SoHo

[ZippyTheChimp]

Formerly known as the Cast Iron District, for its large collection of 19th century cast-iron buildings.

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2792/soho33mp8.jpg (http://imageshack.us)

The historic district boundaries are Canal St, West Broadway, Houston St, and Crosby St.

A proposal (http://metrovsa.org/MetroVSA-SoHo%20Report-0306.pdf) was submitted to the Landmarks Preservation Commission in 2006 to extend the boundaries.

More info:
http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9886&highlight=soho

The extension along the west side of West Broadway would meet the boundary of the proposed South Village historic District (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=12240).

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/1550/soho03pn6.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho03pn6.jpg) http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/6561/soho04ls3.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho04ls3.jpg) http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/796/soho01dx4.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho01dx4.jpg) http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/5486/soho02ys7.th.jpg (http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho02ys7.jpg) http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/6036/soho05sj6.th.jpg (http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho05sj6.jpg)

http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/5371/soho07qn4.th.jpg (http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho07qn4.jpg) http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/5746/soho08uz2.th.jpg (http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho08uz2.jpg) http://img362.imageshack.us/img362/2002/soho09ze4.th.jpg (http://img362.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho09ze4.jpg) http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/7144/soho10gh2.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho10gh2.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/9850/soho11vf5.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho11vf5.jpg) http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/830/soho12rw1.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho12rw1.jpg) http://img527.imageshack.us/img527/6282/soho13ee1.th.jpg (http://img527.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho13ee1.jpg) http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/9933/soho14xi2.th.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho14xi2.jpg) http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/867/soho29rj0.th.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho29rj0.jpg)

http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/7136/soho40vz6.th.jpg (http://img340.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho40vz6.jpg) http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/5121/soho41gx2.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho41gx2.jpg) http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4854/soho06fj4.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho06fj4.jpg) http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/2373/soho15pk0.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho15pk0.jpg) http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/4931/soho16bb6.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho16bb6.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img530.imageshack.us/img530/1236/soho18lb5.th.jpg (http://img530.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho18lb5.jpg) http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/5108/soho19xt4.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho19xt4.jpg) http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/808/soho20cx5.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho20cx5.jpg) http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/543/soho21bc0.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho21bc0.jpg)

http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/598/soho22wa1.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho22wa1.jpg) http://img248.imageshack.us/img248/6123/soho23te0.th.jpg (http://img248.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho23te0.jpg) http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2153/soho24kn9.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho24kn9.jpg) http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/228/soho25ff7.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho25ff7.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

Aldo Rossi's Scholastic Building (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9074)

http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/8721/soho37cj1.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho37cj1.jpg) http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/2041/soho38wv9.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho38wv9.jpg) http://img180.imageshack.us/img180/4378/soho39dg8.th.jpg (http://img180.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho39dg8.jpg) http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/3888/soho17yw9.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho17yw9.jpg)


http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/593/soho26gv4.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho26gv4.jpg) http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5586/soho27br3.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho27br3.jpg) http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/5964/soho28ny4.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho28ny4.jpg) http://img256.imageshack.us/img256/841/soho30of7.th.jpg (http://img256.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho30of7.jpg) http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/2213/soho31yr1.th.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho31yr1.jpg) http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/2711/soho32pe6.th.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho32pe6.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/42/soho34dv5.th.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho34dv5.jpg) http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/1517/soho35pv0.th.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho35pv0.jpg) http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/5914/soho36bi6.th.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho36bi6.jpg)


Technically, not in SoHo, or the Village
http://img443.imageshack.us/img443/7794/soho52tc9.th.jpg (http://img443.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho52tc9.jpg)

392-394 West Broadway. One of the unprotected buildings outside the district, it's well cared for by the owner. Even the inappropriate banner signage was removed.
http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/267/soho55fe4.th.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho55fe4.jpg) http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/8818/soho56wc1.th.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho56wc1.jpg)


http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/5657/soho42es6.th.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho42es6.jpg) http://img172.imageshack.us/img172/8840/soho53nf8.th.jpg (http://img172.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho53nf8.jpg) http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/1479/soho54ls6.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho54ls6.jpg) http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/1262/soho57xq7.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho57xq7.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

Attempts to fix the streetwall on the narrow lots on Houston St
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/7928/soho49jj5.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho49jj5.jpg) http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/6687/soho50vy8.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho50vy8.jpg)

Not much can be done here.
http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/4715/soho51pu4.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho51pu4.jpg)


http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/2350/soho58nq9.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho58nq9.jpg) http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/5963/soho60gm4.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho60gm4.jpg) http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/227/soho61cf8.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho61cf8.jpg) http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/3230/soho67yk5.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho67yk5.jpg) http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/4505/soho68yy2.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho68yy2.jpg) http://img526.imageshack.us/img526/9224/soho69we1.th.jpg (http://img526.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho69we1.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

Later that day.

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/3011/soho43qw5.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho43qw5.jpg) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9848/soho44pw9.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho44pw9.jpg) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/3834/soho45yy8.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho45yy8.jpg) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/8858/soho46md2.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho46md2.jpg)

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/6969/soho47gk6.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho47gk6.jpg) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9810/soho48wq7.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho48wq7.jpg) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/1167/soho62km8.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho62km8.jpg) http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/9398/soho63kw8.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho63kw8.jpg)

[ZippyTheChimp]

http://img388.imageshack.us/img388/7284/soho64oa7.th.jpg (http://img388.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho64oa7.jpg) http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/493/soho65rv0.th.jpg (http://img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho65rv0.jpg) http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/1644/soho66vf0.th.jpg (http://img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho66vf0.jpg) http://img510.imageshack.us/img510/828/soho59wg5.th.jpg (http://img510.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho59wg5.jpg)

[Luca]

Good pics Zippy.

Incredible (and very heartening) how SoHo has changed in 20 years.

[lofter1]

... Houston St

Not much can be done here.

http://img520.imageshack.us/img520/4715/soho51pu4.th.jpg (http://img520.imageshack.us/my.php?image=soho51pu4.jpg)

The sculpture entitled "The Wall" (which was on the north facade of 599 Broadway since 1973 before being dismantled by the building's new owner in 2003) is in the process of being re-installed (hence the new brickwork up high on that facade).

A THREAD EXISTS HERE (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=9352) with more info ...

What is planned; old version (L) and new version (R):

***

[tdp]

Thank you Zippy,
What a stunning neighborhood - It looks like it has gotten even better than when I was there in '04.
I will be passing through again next month & these photos have certainly whetted my appetite.

[JohnFlint1985]

Only if you live in New York you can understand it's greatness.

[macreator]

Only if you live in New York you can understand it's greatness.

I totally agree. It is so amazing to see how far SoHo has come in a relatively short amount of time. It's even more amazing considering the neighborhood was once on the chopping block of Robert Moses when the Lower Manhattan Expressway was proposed.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Mixed emotions over car-free blocks in SoHo

by amy zimmer / metro new york

MAR 12, 2008

SOHO. On any given Sunday afternoon, Prince Street is cramped with roughly 4,000 pedestrians an hour and 200 cars, according to the Department of Transportation.

“It’s way out of proportion,” said DOT Assistant Commissioner Andrew Wiley-Schwartz.

DOT officials are proposing a ban of cars on Prince — from Lafayette to Broadway — on summer Sundays, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The plan, however, has divided residents.

“It’s just bringing Disneyland to New York,” said Sean Sweeney, director of the SoHo Alliance. “It already is a shopping mall. This will be the final nail.”

He worries he’ll be hearing more horns honking and see more traffic jams on Green Street, where he lives (just off Prince).

“The sidewalks indeed are congested, but that’s because of the illegal peddling,” said Sweeney. “Street performers and food vendors will likely appear.”

According to Wiley-Schwartz, the NYPD and the Department of Consumer Affairs will enforce vending regulations.

“This is not a street fair,” Wiley-Schwartz said.

Community board member Ian Dutton was just in Stockholm, Sweden, which has many car-free streets.

“These are the most attractive, cleanest and nicest places to live and work,” he said. “They get all the benefits from removing negative aspects of cars.”


Streetsblog (http://www.streetsblog.org/2008/03/07/soho-partnership-dot-propose-car-free-sundays-on-prince-st/)


http://www.streetsblog.org/wp-content/uploads/2008/03_03/soho_hummer.jpg

[The Benniest]

So if they did this, and removed all the cars, Prince would just .. sit there? Used for nothing?

If they do do this, like Mr. Sweeney said, I think that traffic jams will occur and the sounds of car horns will fill this area.

:confused:

[futurecity]

Where the hell is the forsight or innovation? NY is f*cking huge, it could do with one pedestrian street (actually, close it everyday). One bloody street closed isn't going to kill the poor drivers, jesus christ. People might like to walk around car free for a change on one measily street -- and enjoy a nice european streetscape full of character. Soho is perfect for this IMO, the streets are just the perfect width. Instead of Americans always going on about how great europe is, how pretty and beautiful its cities are, take a leaf from their book and you'll see how successfull it will become. One of the reasons people like europe is its car free zones, duh!!! Its just more pleasant and human.

Again, consider it again -- 1 tiny street -- NY is bloody huge and you can't even give one street 1 day a week? Are you all there. Bloody fundamentalist drivers, afraid of change, yawn...

[ZippyTheChimp]

Prince St. mall plan provokes road rage

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_254/prince.gif
Downtown Express photo by Shoshanna Bettencourt
A vendor selling sunglasses on Prince St.

By Kara Bloomgarden-Smoke

A Department of Transportation proposal to close six blocks of Prince St. in Soho to car traffic on Sundays is steering proponents and opponents on a collision course, as they paint vastly different portraits of what will transpire if the plan is enacted.

On Tues., March 11, the Traffic and Transportation Committee of Community Board 2 heard a proposal by D.O.T. on whether to make Prince St. between Lafayette St. and West Broadway into a car-free zone on Sundays between 11 a.m. and 6 p.m.

The meeting was expected to draw a large crowd, and the presentation was last on the agenda in order to allow for what promised to be an impassioned debate.

Sean Sweeney, director of the Soho Alliance neighborhood association, has taken to calling the pilot program — which is scheduled to run on a trial basis between Memorial Day and Labor Day — the “Prince St. Mall.”

Those who support the proposal take issue with the term.

“It already is a mall, it is just that people drive their S.U.V.’s through it,” said Ian Dutton, vice chairperson of the board’s Traffic and Transportation Committee.

The two main issues for debate are the resulting car traffic in the surrounding streets, and the prospect of increasing the number of street vendors.

In nearby Little Italy, several streets have been closed to pedestrians during the summer, and both sides of the Prince St. debate point to Little Italy as an example of what they don’t want to see happen in Soho.

“This already exists on Mulberry St., and the neighbors hate it,” said Sweeney.

“Little Italy has bad examples of pedestrian streets,” countered Dutton. “They bring in vendors and entertainment to try and draw crowds to the restaurants and shops. Soho already is a tourist destination.”

“This will not be a festival; there will be no carts and jugglers and corn dogs,” said Andy Wiley-Schwartz, assistant commissioner of planning and sustainability at D.O.T.

Robert Riccobono, speaking in his capacity as vice director of the Soho Alliance, said he is doubtful that the city will be able to prevent a “congested carnival atmosphere.”

“The city has proven to be ineffective at dealing with vendors,” said Riccobono. “The laws are not currently enforced.”

Riccobono is also second vice chairperson of C.B. 2.

Wiley-Schwartz contends that D.O.T. will be aided by the Department of Consumer Affairs and the Police Department.

“We do not want vending to proliferate,” he stressed.

According to Riccobono, the main problem affecting traffic on Prince St. right now is the vendors.

“If they get rid of vendors it will reduce congestion so much it will be like night and day,” said Riccobono.

Soho has faced an increase in both vehicle and pedestrian traffic in recent years, and this fact figures heavily into the arguments for and against this proposal.

The Soho Alliance is opposed to the proposal and expresses concern that it would worsen the traffic on the surrounding streets.

“Traffic is not water. If it is cut off from one street, it won’t automatically flow into the next one,” argues Dutton. “Drivers will find new routes or avoid the area altogether.”

Shirley Secunda, chairperson of the C.B. 2 committee, compared the traffic complaint to Washington Square Park in the “late 1950s or early 1960s.”

“Washington Square Park had buses and traffic that went through it,” said Secunda. “When they wanted to close off the park to traffic, people made dire predictions that eliminating traffic would clog the nearby streets, but that was not the case.”

Secunda added that the mall proposal was “only for one day a week for three months of the year.”

Riccobono said the problem is that there is no clear vision for the larger area.

“There is no plan to ensure a smooth flow of traffic in the area,” he contended. “There will be more cars idling and few cars moving, and there hasn’t been any thought given to the intersections.”

The Prince St. pedestrian mall proposal is drawing upon the findings of a survey by the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives.

Both sides of the argument support Mayor Bloomberg’s initiative under his PlaNYC to reduce the amount of vehicle traffic in Manhattan.

Based on Tuesday night’s presentation, the board’s Traffic and Transportation Committee will then make a recommendation to the full community board, at which time there will be another opportunity for debate and possibly a vote to recommend approval or denial of the proposal.


Downtown Express is published by Community Media LLC.
© 2008 Community Media, LLC

[brianac]

Soho

Was This Street Made for Walking?

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2008/03/23/nyregion/prince600.jpg Chester Higgins Jr./The New York Times
“I would argue that SoHo today is a mall,” a local resident says.

By JAKE MOONEY (http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/m/jake_mooney/index.html?inline=nyt-per)
Published: March 23, 2008

ON a weekend stroll down Prince Street in SoHo, past the vendors with foldout tables heaped with jewelry and movie scripts, the crowds flocking in and out of the Apple store, and the milling clusters of overtired out-of-towners, it might seem hard to imagine that the neighborhood could suffer from more foot-traffic congestion than it already does.

But that peril, along with the daunting prospect of still more tourists, is the main reason many local residents oppose a plan suggested this month by the city’s Department of Transportation to declare summer Sundays on Prince Street car-free from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The plan drew heated opposition from about 200 people at a meeting on March 11 of the Traffic and Transportation Committee of Community Board 2.
On Thursday night, the full board voted to reject the idea, asking the department to explore car-free zones in a different form or perhaps on a different street.

The argument in favor of the plan, said Ian Dutton, a community board member who is a pilot and says he has seen pedestrian-only streets work well in Europe, is that the vast majority of traffic on Prince Street is foot traffic, yet nearly all the street space is given over to cars.

Opponents of the plan, among them Sean Sweeney, executive director of the SoHo Alliance, say that creating more space for pedestrians would make the area even more of a destination for tourists, attracting more visitors and vendors, which would force existing traffic onto adjacent streets and destroy any last remnants of the neighborhood’s residential character.

“The first week, if you had no cars you’d have some room maybe,” Mr. Sweeney said. “But after a couple of weeks or a couple of months, the word would go out in all the tourist guides: ‘Oh, the Prince Street mall!’ ”

That damage, Mr. Dutton maintains, has already been done. “I would argue that SoHo today is a mall,” he said. “It’s just a mall with New Jersey S.U.V.’s driving through it.”

Both supporters and opponents of the plan blame the street vendors, and what they say is a lack of police attention to illegal vending, for aggravating the congestion and taking up valuable sidewalk space in a neighborhood where little of it exists.

Brad Hoylman, chairman of the community board, said that even after Thursday’s vote, the idea of a pedestrianized Prince Street may not be dead, if the transportation department can, among other things, address the problem of illegal vendors and agree that any experiment with banning cars from a local street would be temporary.

Mr. Dutton did not want to give up. “I tried to ask this over and over: ‘Do you like Prince Street the way it is?’ ” he said. “Almost no one can say that. So, what are we going to do about it?”

Copyright 2008 The New York Times Company.

[lofter1]

Closing Prince Street isn't a great idea by any means. Better that one of the north <> south streets be clsoed at turned into Peds only (either Mercer or Wooster -- or even West Broadway).

If DOT were to get rid of parking along Prince Street then a big part of the problem (the unmoving traffic) would be solved (the recent addition of the bike lane on the north side helps to some degree, as it has wiped out parking on that side of the street).

Closing the entire stretch of Prince from Lafayette west is problematic for one big reason: The FDNY has a station on Lafayette just south of Prince, and the trucks turn left on Prince at Lafayette to get through SoHo and to Broadway and downtown. Due to the current configuration of one-way streets in the area the FDNY will have to go blocks out of their way to take those same routes if Prince is closed as DOT has proposed.

The City's miserable failure at properly regulating vendors throughout the sidewalks of SoHo give no indication that the City would be able to control whatever might take place if Prince Street were closed on Sundays and some sort of Mall-ish thing sets up shop(s). Just walk over to Broadway and you'll get an idea of what will happen. The loads of trash from stores, table & food vendors which is spread about the sidewalks by 3PM (and which doesn't get cleared until the next morning) is reason enough to see that things are out of control -- and would most likely be so on Prince Street.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Where the hell is the forsight or innovation?... One bloody street closed isn't going to kill the poor drivers, jesus christ. People might like to walk around car free for a change on one measily street -- and enjoy a nice european streetscape full of character.A knee-jerk reaction (closing a street to traffic is good) sometimes leads to more problems.

The east-west streets of SoHo have a high percentage of thru traffic. That traffic is not as much a problem as people looping around the neighborhood looking for parking. Cars trying to turn on narrow streets with pedestrians in the crosswalks block traffic behind them.

The north-south streets are not as much used by thru-traffic, and closing one or more of them will cut down the number of people driving to SoHo to park n' shop.

But you'd have the same vendor problem on these closed streets, and I can understand people not wanting their neighborhood to be a constant street fair.

[NYatKNIGHT]

Well they could close Prince Street west of Broadway or keep it open to fire trucks in order to solve that one problem you mentioned, lofter. I'm not saying closing Prince St. solves the gridlock problem though, it displaces it to another street. Closing the north-south streets make a lot more sense, but I think if they did then West Broadway would have to remain open. I'm all for relocating the vendors to the north-south streets rather than have them on Prince and Spring.

I admit I like the idea of less or no traffic on some of those streets on weekends. If closed streets have the affect of bringing in more pedestrians that's not the worst thing in the world. Better that than more cars. It is a popular shopping district and a great area to walk through. Take the train, people, or park in a garage and walk.

[lofter1]

What is the PURPOSE of closing Prince Street?

[Luca]

dumb, dumb, dumb.

[NYatKNIGHT]

^^To make it more pedestrian friendly.

[lofter1]

A gallery on Broome ...

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/SoHo/0911_BroomeGallery_2.jpg

http://i130.photobucket.com/albums/p242/Lofter1/SoHo/0911_BroomeGallery_1.jpg

[Merry]

Wow.

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5180/5396605183_f86a7dfb59_b.jpg

http://www.flickr.com/photos/vivnsect/5396605183/in/pool-18964236@N00/

[futurecity]

I'm still shocked that a city the size of NY can't spare 1 decent shopping street for pedestrian use only. Asian cities are light years ahead in this regard..they have realized that masses of people and cars don't mix with family fun. I guess the idea of blocking a single street to cars is almost like asking the average American to go without their morning cup of joe. It seems almost a cultural thing, an affront to their sensibility. Then again, Santa monica does it well. BTW, don't try and bring up traffic patterns and all that jazz, b/c if people understood how great it were to have these, they would find a way to get it done!

What a damn waste of an opportunity. I think this shows why people in the US are always enchanted with Europe - b/c it has a humanity about it. Not just its buildings, but its planning. Even Asia is racing foward on this issue and Australia is akin to Europe. Somehow north americans don't believe they can have their own version of Europe at home. The will isn't there. Or else its a macho thing. Ny'ers are tough, we don't need no stoopid pedestrian street!!

[DowntownMaven]

Instead of posting here saying how nice closing a busy street would be, why haven't you applied to DOT to close the street in front of YOUR house?

[lofter1]

No need to close the street to cars: I walk in the street all the time (too many folks on the sidewalk down here and my odds are better with vehicles than with clueless ones tethered to electronics, walking dogs or pushing strollers).

[Derek2k3]

http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5179/5496554185_71a05aaf84_b.jpg
michellerick (http://www.flickr.com/photos/michellerick/5496554185/sizes/l/in/pool-47438114@N00/)


http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5214/5498720494_3165db3275_b.jpg
michellerick (http://www.flickr.com/photos/michellerick/5498720494/sizes/l/in/photostream/)

[lofter1]

Actually in Noho, at 644 Broadway (http://www.pbase.com/hjsteed/644_broadway_atrium) (NE corner of Bleecker).

A real beauty.

[Merry]

^ Not to mention the rest of that row. Uniformly stunning.

[infoshare]

A look 'inside' : one of the grand apartments within the 'Police Building' (http://freshome.com/2011/04/15/exquisite-apartment-occupying-sohos-former-police-headquarters-gymnasium/) located near the soho district.

http://freshome.com/2011/04/15/exquisite-apartment-occupying-sohos-former-police-headquarters-gymnasium/