City Draws Heat From Bikers After Unveiling New $350 Million Plan for Fifth Avenue

The City revealed their plans on Oct. 17 to spend $350 million to reshape Fifth Avenue into a broad pedestrian-friendly boulevard in the European tradition–and not too surprisingly some people are already up in arms.

Currently, Fifth Avenue is 100 feet wide, and made up of five lanes of vehicular traffic and two 23-foot sidewalks–about a third of which the city says is obstructed by infrastructure such as bus stops, trash cans, and signage. The plan, which is to expand the stretch of sidewalks on Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park by 46 percent, would shorten crosswalks and remove two of the three car lanes.

However, the New York Times reported that rather than adding a bike lane, one of the northbound bike lanes on Sixth Avenue “would be expanded into a two-way bike lane,” an aspect of the plan that is drawing ire from local cyclists.

“There is no way to make it a safe two-way bike lane,” one Reddit user posted under the username Other_Reindeer_3704 on the same day as the announcement. The micromobility traffic, they added, is too congested for cyclists to navigate and pass people.

“This plan is obviously not a serious effort,” the Reddit user continued. “It is not meant to succeed. It is meant to make it look like Eric Adams is doing something good for the city, without actually doing anything.”

During the announcement, Mayor Adams said that pedestrians on Fifth Avenue make up 70 percent of the people on Fifth Avenue, “but they can only utilize less than half the space.”

“That makes no sense,” Mayor Adams said. “So we’re going to flip the script.”

While the plans for Fifth Avenue would increase the sidewalk widths to 33.5 feet each and expand unobstructed walking space to 25 feet on each side and reduce crossing lengths by more than a third, the plans to expand the Sixth Avenue bike lane into a two-way bike lane could pose a safety risk for cyclists. According to the International Transport Forum’s 2013 Cycling, Health and Safety Research Report, two-way bicycle paths along roads “invariably lead to non-conventional manoeuvres” at intersections.

“These situations entail a significant risk of crashes,” the International Transport Forum, which was at the time made up of 56 countries (including the United States), noted. “Two-directional cycle tracks along roads generally should be avoided, unless the advantages are very clear or the space constraints for two unidirectional tracks Insurmountable.”

The plans to alter Fifth Avenue were mentioned in the “New New York: Making New York Work For Everyone Action Plan”, which was released in December 2022 as part of an effort to “reimagine Fifth Avenue... as a safer, less congested, pedestrian-centered boulevard that also prioritizes cyclists, mass transit, and the public realm,” according to a city-issued press release a week after the Action Plan was released. As part of this plan, the Adams administration launched the Future of Fifth public-private partnership, which is made up of the Fifth Avenue Association, Grand Central Partnership, Central Park Conservancy, and Bryant Park Corporation. Schematic design is slated for completion by summer 2025, the city said on the day they unveiled the plan on Oct. 17.

“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.

According to the city, each block of Fifth Avenue sees approximately 5,500 pedestrians an hour on an average day, and up to 23,000 people an hour during the holidays. In addition to making Fifth Avenue more pedestrian-friendly, the new design will also include 230 new trees and 20,000 square feet of planters, new seating and activation space, as well as additional shade cover to protect against heat and stormwater infrastructure to prevent flooding. Inspiration for the new design was inspired by other famous shopping streets, including the Champs Elysees in Paris, Oxford Street in London, and Ginza in Tokyo.

“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,” said New York City Chief Public Realm Officer Ya-Ting Liu. “I look forward to advancing this design and revitalizing this iconic New York boulevard.”

Liu was appointed in 2022 as the city’s first-ever chief public realm officer in order to “coordinate across city government, community organizations, and the private sector to create extraordinary public spaces across the entire city and continue to drive the city’s economic recovery,” the city announced in February 2023.

“New Yorkers and visitors deserve public spaces that are accessible and inviting,” Liu said on Thursday. “It’s proven time and time again that local businesses thrive when pedestrians are prioritized.”

Fifth 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, the city said. Since 2023, there have been more than 10 commercial real estate sales on Fifth Avenue, totaling $3.9 billion.

“People across the globe identify Fifth Avenue as a premier destination for strolling and shopping,” 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.”

While the plan is expected to cost over $350 million, Adams insisted that the reshaping of Fifth Avenue “will pay for itself in less than five years through increased tax revenues.”

Conceptual design of Fifth Avenue will be shared in a Future of Fifth public open house on October 29, 2024, with meeting materials made available on the Future of Fifth website thereafter.