"The city's plans to overhaul Kimlau Square in Chinatown reclaims more streetscape from cars for people, but residents urged officials to think bigger in an area that is predominantly pedestrian. The redesign unveiled on Tuesday would flip the plaza from the east to the west side of the Bowery, near Worth Street, and straighten out the seven-way intersection around it."
"Pedestrians have to cross wide roads feeding car traffic around Lower Manhattan, which is especially challenging for the neighborhood's disproportionately elderly population. Chinatown residents tend to be older, poorer and have fewer cars than Manhattan and New York City as a whole, with a mere 14 percent of households owning a motor vehicle, compared to 23 percent in the borough and 45 percent citywide."
"But locals said the $55-million overhaul still leaves too much space for private automobiles, despite foot traffic accounting for almost all people passing through the area. "The redesign is beginning to do a good job in terms of looking at how people move through the square," said Francesco Galetto, a resident of nearby Chatham Towers. [But] why do we need six lanes of traffic, three coming in and three coming out?"
Kimlau Square will be relocated from the east to the west side of the Bowery, straightening a seven-way intersection and reclaiming streetscape from cars for people at an estimated $55 million. Construction is planned to begin in 2027. The proposal revives a Bloomberg-era redesign that included a larger pedestrianization plan for Park Row. Rush-hour counts show nearly 10,000 pedestrians—about eight-in-10 people—yet pedestrians occupy only roughly one-third of the streetscape. Wide roads force crossings that are difficult for the neighborhood's disproportionately elderly population. Chinatown households own vehicles at far lower rates than borough and city averages.
Read at Streetsblog
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