Urban Design

9th St. and 4th Ave.: "A dangerous crossing that divides surrounding neighborhoods and inhibits street life."

Our coverage of the Toward Carfree Cities conference continues with this Streetfilm from Elizabeth Press, who brings us a unique public service project.

Last night's Tony winners aren't the only newsmakers on Broadway these days. In May DOT quietly rolled out plans to give the city's premier north-south thoroughfare the livable streets treatment from Times Square to Herald Square (between 42nd and 35th Streets). The redesign replaces two car travel lanes with pedestrian plazas and a protected bike lane.

DOT revealed its "Sustainable Streets" strategic plan last night, in the very same room where the New York City Streets Renaissance Campaign held its kick-off event a little more than two years ago. Once again, Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson was there. Here are excerpts from the presentation by Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, who says that, rather than duplicate the livable streets efforts of cities like London, Paris and Copenhagen, her agency intends to implement "the New York City Model" of sustainable transportation and urban design.

The past few weeks, we've kept an eye on the rapid progress of Gansevoort Plaza in the Meatpacking District. Lest we forget about its slightly older neighbor to the north, Meat Market Plaza, Streetfilms' Clarence Eckerson, Jr. cut together this short video capturing the site (Ninth Avenue between 14th and 15th Streets) before, during, and after construction. The project was completed last fall and is enjoying copious use with the advent of spring.

Amsterdam Ave. and 76th St. with street space reallocated to walkers, bikes and buses.

Buses and trucks jockey for position on 181st Street in Washington Heights