Holiday Gridlock Alert: New York City to close off parts of 5th Avenue to cars for three Sundays
MIDTOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- Heads up for commuters - beginning on Sunday, New York City will close off parts of Fifth Avenue in Midtown to cars.
It is the first of three Sundays the city will open up the streets to pedestrians this holiday season.
Fifth Avenue from 48th to 57th Streets will be car-free from 12 p.m.- 6 p.m.
The move will allow people to do their holiday shopping and look at festive window displays and the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree without having to navigate through traffic.
"Every year, people come from across the world to New York City, and to Midtown Manhattan specifically, during the holiday season. This year, we are going to make that experience safer and more enjoyable for all New Yorkers and visitors with more access to Open Streets," Mayor Adams said.
However, not everyone is excited about the plan.
"You are going to make more traffic, and you have people who can't drive as it is," said Lynn Schoen from Staten Island.
"I think it's horrible to close it, because it's just gonna create gridlock everywhere else," added cab driver Manny Antelada.
The city says it's building on its open streets concept that proved successful during the pandemic. In this case, though, the MTA on Tuesday night said it still had no plan for how to reroute buses around the closure.
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