NEW YORK (1010 WINS) – New York City officials unveiled a plan Thursday to transform Fifth Avenue in Midtown Manhattan by widening sidewalks and cutting traffic lanes—a makeover they called "the first major redesign in the avenue's 200-year history."
Mayor Eric Adams and the Future of Fifth Partnership said the proposed redesign will create a "world-class, pedestrian-centered boulevard" along a dozen blocks between Bryant Park and Central Park. The announcement coincides with the bicentennial of Fifth Avenue, which was established in 1824.
The redesign is inspired by similar redesigns in Paris, London and Tokyo, officials said.City Hall
Fifth Avenue is currently 100 feet wide, comprised of five lanes of vehicular traffic and two 23-foot sidewalks, officials said, noting that only 15 feet is used for walking due to infrastructure like street signs and trash bins.
The new plan would have three lanes of vehicular traffic and two 33.5 feet sidewalks. Widening the sidewalks by 46% will reduce the lengths of crosswalks by a third, making them safer, officials said.
The new plan would have three lanes of vehicular traffic and two 33.5 feet sidewalks.City Hall
There will still be three lanes of traffic, with one lane for buses.City Hall
Anyone who has walked Fifth Avenue, especially during the holiday season, knows how packed the corridor gets with tourists, workers and other city dwellers. Adams pointed to that reality in touting the revamp.
"Right now, 70% of the people on Fifth Avenue are pedestrians, but they can only utilize less than half the space," the mayor said. "On the holidays, that's 23,000 people every hour—4,000 more than a packed Madison Square Garden—cramming like sardines into constrained sidewalks. That makes no sense — so we're going to flip the script."
Five lanes of traffic will be reduced to three lanes.City Hall
A rendering shows a future stretch of Fifth Avenue outside St. Patrick's Cathedral.City Hall
In addition to a near doubling of the sidewalk space, the city will also plant hundreds of new trees and install new seating and space for pop-up activities. It will draw inspiration from historic landmarks and art deco influences, officials said, as well as the redesigns of other iconic thoroughfares like the Champs-Élysées in Paris and Oxford Street in London.
Adams said the new plan—which still must be finalized and will reportedly cost over $350 million—will play for itself in less than five years through increased property and sales tax revenue. Construction could begin as soon as 2028.
The plan will especially benefit the area around Rockefeller Center, which becomes packed during the holidays, officials said.City Hall
Fifth Avenue has long been an economic powerhouse for the city, creating 313,000 direct and indirect jobs and generating $44.1 billion in total wages and $111.5 billion in total economic output each year, officials said.
NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said the overhaul's most tangible benefit will be providing "a much more welcoming and comfortable pedestrian experience."
"This design proposal will better serve the vast majority of people on Fifth Avenue," Rodriguez said.
A rendering shows what the redesign will look like by the New York Public Library.City Hall
Construction could begin as soon as 2028.City Hall
