Urban Designers Add Splash of Color in New Pedestrian Walkway on 32nd Street

August 6, 2015

Michelle Young, Streetsblog

Anyone who has walked from Penn Station to Herald Square along 32nd Street will notice a few incongruous things: homeless people, a Jack’s 99¢ store, the side entrance of Manhattan Mall, and possibly the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. But now, thanks to the In-House Design Department of the 34th Street Partnership, led by Columbia University GSAPP Urban Design graduate Alexandra Gonzalez, pedestrians will have a colorful, extended sidewalk.

It’s a trial project that will be live through October, with the hopes that the city will make it permanent. The solution will better connect the Madison Square Garden/Penn Station complex to the more lively Herald Square/Greeley Square, and provides 18 new CityBenches along the way. The additional good news for this block is that the 34th Street Partnership will also be extending sanitation services to this area.