Times Square Pedestrian Plaza - New York City, New York, USA

Times Square - Looking north up Broadway from 43d Street - New York City, New York, USA

On February 26, 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that traffic lanes along Broadway from 42nd Street to 47th Street would be de-mapped starting Memorial Day 2009 and transformed into pedestrian plazas until at least the end of the year as a trial. The same was done in Herald Square from 33rd to 35th Street. The goal was to ease traffic congestion throughout the Midtown grid. The results were to be closely monitored to determine if the project worked and should be extended. Bloomberg also stated that he believed the street shutdown would make New York more livable by reducing pollution, cutting down on pedestrian accidents and helping traffic flow more smoothly.

The pedestrian plaza project was originally opposed by local businesses, who thought that closing the street to cars would hurt business. The original seats put out for pedestrians were inexpensive multicolored plastic lawn chairs, a source of amusement to many New Yorkers; they lasted from the onset of the plaza transformation until August 14, 2009, when they were ceremoniously bundled together in an installation christened "Now You See It, Now You Don't" by the artist Jason Peters, and shortly afterward were replaced by sturdier metal furniture. Although the plaza had mixed results on traffic in the area, injuries to motorists and pedestrians decreased, fewer pedestrians were walking in the road and the number of pedestrians in Times Square increased. On February 11, 2010, Bloomberg announced that the pedestrian plazas would become permanent.

By December 2013, the first phase of the Times Square pedestrian plaza, at the southern end of the square, was complete, in time for the Times Square Ball drop of New Year's Eve 2013. The project will be complete by the end of 2015. Snøhetta is responsible for the renovations.

The pedestrian plaza became controversial in Summer 2015, with some opponents claiming that the plaza attracted topless women called "desnudas", as well as costumed characters, who panhandle for tips. Although neither toplessness nor panhandling was illegal, opponents believed that the panhandlers' presence was detrimental to quality of life in the area. There were calls from Police Commissioner Bratton and Mayor Bill de Blasio to remove the plaza, although Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer opposed the proposal.