On October 17, 2024, New York City Mayor Eric Adams and the Future of Fifth Partnership announced the plan to redesign Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park. This would be the first major redesign in Fifth Avenue’s 200-year history. Fifth Avenue houses 313,000 direct and indirect jobs and generates $44.1 billion in total wages and $111.5 billion in total economic output each year. The redesign is anticipated to increase property and sales tax revenue resulting in this project paying for itself in less than five years.
The goal of the redesign is to promote economic opportunity and improve public safety. The proposed design would reduce the number of traffic lanes from five to three, increase the square footage of the sidewalks, reduce the amount of space crosswalks, add greenery, and improved lighting.
Currently, Fifth Avenue is 100 feet wide, has five traffic lanes, and two 23-foot sidewalks. However, only 15 feet on either side of the two 23-foot sidewalks is available for pedestrians to walk because the rest of the space is taken up by signage, bus stops, lighting, and trash cans. This is a safety hazard because the sidewalks cannot accommodate this amount of foot traffic. In 2022, the City conducted the Holiday Open Streets initiative on Fifth Avenue which made eleven blocks of Fifth Avenue vehicle-free because the space could not accommodation pedestrians.
Each block serves roughly 5,500 pedestrians an hour daily and up to 23,000 people (more than a full Madison Square Garden stadium) an hour during the holidays. The new design would result in the sidewalks to 33.5 feet each.
The redesign also consists of adding 230 new trees, 20,000 square feet of planters, new seating, and enhanced lighting added. There will be an additional shade cover to protects pedestrians from the heat and to prevent flooding there will be improved stormwater infrastructure.
The redesign is inspired from Fifth Avenue’s historic landmarks and other shopping street redesigns, including the Champs Elysees in Paris; Calle Serrano in Madrid; Bond, Oxford and Regent Streets in London; and Ginza in Tokyo.
The City launched the Future of Fifth public-private partnership last year. This plan provides that City agencies will collaborate with the Fifth Avenue Association, Grand Central Partnership, Central Park Conservancy, and Bryant Park Corporation to complete the Fifth Avenue redesign.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams said, “New Yorkers deserve an iconic boulevard that will rival the rest of the world — and together with the Future of Fifth Partnership, we’re going to deliver just that. Right now, 70 percent of the people on Fifth Avenue are pedestrians, but they can only utilize less than half the space. On the holidays, that’s 23,000 people every hour — 4,000 more than a packed MSG — cramming like sardines into constrained sidewalks. That makes no sense — so we’re going to flip the script. We’re nearly doubling walkable sidewalk space, adding hundreds of new trees and planters, installing new seating and activation space, and so much more. And best of all, once completed, the project will pay for itself in less than five years through increased tax revenues. This is a huge win for New York City, and I’m grateful to the Fifth Avenue Association, Grand Central Partnership, Central Park Conservancy, and Bryant Park Corporation, as well as our local elected officials, for their partnership throughout this generational project.”
First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer said, “The administration and Future of Fifth Partnership’s plans for a redesigned Fifth Avenue will profoundly improve quality of life while increasing economic activity. Thank you to all of our partners for advancing these innovative plans, which will help fulfill the ‘New’ New York Action Plan’s recommendations for revitalized public spaces and boost our city’s continued recovery.”
By: Chelsea Ramjeawan (Chelsea is the CityLaw intern and a New York Law School student, Class of 2025.)