New York to Expand Holiday Open Streets

According to an NBC News article, New York City plans to bring back and expand its Open Streets program this holiday season to boost local businesses and accommodate traffic to the city’s famous Rockefeller Center Christmas tree and Fifth Avenue shopping district. “Through the holiday season, the city will pedestrianize the streets surrounding Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall, according to city officials. West 49^th Street and West 50^th Street, between Fifth Avenue and Sixth Avenue, will only be open to pedestrians between 11 a.m. and midnight every day.” The program will cover an area 25 percent larger than last year.

“Mayor Eric Adams said that last year's program drove $3 million in spending to businesses in the midtown area along Fifth Avenue and around Rockefeller Center, where streets get closed to all vehicles during certain times.”