NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — It’s Christmas in October in Midtown.
Two Manhattan elected officials are pushing for a permanent pedestrian area around the famed plaza that draws massive crowds during the holiday season.
Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City councilman Keith Powers have penned a letter to the city’s Department of Transportation to make its holiday pedestrian plan for the area a year-round treatment.
“It is our expectation that after the expected success of this holiday program that we will meet with the DOT to discuss permanent pedestrianization plans for the area,” the two wrote in their letter.
New Yorkers and tourists alike flock to 30 Rockefeller Plaza for its towering Christmas tree during the holiday season. The DOT in response began closing 49th and 50th streets between Fifth and Sixth avenues to vehicular traffic in 2019.
Brewer told 1010 WINS that she felt the traffic impact of the temporary street closures was minimal.
“We appreciate this request from Borough President Brewer and Councilmember Powers, and agree that increased pedestrian space is critical to mitigating congestion and managing crowds during the busiest shopping season of the year,” DOT spokesman Seth Stein said in a statement. “We will have more to say soon about our plans for this year soon.”