NEW YORK CITY VOTERS LIKE CAR-FREE TIMES SQUARE,

QUINNIPIAC UNIVERSITY POLL FINDS

Banning cars on Broadway, creating a pedestrian mall from Times Square to Herald Square is a good idea, New York City voters say 58 – 34 percent in a Quinnipiac University poll released today.   Support ranges from 66 – 27 percent among Manhattan voters to 50 – 44 percent among Bronx voters.

By a smaller 48 – 46 percent margin, voters say the city should create more pedestrian malls.  But voters say 57 – 38 percent that they don’t want such a mall in their neighborhood, the independent Quinnipiac (KWIN-uh-pe-ack) University poll finds.   The two-month experiment has attracted 44 percent of New Yorkers, who say they’ve spent time on Times Square.

“Times Square with lawn chairs instead of cars is a nice idea, most New Yorkers say, but NIMBY,” said Maurice Carroll, director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute. 

Poll Results

As you may know, New York City recently banned cars, trucks and buses on Broadway from Times Square to Herald Square, making that section of Broadway a pedestrian mall.

Do you think this was a good idea or a bad idea?

Do you think New York City should create more such pedestrian malls around the city or not?

Would you like a pedestrian mall in your neighborhood?

Have you spent any time on the Broadway pedestrian mall?

Which comes closer to your point of view - closing Broadway was a good way to reduce the number of cars in the area and give people more room to walk around, or, closing Broadway was a waste of tax dollars and creates more traffic?