images via The New York Times

Cars can no long pass between 42nd and 47th Street on Broadway in New York City. This is the pedestrians realm now. And with a day’s worth of closure already under the citie’s belt, it’s easy to see that people are enjoying themselves as they lounge in the lanes and enjoy street performances and people watching.

Nothing has really changed, Times Square remains the same in character. It just has a bit less honking and more lounge chairs now. The pedestrian mall and the idea of turning the urban core over to those on foot is inspired by the redevelopment of downtown Copenhagen. In Europe, a car-free city center is common and indeed quite pleasant.

The plan was conceived by Janette Sadik-Khan, the city’s transportation commissionor, who also created 200 some miles of new bike paths throughout the city and has closed down various areas of the city on a temporary basis for car-free days. This latest effort seems to be off to a fairly successful start. There are some random disconnected spaces and the mall itself is marked by temporary cones, furniture and traffic cops but it’s only day one and it’s a start. Hopefully now the area will be looked at as one big picture and designed to act as such.