City Hall heralds Fifth Avenue open streets plan as business boon

The future of Manhattan’s iconic Fifth Avenue is pedestrian…or at least “pedestrian-centered.”

A City Hall initiative from last year dubbed “The Future of Fifth” aimed to steer the avenue away from cars. A new analysis shows that last holiday season’s Open Streets program was a boon for business in the area.

The study, conducted by Mastercard in partnership with the New York City Office of Technology and Innovation, found that the 2022 holiday Open Streets initiative — which closed 11 city blocks around the Rockefeller Center to cars for three Sundays — drove an estimated $3 million in additional spending in those areas.

Businesses along those streets recorded 13.9% more transactions than others, amounting to an average $90,000 in additional spending at each merchant per day, the study revealed.

“The research is clear that Open Streets bring more people to our city’s public spaces, more business to our city’s stores, and more jobs to New Yorkers,” Mayor Eric Adams said in a statement. “That’s why we are reimagining Fifth Avenue as a safer, less congested, pedestrian-centered boulevard that also prioritizes public space, mass transit, and cyclists.”

The mayor first announced a plan to “reimagine” stretches of Fifth Avenue between Bryant Park and Central Park in December. The goal, he said, was to transform the area into an “innovative pedestrian-focused space for the public to enjoy, with public realm improvements like expanded green space, new tree plantings, and enhanced lighting.”

Now, the initiative aims to bring that vision to life and make it a permanent fixture of the corridor by establishing a public-private partnership between New York City and four key business improvement districts and civic organizations: the Fifth Avenue Association, Grand Central Partnership, Bryant Park Corporation and Central Park Conservancy.

A team of consultant engineering, planning and design firms will work with the partnership on a plan to redesign Fifth Avenue with “world class public space” to make it more appealing to residents, workers and visitors, officials said.

“The data is clear: When we give more space to people walking and biking, business thrives,” New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in a statement. “That’s because our streets can accommodate far more people on foot than in cars – a key reason why businesses had such great success during our car-free holiday Open Streets.”