City To Install Bollards After Terror Attack, Pedestrian Deaths

TIMES SQUARE, NY — New York City officials announced plans Tuesday to install more than 1,500 bollards to prevent pedestrian deaths at high-traffic locations — including the bike path where a terrorist attack killed eight people in October.

The metal posts are part of a $50 million infrastructure plan aimed at protecting pedestrians, tourists and cyclists from cars, city officials said. Bollards will be installed at business corridors, tourist attractions, recreation areas and other popular spots across the five boroughs.

The plan follows Sayfullo Saipov's alleged ISIS-inspired attack on the Hudson River Greenway, where he is accused of running down pedestrians and cyclists in a rented pickup truck.

The city plans to replace the concrete blocks that were installed after the Oct. 31 attack with bollards starting in March, officials said. Workers will also install more posts in Times Square, where a Bronx man killed a teenager and injured more than 20 people in May by driving his car onto a pedestrian plaza.

"These are some of the busiest streets in the world — people have to be able to get around, but they have to be safe at the same time," Mayor Bill de Blasio said Tuesday at a news conference in Times Square.

A working group of city agencies in recent months reviewed popular locations that could benefit from bollards, officials said. The plans aim to protect those vulnerable spots from attacks or accidents without interfering with how people use them, de Blasio said.

The city installed bollards at Times Square's pedestrian plazas in 2016 as part of a separate $50 million renovation. Workers will place more at the tourist hub in the coming months, officials said.

Aside from Times Square and the greenway, city officials did not release a list of locations that will get bollards.

City officials will have to coordinate with other agencies to install the bollards in locations where it doesn't have direct jurisdiction, such as the Hudson River Greenway, which is state-owned.

Cycling advocates had called for infrastructure improvements, including bollards, to better protect bikes and pedestrians from cars long before Saipov's terror attack. The state Department of Transportation installed obstrusive concrete barriers along the Hudson River Greenway that forced bike traffic into one lane, renewing calls for a better permanent solution.

The cycling and public-transit advocacy group Transportation Alternatives has argued for at least a decade that bollards save lives and make city streets more walkable.

Caroline Samponaro, the group's deputy director, praised the city's plans to install more in high-traffic areas. But officials need to also address the "elephant in the room," she said — the need to reduce driving and car access overall.

"We need to have a proactive strategy to make public space safer but also more livable for people not driving," Samponaro said.

(Lead image: New York City officials plan to install more than 1,500 bollards like these as part of a $50 million plan to protect public spaces from cars. Photo by Noah Manskar)