New York City Mayor Eric Adams, alongside the Future of Fifth Partnership, announced a transformative redesign of Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park. The ambitious project, aimed at enhancing pedestrian safety and boosting economic growth, will nearly double sidewalk space, reduce traffic lanes, and introduce over 230 new trees and 20,000 square feet of greenery. With a projected completion by 2025, the revamped Fifth Avenue will support increased foot traffic, generate higher tax revenues, and further cement its status as a global shopping and tourism hub.
Mayor Adams, Future of Fifth Partnership Unveil Transformation of Fifth Avenue Into World-Class, Pedestrian-Centered Boulevard
– New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Future of Fifth Partnership today unveiled their plans to transform Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park into a world-class, pedestrian-centered boulevard, bolstering the iconic corridor’s status as an economic engine and job creator for New York City. The proposed design, revealed today, expands sidewalks by 46 percent, shortens crosswalks making for safer crossings, reduces the number of traffic lanes from five to three, and adds plantings and lighting for aesthetics and safety. Once complete, this project — the first major redesign in the avenue’s 200-year history — is projected to pay for itself in less than five years through increased property and sales tax revenue.
“New Yorkers deserve an iconic boulevard that will rival the rest of the world — and together with the Future of Fifth Partnership, we’re going to deliver just that,” said Mayor Adams. “Right now, 70 percent of the people on Fifth Avenue are pedestrians, but they can only utilize less than half the space. On the holidays, that’s 23,000 people every hour — 4,000 more than a packed MSG — cramming like sardines into constrained sidewalks. That makes no sense — so we’re going to flip the script. We’re nearly doubling walkable sidewalk space, adding hundreds of new trees and planters, installing new seating and activation space, and so much more. And best of all, once completed, the project will pay for itself in less than five years through increased tax revenues. This is a huge win for New York City, and I’m grateful to the Fifth Avenue Association, Grand Central Partnership, Central Park Conservancy, and Bryant Park Corporation, as well as our local elected officials, for their partnership throughout this generational project.”
“The administration and Future of Fifth Partnership’s plans for a redesigned Fifth Avenue will profoundly improve quality of life while increasing economic activity,” said First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer. “Thank you to all of our partners for advancing these innovative plans, which will help fulfill the ‘New’ New York Action Plan’s recommendations for revitalized public spaces and boost our city’s continued recovery.”
“People across the globe identify Fifth Avenue as a premier destination for strolling and shopping. But its larger-than-life reputation means that its sidewalks have reached their capacity, hosting more people per hour in peak seasons than Madison Square Garden,” said Deputy Mayor for Operations Meera Joshi. “By expanding sidewalks, we can turn this avenue into an iconic boulevard, a place for all, for all hours and especially for pedestrians — who can now safely stay on sidewalks rather than navigate cars to get by and through. But this isn’t only for today — it’s for tomorrow, a verdant, sustainable boulevard to grow with our city.”
“New Yorkers and visitors deserve public spaces that are accessible and inviting. It’s proven time and time again that local businesses thrive when pedestrians are prioritized,” said New York City Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu. “This exciting new design will transform Fifth Avenue into a tree and plant filled green boulevard where pedestrians have the space they need and feel welcomed. I look forward to advancing this design and revitalizing this iconic New York boulevard.”
“As we celebrate the 200th anniversary of one of the most famous streets in the world, New Yorkers can look forward to a brand-new Fifth Avenue that will return the street to its former glory as a pedestrian boulevard,” said Madelyn Wils, interim president, Fifth Avenue Association, and co-chair, Future of Fifth Steering Committee. “Reversing the century-old trend of putting cars first, this visionary design will transform our overcrowded avenue into a spacious and green corridor for shoppers and workers, visitors and New Yorkers, and everyone on Fifth. We are grateful to this administration, our partners in government, and the businesses that help power the city’s economy as we work to turn this vision into a reality.”
“By dramatically widening the sidewalks of Fifth Avenue, we’ll be creating a much more welcoming and comfortable pedestrian experience along this iconic corridor,” said New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez. “This design proposal will better serve the vast majority of people on Fifth Avenue, those who are traveling by foot, create a greener and calmer corridor, and we look forward to future development with the community.”
“This type of bold thinking and unique public-private partnership is truly transforming one of New York City’s iconic corridors into a vibrant destination, building off the principles laid out in the ‘New’ New York action plan,” said New York City Economic Development President and CEO Andrew Kimball. “We have seen the economic benefits — from creating jobs to increased real estate sales — when we prioritize pedestrians in our commercial corridors and reimagine our neighborhoods into 24/7 live, work, and play communities.”
“By upgrading Fifth Avenue, we are creating a world-class public space that reflects the iconic and vibrant heart of New York City,” said New York City Department of Parks and Recreation Commissioner Sue Donoghue. “This transformation will help Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park reach its full potential, prioritizing pedestrian safety, enhancing green spaces throughout the corridor, and adding other essential upgrades to the public realm. Together, we’re taking a bold step towards a greener, more accessible, and more inviting city for everyone.”
“The continuing transformation of our public spaces by the Adams administration is creating safer, quieter, and more welcoming streets for people to enjoy as opposed to vehicles,” said New York City Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Thomas Foley. “We have consistently seen better neighborhoods and happier residents near our plaza projects and in areas like Grand Concourse in the Bronx and Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn where we’re doing traffic calming and other safety enhancements. Fifth Avenue is a worldwide center of tourism and commerce and a perfect candidate for these pedestrian improvements.”
“The redesign of Fifth Avenue gives this iconic boulevard the transformation it deserves, dramatically enhancing the experience of pedestrians and creating a safer, greener, more inviting commercial corridor,” said “New” New York Executive Director B.J. Jones. “This new milestone reflects more progress in the implementation of the ‘New’ New York Panel’s recommendations to invest in a world-class public realm to make our business districts global destinations.”
Renderings of the Future of Fifth Avenue. Credit: City Hall
Fifth Avenue is currently 100 feet wide, comprised of five lanes of vehicular traffic and two 23-foot sidewalks. Even though pedestrians make up 70 percent of all traffic on the corridor, sidewalks account for only 46 percent of the space. Each block serves approximately 5,500 pedestrians an hour on an average day and up to 23,000 people an hour during the holidays — the equivalent of a full Madison Square Garden (MSG) plus 4,000 additional people. The current configuration can no longer accommodate this volume of foot traffic, especially given that only 15 feet on either side is unobstructed for walking; the rest is occupied by street infrastructure like signage, bus stops, lighting, and trash cans.
The new design nearly doubles the width of the sidewalks to 33.5 feet each, expanding unobstructed walking space to 25 feet on each side and adding another 8.5-foot-wide section for trees. These changes will reduce crossing lengths by more than a third, increasing pedestrian safety. Beyond rebalancing Fifth Avenue’s space to reflect its usage, the new design also greens the corridor with more than 230 new trees and 20,000 square feet of planters, new seating and activation space, better lighting, and more. Greening Fifth Avenue will create additional shade cover to protect against heat and innovative stormwater infrastructure to prevent flooding. The design draws inspiration from Fifth Avenue’s historic landmarks and art deco influences, heightening the iconic architectural features integral to the avenue’s visual identity. It is also inspired by other iconic shopping street redesigns, including the Champs Elysees in Paris; Calle Serrano in Madrid; Bond, Oxford and Regent Streets in London; and Ginza in Tokyo. The effort builds on the core tenets of the “New” New York panel’s action plan, which identified public space as a key force for the city’s economic recovery.
Fifth Avenue has long been an economic powerhouse for New York City. The avenue is responsible for 313,000 direct and indirect jobs, which in turn generate $44.1 billion in total wages and $111.5 billion in total economic output each year. Moreover, since Mayor Adams announced this project in December 2022, Fifth Avenue has experienced an unprecedented wave of investment in commercial renovations, record-breaking sales, and leasing activity. Since 2023, there have been more than 10 commercial real estate sales on Fifth Avenue, totaling $3.9 billion.
This investment has been fueled by the project and its anticipated economic impact. The Adams administration’s 2022 Holiday Open Streets initiative on Fifth Avenue, which made 11 blocks of Fifth Avenue vehicle-free for the first time in a half-century and brought back popular pedestrian-focused areas around Rockefeller Center, drove an estimated $3 million in additional spending at businesses along pedestrianized streets — with merchants on Open Streets seeing a 6.6 percent increase in spending over similar blocks that were not opened to pedestrians.
Last year, the Adams administration launched the Future of Fifth public-private partnership, which brings city agencies together with the Fifth Avenue Association, Grand Central Partnership, Central Park Conservancy, and Bryant Park Corporation to further this project. The group selected firms Arcadis, Sam Schwartz Engineering, and Field Operations to lead the design and study, and schematic design is slated for completion by summer 2025.
“Our Future of Fifth Partnership plan will transform one of the world’s most iconic corridors into a pedestrian-friendly hub of unprecedented activity,” said New York State Assemblymember Jenifer Rajkumar. “Inspired by the Holiday Season Open Streets that generated $3 million in additional consumer spending, the reimagining of Fifth Avenue will remove traffic lanes, increase sidewalks by 46 percent, and add much-needed greenery to our concrete jungle. We will increase pedestrian safety while boosting foot traffic and commercial activity to new heights. This project is also fiscally responsible, expected to generate so much added property and sales tax revenue that it should pay for itself in under five years. From Central Park to Bryant Park, we will refashion Fifth Avenue into an epicenter of energy in our city.”
“Fifth Avenue is among our most heavily used corridors by pedestrians, bringing workers, shoppers, and visitors from across the city and the world. By massively expanding pedestrian and sidewalk space, this vision helps align the streetscape with those who are using it most,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. “While there is still work to do to ensure this plan will meet the needs of all travelers and users of the streetscape, I’m looking forward to working with the Future of Fifth Partnership, DOT, and local stakeholders to bring a new era to this famous avenue.”
“The Future of 5th Avenue project represents a huge opportunity to improve and reshape one of the most important shopping districts in Manhattan by creating world-class pedestrian plazas and safer streets,” said New York City Councilmember Keith Powers. “I look forward to working with community stakeholders to see that the needs of all New Yorkers from workers to shoppers to commuters to residents are addressed in this proposal.”
“Home to iconic landmarks and stores, Fifth Avenue is one the world’s most famous commercial corridors,” said Fred Cerullo, president and CEO, Grand Central Partnership. “These design concepts are the product of months of dialogue between stakeholders and planners to reimagine this important centerpiece of New York City’s economy and to create a superior pedestrian experience from Bryant Park to Central Park.”
“Fifth Avenue is a heavily-used, iconic boulevard, and we applaud the city for taking on this important project and developing a vision that will make it greener and more pedestrian-friendly,” said Betsy Smith, president and CEO, Central Park Conservancy. “The Conservancy is continuously working to improve the Fifth Avenue entrance to Central Park, most recently through our restoration of Grand Army Plaza South which we believe compliments the city’s new initiatives.”
“If we are going to tackle the climate crisis, we must drastically reduce emissions from our transportation sector,” said Pat McClellan, policy director, New York League of Conservation Voters. “The redesign concept for the Fifth Avenue Study area is a great example of how we can do that by prioritizing pedestrians over the gas guzzling automobile that has ruled our streets for too long. We applaud Mayor Adams and Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu for advancing this visionary project — and for doing so the right way by seeking community input in the process.”
“Our city relies on Fifth Avenue as an economic engine, so we congratulate New York City on plans to enhance the pedestrian realm, prioritize moving people and create open space,” said Kate Slevin, executive vice president, Regional Plan Association. “As the plan advances, we hope it can go even farther — incorporating a protected bike lane southbound, if not on Fifth Avenue proper, on one of the avenues between Second and Sixth Avenues, and leading to a longer-term vision for surrounding streets in midtown.”
“This is a smart, well-rounded plan that will optimize what makes Fifth Avenue so iconic in the first place,” said Jackson Chabot, director of organizing and advocacy, Open Plans. “Locals and visitors use this bustling corridor to commute, shop, and sightsee; it just makes sense to strategically design it with those needs in mind. The wide range of tools — wider sidewalks, traffic calming, curb extensions, loading zones, lighting, plants, and more — will improve nearly every aspect of how Fifth Avenue functions and feels, which we know boosts commerce, community, health, and happiness. We look forward to seeing this visionary transformation inspire a brighter future for the entire city.”
October 17, 2024 New York City Hall
Sources: NYC.gov/office-of-the-mayor , MidtownTribune.com
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