Steve Rosenbaum: Shocking: A Post-Automotive Times Square?

A woman In a red dress stands in the middle of the street and pirouettes. Two bicycles walk down Broadway. Not a car in sight. Lanes of pavement... But just pedestrians, a "V" in the air for Victory! It's not a dream. It's post-automotive Times Square. A story that begins today. New York's relationship with cars is a strange one. On one hand, you can easily imagine not ever needing a car in the city. There's the combination of two major train stations, a remarkable underground subway system, buses, taxis, pedicabs, horses, and -- of course -- bicycles. Yet, New York loves cars. Car services. Limos. Fleets of chauffeur driven cars. And private cars that stream in by the thousands from every bridge and tunnel. New Yorkers...drive. Aggressive, car-horn-blaring, brake-stomping drivers who are just as likely to use their car as a battering ram as they are a transportation device. Don't get me wrong, they won't run you over on purpose but they may nudge out ... (link)