Skip to Content
Streetsblog New York City home
Streetsblog New York City home
Log In
Manhattan

Fortress New York: In the Name of Safety, NYPD Made Times Square Dangerous for Biking

Is this really the best New York can do in its most iconic public space?

In the aftermath of the fatal driving rampage through Times Square on May 18, the NYPD has shut down the raised bike lane that runs on Seventh Avenue between 46th Street and 42nd Street, commandeering it in the name of security.

Advocates and City Council transportation chair Ydanis Rodriguez had suggested a different approach: making more streets car-free in the city's most crowded place to walk. Instead NYPD has made the daily act of biking through Midtown more dangerous in the name of protecting Times Square against rare acts of deliberate violence.

The raised bike lane was installed during the construction of the permanent Broadway plazas, which opened at the end of last year. Now one segment (above) is occupied by a mobile NYPD tent, complete with parked police cars on the sidewalks and in the bike lane.

Elsewhere, police lined the four-block bike lane with giant concrete barriers. When people started using barriers as seating, NYPD blocked them off with fencing:

Is this really the most sensible solution?
Real New Yorkers like to be treated like cattle.
Is this really the most sensible solution?

Mayor de Blasio committed to "any all and security measures needed to strength the situation at Times Square," but these barriers are not the way to go. There has to be a way to guard against car attacks without chunky barriers that hem in pedestrians and push cyclists into dangerous traffic.

Stay in touch

Sign up for our free newsletter

More from Streetsblog New York City

BIG ZERO: Trump Stiffs MTA in ‘Sanctuary City’ Tantrum

The federal government is denying the MTA tens of millions of dollars in public safety funding over of New York's immigration policies.

September 30, 2025

Gale’s A-Blowin’: Brewer Abandons Daylighting Bill After Push By Parking-First DOT

DOT's anti-daylighting "scare tactics" have peeled off Council Member Gale Brewer, who says the policy will gobble up too many parking spots.

September 30, 2025

DATA: Not Paying Fines? Keep Speeding, Says New York City

It's yet another case of "anything goes" for drivers in Adams's New York.

September 30, 2025

Bike Data Shows Huge Demand on Vanderbilt Ave. As Adams Administration Dithers

New stats show an immediate need for bike infrastructure on the crucial north-south connector.

September 30, 2025

Tuesday’s Headlines: Fuel for Thought Edition

Forgive us if we're not jumping for joy that the city fleet is using less fossil fuel. Yes, it's a good trend, but cars are still cars. Plus other news.

September 30, 2025

Out Of Focus: MTA Slow-Walking Bike Lane Bus-Mounted Camera Enforcement

It's unclear if the MTA has any plans to pilot bus-mounted camera enforcement of drivers parked in bike lanes, despite its past commitments to doing so.

September 29, 2025
See all posts