City plans $57M redesign of 42nd Street to prevent terror attacks

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City plans $57M redesign of 42nd Street to prevent terror attacks

Rendering courtesy of the NYC Department of Transportation

New York City is investing $57 million to redesign part of West 42nd Street to prevent vehicle-based terror attacks, like the recent truck incident on Bourbon Street in New Orleans. Starting next summer, the city’s Department of Transportation will revamp the street between 7th and 8th avenues in the Theater District with wider sidewalks, new security bollards, and planters. As first reported by Crain’s, the project also includes much-needed upgrades to aging water and sewer lines beneath the street.

West 42nd Street between 8th and 7th Avenue. Photo by Elvert Barnes on Flickr

Last month’s terror attack in New Orleans, which claimed the lives of 15 New Year’s Eve revelers on Bourbon Street, spurred the DOT to make these upgrades. However, past attacks in Manhattan—such as the 2017 incident where a driver plowed into pedestrians on 7th Avenue—have already highlighted the need for security measures to keep vehicles off sidewalks.

Since then, local officials have rallied for new, permanent safety upgrades like steel security bollards and planters.

“We did not need New Orleans to know we need this, we had the horrible attack on Seventh Avenue,” Tom Harris, president of the Times Square Alliance, said, as Crain’s reported. “The project will make 42nd Street safer.”

An overview of the 42nd Street project. Credit: DOT

Wider sidewalks would give pedestrians more space to navigate the busy street while also making it easier to browse vendors who set up along 42nd Street after 7 p.m.

Russell Granet, the president and CEO of arts nonprofit New 42, wants the redesign to pay homage to the block’s rich artistic history. Since the area was once home to nearly a dozen Broadway theaters, Granet’s organization has proposed seven plaques along 7th and 8th avenues at historic sites.

The plan includes wider bus lanes for east and westbound traffic but stops short of a full 42nd Street busway like 14th Street’s. Last month, Manhattan Community Boards 4, 5, and 6 urged Mayor Eric Adams and the DOT to pilot a 42nd Street busway to ease congestion and boost business.

DOT is funding the project with $41.7 million, while the Department of Environmental Protection is contributing $15.2 million, according to the city. The project is expected to take at least four years, slated for completion in the summer of 2030.

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