Times Square gets new safety barricades following deadly car crash

TIMES SQUARE, Manhattan (WABC) -- Times Square reopened to traffic overnight following a deadly car crash Thursday, with a very noticeable difference.

Concrete barriers were placed along Seventh Avenue, bordering the west side of the road between 45th and 42nd streets, the same area where police said Richard Rojas drove his Honda onto the crowded sidewalk around noon.

An 18-year-old tourist from Michigan was killed, and 22 others were injured.

"This particular incident is deeply troubling and we are going to look at Times Square, and obviously we will look at some other key locations," Mayor Bill de Blasio said on his radio show on WNYC-AM.

De Blasio emphasized that the area is safe and that the crash should not discourage travel to Times Square.

The barricades also were placed on the east side of Seventh Avenue between 46th and 45th streets, stretching north.

"The NYPD is evaluating based on this incident what other approaches we want to take," de Blasio said. "When the reconfiguration of Times Square was done, a tremendous number of security measures were put in place to isolate the pedestrian areas from vehicles."

On Friday, City Council Transportation Chair Ydanis Rodriguez proposed enhancements to pedestrian safety in Times Square and other high-traffic areas.

"Many of our sidewalks remain terribly vulnerable to the type of tragedy we witnessed in Times Square," he said.

He said he is working to require metal bollards along heavily trafficked sidewalks. Rodriguez also raised the possibility of placing such bollards at the fronts of schools and in areas where crashes occur most frequently.