his wife.
Sixty people died in the first three months of the year, 50 percent more than the first quarter of 2018, which was the safest opening three months of any Vision Zero year.