A new proposal from the Downtown Alliance calls for improving the streetscape surrounding the New York Stock Exchange and #FederalHall, creating a more inviting and pedestrian-friendly environment. For the last two decades, the area has become a fortified security zone with a large border surrounding the #NYSE, which in addition to the construction site and scaffolding for One Wall Street's residential conversion, has become a nightmare for pedestrians and is unwelcoming to the millions of tourists that visit every year. Additionally, sidewalks remain from the not too distant days when cars drove up and down Wall Street. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The @downtownnyc detailed their plan in a recent press release: "Over the course of nine months, the Alliance has created a plan "A More Welcoming Wall & Broad: A Vision for Improving the Stock Exchange District" that includes achievable recommendations (like curbless streets, historical markers and #architectural lighting) within an actionable plan. The plan stands to make one of the most heavily visited and historically important corners of New York City secure, welcoming and vibrant. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ But what the Financial District needs is more than a glorified curb removal; a comprehensive plan that will accommodate tourists and open up the streets for the New Yorkers that live and work in the area while reducing automobile-friendly infrastructure like the several traffic lanes on #ParkRow at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge. All of Nassau/Broad street should be closed to tourists Park Row from Chambers Street to Anne Street should be pedestrianized. #Broadway below Chambers Street should be closed to traffic except for buses, sanitation and deliveries, leaving maximum two traffic lanes. Traffic should be funneled around the busiest arteries like Broadway, not through it. Four downtown points – the #Brooklyn Bridge Plaza, NYSE, Bowling Green/Battery Park and #WTC – need to be linked via #landscaped open plazas that rival those in European cities. (at New York Stock Exchange)
