As urban oases go, perhaps the nicest thing you can say about the 20-foot-wide Park Avenue median is that it is an OK place to pause for a few seconds while crossing the street. Most of the island is planted with flowers and trees and grass but is designed to discourage pedestrians. To get to where the nature actually is, you would have to hop up onto the border of a raised bed and either walk along the narrow parapet \u2014 one false step and you\u2019d be run down by a cab \u2014 or wade through tulips or hedges.<\/p>\n
On Tuesday afternoon, the only living beings visible along the median were a flock of pigeons absently pecking at the grass and a lone starling. A dead pigeon lay on its back beneath a yew bush.<\/p>\n
While the plan may seem revolutionary, it is the opposite: The city\u2019s proposed designs are throwbacks to what Park Avenue looked like a century ago<\/a>, when New York\u2019s boulevards had much more space for pedestrians and much less for automobiles. The original park along the median gave the avenue its name.<\/p>\n \u201cWith this new redesign, we are putting the \u2018Park\u2019 back into Park Avenue and upgrading Midtown Manhattan by providing residents and visitors alike with more usable public space,\u201d Mayor Zohran Mamdani said in a statement.<\/p>\n The city is seeking public feedback about the designs. It will have information tables set up on the avenue at lunchtime and during the evening rush on Wednesday and on Saturday morning, and is conducting an online survey<\/a>.<\/p>\n An informal poll of people who were crossing the street on Tuesday afternoon found most of them in favor of the city\u2019s vision.<\/p>\n \u201cI would love that to happen,\u201d said Mustafa Ecer, 29, an interior designer. \u201cTrees, greenery, benches, nothing I have to pay for, a green \u2018third space\u2019 \u2014 the less cars, the better.\u201d<\/p>\n Janald Dufont, 33, a media producer whose job sometimes involves driving around the city, was less certain.<\/p>\n \u201cI feel conflicted,\u201d said Mr. Dufont, who goes by Jay D, while he was on his way to pick up a camera on Fifth Avenue. \u201cI\u2019m all for green and serene, but a lot of people around here rely on cars. If they cut the traffic lanes, it\u2019s going to cause more congestion. It\u2019s getting to the point where walking will be faster.\u201d<\/p>\n Two women who work at a bank nearby had no problem envisioning themselves enjoying the new park.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019d stop for coffee,\u201d said Mallika Velamuri, 26.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat about a picnic table?\u201d said her friend Carolyn Cassell, 24. \u201cThat would be really nice.\u201d<\/p>\n Andy Newman<\/p>\n Reporter covering New York<\/p>\n I spent yesterday afternoon in the extremely pedestrian-unfriendly median strip of Park Avenue, which the city wants to transform into a place where you would actually stop to eat lunch.<\/p>\n![\"\"\/](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/cropped-97f90024a11f853457a2ff367ca5dbe2a05fe18422679fa2c99f904d0e395ff6c8472866.png\")
<\/p>\n