New York City Street Gets a Tourist Lane

Some native New Yorkers' dream came true on the Fifth Avenue sidewalk between East 22nd and 23rd streets yesterday. An unknown person had divided the sidewalk with a white line: one side for tourists and the other marked "New Yorkers." Receptionist Bianca Smith said she liked the idea. "New York tourists are annoying. They stop, look around, take pictures, and hold me up. I don't know if the lanes could be enforced, but it would be nice. For now, I'll just keep walking around them," she said.

Comments

Dawdling In Doorways

[Anonymous Coward]

I've wanted to do this in London's Oxford Street. Putting the tourists on the side of the shops is the best idea. That allows them to dawdle in shop doorways. It also keeps them away from vehicles.

Tourists are OK

[lowrydr310]

It's really not a problem unless you're in a severely congested area. There are some hotspots that get really crowded, but for the most part people know to just keep moving, or if you want to stop, get out of the main path of pedestrian traffic.

The problem is when I just want to get where I'm going, and there's a herd of 20 tourists from the same group blocking the entire sidewalk. I don't have a problem with herds of tourists, NY is a nice city to visit and people are very welcoming of visitors, but just have some courtesy and get out of the way. I bet these are the same people that stay in the left lane when driving on highways and don't get over to let faster traffic pass.

Re:Tourists are OK

[Anonymous Coward]

I actually had a pretty good experience when I visited - people were quite helpful, especially when I was trying to make heads or tails of the mass transit system.

That lady never went shopping then?

[Anonymous Coward]

"They stop, look around, take pictures, and hold me up."

Sounds like every time I go to a supermarket, minus the pictures. Women blocking aisles with their carts because they saw something shiny and cannot be bothered to push their cart to the side of the aisle. Leaving their husbands to watch after them and throw around apologetic looks; making sure they are not holding up everybody while running on shopping autopilot. Don't get me started on the ones pushing baby buggies ...

Seriously...

[dcollins]

Even regular New Yorkers walk too slow for me. "Fast moving NY" my ass.

With one single exception -- The 6-foot-tall fashion models who are about 2/3 legs walking around during Fashion Week. They're crazy fast.

Re:Seriously...

[laejoh]

Perhaps they noticed you, and that's why they're speeding up?

Soo...

[Anonymous Coward]

Are those sidewalks further divided by color, race, country, age ror just gender? One for each category?

Or is there some hierarchy where if you see a person of higher value walking next to you, you must move behind them?

So? How does it go?
Inquiring minds would like to know.
Wouldn't want to make a faux pas in case I must visit New York.

Airports

[DaMattster]

I wish they had this for airports. A lane for people walking from security to the gate and another for people walking from the gate to security and baggage claim. It makes it very difficult to get where you are going and implementing a lane would be a good idea, enforcing it is a whole different ball game.

Re:Airports

[Anonymous Coward]

I've thought about this before. If I had to modify my local airport (TLH) to accommodate pedestrian traffic, I'd do this:

The landside area is already very well laid out. Check-in is on the right side, a straight shot to security. As you exit the airside and keep left, you go straight to the baggage claim, car rentals, and taxis/shuttles. Departures and arrivals don't have a lot of shared space.

The hall between landside and airside has seating and kiosks in the center, already dividing it in half. All you'd need here would be "Do not enter" and "One way" signs. If you're going in to meet someone at the airside exit, you'd enter as if you were going towards security, and wait in the "median".

The biggest problem is that, once you go through security, you're at a T-intersection: exit to landside behind you, concourse B to your left, and concourse A to your right.

Call me silly, but could a roundabout work here? Put a kiosk in the middle of this large T-intersection along with signs telling pedestrians to keep right. The possible movements would be:

- Security to concourse A: 90 degree turn.
- Security to concourse B: 270.
- Concourse A to airside exit: 270.
- Concourse B to airside exit: 90.
- Between concourses: 180. Rare, since the airport handles very few layovers.

Then, I ask myself: does the airport _really_ need this? In 2006, there were 988,433 passengers, of which I was zero. Our City Commission, though, likes to pretend it's a major international airport, so maybe some big-time pedestrian control would be just the thing. :-)

Brilliant! This is a great concept. we need more..

[qwerty8ytrewq]

..of these. Also, in tourist driving areas, caravans and rubber neckers only thanks. What about tourist lifts that go around buildings, rather than up and down?

Good Idea!

[Anonymous Coward]

It'll help separate the tourists, making it easier to bag them during tourist season.

Flatiron district

[bjb]

This is a picture up 5th avenue just south of 23rd street. The building to the right is the Flatiron building and is a heavily congested tourist area.

Frankly, I'm not surprised that someone picked this spot. Every day that you walk through that part of town (especially on the north side of 23rd street) and you will find hordes of people taking random pictures and gawking at the building and surroundings. I hate to be cynical, but it starts to make you think that every person who shelled out cash for a SLR thinks they're getting some creation by focusing on a nose with the building in the background, and the 300 people with point-and-shoots getting their friends in the shot.

But I'd be more annoyed at the thought of the city wanting to spend $31mm on shutting down 34th street so that people can also gawk at the Empire State Building. Who does this serve? Tourists. Tell you what - you pay me $31mm and I'll close the street for you and even throw in some tables and chairs.

:)

Re:Flatiron district

[m2f2]

Ready for another round of residents-against-tourists. You are upset about tourists in NY, I don't see any difference when newyorkers crowd streets in Florence. It seems that people like to be tourists, but don't like them in their way.

Re:Flatiron district

[majesty2180]

I agree. I live in Maine (also known as Vacationland), and I know exactly what you are talking about. And now like the rest of them, I will be a hypocrite: Next weekend (Memorial Day weekend), you will find me hiding from the major arteries in Maine just to avoid the bad driving habits and discourtesy of those not from Maine. Here are several tips for every flatlander, uh... rubber-necker, I mean tourist, in Maine: 1) use blinkers, 2) stop at those red and white octagon shaped signs, 3) yield at the inverted triangular ones, 4) a light that turns yellow means that it will turn red, and not green, and 5) Maine has a distracted driving law, read up on it, and observe it.

Re:Flatiron district

[Dthief]

But I'd be more annoyed at the thought of the city wanting to spend $31mm on shutting down 34th street so that people can also gawk at the Empire State Building. Who does this serve? Tourists. Tell you what - you pay me $31mm and I'll close the street for you and even throw in some tables and chairs.

tourists do bring in many millions of dollars to NYC (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tourism_in_New_York_City : 30 billion/year according to wikipedia...though I dont trust them).......efforts that encourage tourism are beneficial to the city economically.....

Re:Flatiron district

[Dthief]

5) Maine has a distracted driving law, read up on it, and observe it.

I'll read about it while I'm driving...I 3 multitasking

Re:Flatiron district

[bjb]

Very fair points by the both of you. While I don't think I can speak for Florence, I can at least say the reason why New Yorkers probably get a bit more aggravated is that this kind of thing happens all year around at all hours of the day. There is no "off season" in NY.

Tell you what, though.. keep letting me drink the blueberry wine and I'll leave you alone next time you're staring at the high rises ;-)