City Not Committed To Times Square Safety Improvements: Report

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio has not committed to pedestrian safety improvements in Times Square weeks after chaos ensued in the busy tourist hub when a car drove down three city blocks killing one and injuring 22, according to reports.

De Blasio told reporters Wednesday that while the city is considering "any and all" added safeguards in the area, his administration is not considering banning vehicle traffic from Times Square, Politico reported. In fact, de Blasio once favored removing Times Square pedestrian safeguards at the recommendation of former Police Commissioner Bill Bratton, according to the report.

De Blasio exchanged emails in 2015 with former Michael Bloomberg chief-of-staff Peter Madonia where the mayor seemed to agree with stripping Times Square of its pedestrian-only plazas. Madonia had written to the mayor imploring him to remove the plazas because, "no real New Yorkers use it and they hate walking thru it,” Politico reported.

"We are on the same wavelength,” de Blasio said, according to the emails obtained by Politico. "Now, easier said than done. But very much on the table."

The pedestrian plazas — which ban car and truck traffic on Broadway in Times Square — were implemented by Bloomberg. There are no pedestrian plazas on Seventh Avenue, where 26-year-old Richard Rojas mounted the sidewalk on West 42nd Street and drove three blocks, eventually hitting a metal stanchion on West 45th Street.

A tourist from Portage, Michigan — 18-year-old Alyssa Elsman — was killed during the the rampage. Twenty-two others were injured, four of whom suffered critical injuries, law enforcement officials told Patch.

Police said the driver, identified as Richard Rojas, 26, from The Bronx, tried to sprint from the wreckage of his car but was chased down by civilians and NYPD officers and arrested. Rojas, a former member of the Navy, was previously arrested in 2008 and 2015 for drinking and driving and was most recently arrested this month for menacing, officials said.

Prosecutors have charged Rojas with murder, 20 counts of attempted murder and one count of aggravated vehicular homicide.

Read the full Politico report here.

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