MANHATTAN, NY — Business groups, community leaders and local elected officials are rallying behind a plan to close down a large stretch of Broadway to provide New Yorkers with ample space to safely maintain social distance while outdoors.

Midtown Manhattan's Community Board 5 became the latest group to endorse a plan proposed by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer to pedestrianize Broadway between Union Square and Central Park on Tuesday. Brewer's plan, which has the backing of four City Council reps in the affected areas, proposes letting Business Improvement Districts enforce the traffic closures and social distancing measures. "The corridor is well-served—especially between Times Square and Chinatown— by a number of BIDs that may be able to assist the City in implementing and maintaining closures while ensuring that critical city resources are not diverted. Moreover, it would also offer residents badly-needed space on a contiguous street that cuts through the heart of several neighborhoods in Manhattan," Brewer wrote in a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio last week.

Community Board 5's district includes the entire stretch of Broadway included in Brewer's proposal. Officials from Business Improvement Districts expressed support for the plan, which could drive more pedestrians to essential Broadway businesses, in interviews with Streetsblog, which first reported on Brewer's plan. To keep up to date with coronavirus developments in Midtown and Hell's Kitchen, sign up for Patch's news alerts and newsletter.



De Blasio scuttled a pilot program to establish car-free zones in Brooklyn, Manhattan, The Bronx and Queens this month, citing enforcement problems and objections to the program from the NYPD. On Tuesday, the mayor threw more cold water on prospects of pedestrianizing New York City streets. When asked about replicating programs such as those in Oakland — which is closing more than four miles of streets — de Blasio contended "we are just profoundly different than those other cities."

"In Oakland, as I understand it, they said that streets were closed off, but they didn't put up any barricades. They didn't have any enforcement. They just depended on drivers to not go on those streets and everyone to look out and be careful and that's, you know, noble and hopefully that would happen anytime, particularly in a crisis, but we are not comfortable saying that we are going to just assume that people are going to be safe because that's our good intention," de Blasio said during his press briefing.