Rethinking New York as a green and pedestrian city

The Big Apple has carried out outstanding projects to become a city friendlier for urban pedestrians and cyclists, and ecologically more sustainable. In recent years, a disused Manhattan elevated rail line has been transformed into the 1.5-mile-long High Lane Greenway (see photo above), Times Square has been closed to cars, or more than 600 miles of highway has been built. cycle paths and a public bicycle system was established. Following the successful precedent of the High Lane, the firm Perkins Eastman Architects wants to go further with a project that would transform one of the central streets of the city, instead of a derelict space, and has put forward a proposal that transforms Broadway Avenue into a large 40-block park running through Manhattan.

In addition to giving pedestrians and cyclists space back from the “unfair advantage” cars have, a line of trees, grass, and playgrounds would meander through the city. The new park’s landscaping would include biofilters – plantings designed to reduce flood risk and remove contaminants from water that is discharged into the Hudson and East River. The project is ambitious, as Broadway is a central avenue, but since interventions have already been carried out in the area for pedestrians and cyclists, such as the pedestrianization of Times Square, car traffic is less.