NEW YORK CITY [PIX11] – If you’ve seen a Broadway show recently, you know that the theater district has so much gridlock, with foot traffic, taxis and pedicabs, that it is really tough to get around.
Now, the New York City Council is considering a bill that would keep pedicabs fifty feet away from the entrance to Broadway theaters. More than 10 Pedicabs clogged the entrance to ‘The Lion King’ as the Saturday matinee ended.
Blaring music, tooting horns and calling out to theater-goers to jump on board their pedicabs for a $10 dollar a minute ride.
“A lot of the shows get out around the same time and the streets are so crowded,” Kaylin Seckel, an actor and a member of Actors Equity Advisory Board, told PIX11 News. “ It’s really a safety issue,”she added.
It was the same crowded, noisy scene outside of the Buena Vista social club right after their Saturday matinee. But this time the NYPD tried to shoo most of the Pedi cabs away.
“ After seeing an amazing show, it’s the last thing I want to do is hear bad music and see overpriced New York transportation,” Bobby Irven, theater-goer, told PIX11 News. “It ruins the vibe,” he added.
Another theater-goer, Keith Little, added: “This theater district is fabulous, but it’s good to ban access.”
A New York City Council Committee is considering a bill that would make the area in front of Broadway theaters a pedicab-free zone, a move Actor’s Equity, the union of 51,000 actors and state managers, supports.
“… It would keep pedicabs from parking right at the curb and create a 50 foot buffer from the theater entrance,” Virginia Maloney, the bill’s sponsor, told PIX11 News.
PIX11 tried to get a comment from a pedicab driver, but none wanted to talk about the bill.
The Pedicab Bill is currently in committee in the City Council and is expected to be voted out soon, and then the full New York City Council will vote on the measure.