Midtown’s Park Avenue to trade car lanes for planted medians and a two-way bike path
The city's final design for 11 blocks of Park Avenue gives space now used by cars to greenery, seating and a protected bike route above the Grand Central train shed.
Part of Park Avenue in Midtown is set to give up some of its car lanes for trees, benches and bikes. City transportation officials unveiled the finished design this week for an 11-block stretch running from East 46th Street up to East 57th Street. The center medians there will grow wider and fill with plantings, seating and public art.
This final version reflects comments from the public this spring. Starr Whitehouse Landscape Architects and Planners leads the design team working with the city. Earlier drafts ran a two-way bike lane down the median itself. That lane now gets space of its own, so pedestrians and cyclists each have enough room on the malls.
What changes on Park Avenue for drivers and cyclists
Car traffic gives up ground under the plan. Northbound and southbound drivers each lose a lane. On the southbound side, a further lane goes to cyclists, with a protective barrier and room for riders heading north as well as south. The full build-out is expected to take about five years.
Mayor Zohran Mamdani said the design came straight from residents. “New Yorkers asked us to make more room for people to walk, bike and enjoy their city, and we listened,” he said. In his view, larger medians, new greenery and a protected bike route will make the avenue safer and more attractive for everyone who uses it.
Why the Grand Central train shed matters
The city pledged these medians, known as the Park Avenue Malls, to the public as part of its 2017 rezoning of Midtown East. Beneath them sits the Grand Central Terminal train shed, which is about 100 years old. Nearly every Metro-North train heading into Grand Central gets routed to its platform there. MTA CEO Janno Lieber has described it as the “most important piece of MTA infrastructure you’ve never heard of.”
For decades, water, chemicals and salt from the roadway have leaked into the shed and eaten away at the steel and concrete supporting the street above. The MTA is rebuilding the structure now. That work means pulling up sections of the avenue, so the median redesign will go forward at the same time.
Laura Starr, a partner at Starr Whitehouse, said the shed reconstruction and the rezoning together have handed the city a once-in-a-generation chance to build a “world-class green carpet” through the heart of Midtown.
Quick answers
Which part of Park Avenue is being redesigned?
The Park Avenue Malls, an 11-block stretch in Midtown running from East 46th Street to East 57th Street.
How long will the Park Avenue redesign take?
About five years. It will be built at the same time as the MTA's rebuild of the Grand Central train shed below the avenue.
Will Park Avenue lose traffic lanes?
Yes. Drivers lose a lane in each direction, and another lane on the southbound side is being turned over to cyclists as a protected path that runs both north and south.
