Should Manhattan’s Park Avenue look more like a park and less like an avenue?
The city’s Department of Transportation thinks yes, and has proposed two redesigns of a busy 11-block stretch from right after the MetLife Building at 46th Street to 57th Street.
What You Need To Know
The Department of Transportation released two new designs for an overhaul of Park Avenue from 46th Street to 57th Street
The proposals would remove one travel lane in each direction, allowing medians to expand and accommodate a more park-like atmosphere
The designs would return the medians to the same size and function as they had back in the early 1900s
“I like it. I think more green space for the city is great. I’m not sure what it would do to traffic, but more green space is better, especially in Midtown,” said one person getting in their morning run on Park Avenue.
A rendering of one of two proposals for the redesign. (Courtesy of the Department of Transportation)
Both designs would remove one travel lane in each direction, allowing medians to expand and accommodate seating, plantings and other pedestrian and cycling amenities.
One would focus on making pedestrian promenades, while the other design would add a winding bike path in the middle of the street.
Currently, Park Avenue does not have any bike lanes.
DOT officials say both designs better balances the needs of pedestrians, cyclists and drivers along the stretch.
A rendering of one of two proposals for the redesign. (Courtesy of the Department of Transportation)
“It will certainly make the traffic worse,” said another New Yorker while out walking his dog.
Back in the early 1920s, medians along Park Avenue spanned 56 feet. In 1927, they began narrowing the medians to accommodate more car traffic.
Today, the medians are down to just 20 feet wide. The redesign would more than double their space.
“It’s a balance sometimes traffic is so congested here, you know, because of the repurposing of lanes,” said one Park Avenue office worker. “I’m just concerned that it’s going to increase pollution because you know all taxis head to park. So it looks beautiful maybe it will work but it may lead to unintended consequences.”
Underground on the stretch, the MTA is doing some infrastructure improvements and replacements to a train shed.
That work beneath Park Avenue would require the street to be ripped up.
So the city says it is working with the MTA to align the transformation above ground with the MTA’s underground construction to avoid two major construction projects at different times on Park Avenue.
The train shed rehabilitation is part of the MTA’s 2025–2029 capital plan.
The DOT has a few public outreach events scheduled to gather feedback on the proposals.
It held two sessions on Wednesday, the day the project was announced.
The next one is scheduled for Saturday, May 2 beginning at 10 a.m. at St. Bartholomew’s Church at Park Avenue and 50th Street.