Midtown Pols, Advocates Rally For 5th Avenue Busway

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — A cohort of transportation advocates and elected officials braved a Thursday morning drizzle to call on Mayor Bill de Blasio to follow through with plans to construct a busway along Fifth Avenue, following news last month that the project would be scaled back.

For years, advocates have asked the city to construct a car-free busway along traffic-clogged Fifth Avenue, akin to the one installed on 14th Street last fall.

But the city's latest plans, presented by a Department of Transportation representative at a community board meeting last month, scrapped the busway in favor of a travel lane that would be shared with private vehicles. Retailers along the corridor had complained about "signage clutter" that would have accompanied the redesigned avenue, the DOT said.

Critics say the city should not have surrendered to the retailers' demands, arguing that a serious redesign remains necessary to speed up commutes along the typically-packed avenue.

"New Yorkers deserve world-class transit," Marco Conner DiAquoi, deputy director of the advocacy group Transportation Alternatives, said at Thursday's rally on the steps of the Stephen A. Schwarzman library at Bryant Park. "Only a true, full-fledged busway on Fifth Avenue is acceptable."

As if to underline the rally's message, two NYPD vehicles pulled up to monitor the event — and parked squarely in the middle of the bus lane for its duration.

gotta love 2 cop cars parked in the bus lane to monitor a handful of people advocating for bus lanes. pic.twitter.com/cJIsb4fHFI
— N I C L E (@nicoleamurray) September 10, 2020

Other elected officials backing the original busway plan included City Councilmember Keith Powers, Assemblymember Dick Gottfried, and State Sen. Brad Hoylman, who cited the "overwhelming success" of the 14th Street busway.

Speakers were flanked by sign-holding transportation advocates, bearing messages critical of the influence of upscale retail on the city's plans: "Rolex, Tiffany's, Armani? Fuhgedaboudit! Put people first now."

Past coverage: Midtown's Fifth Avenue Gets 23-Block Busway, Mayor Says