A display went up this week in a pedestrian island surrounded by a sea of auto traffic. Today I thought it may not be such.... A display went up this week in a pedestrian island surrounded by a sea of auto traffic. Today I thought it may not be such a good idea to have it there, as this, Grand Army Plaza has been rated as one of the worst public areas for pedestrians. The idea is to improve it, however. When I first encountered the Plaza, I had posted some photos to a local message board suggesting the area needed more crosswalks. It is a beautiful Plaza, designed by Olmsted and Vaux with a magnificent arch designed by McKim, Mead and White. The problem is the traffic.

To catalyze Grand Army Plaza’s rebirth, the Design Trust for Public Space, in partnership with the Grand Army Plaza Coalition, has launched an international ideas competition, Reinventing Grand Army Plaza, to generate new visions for every aspect of the plaza’s design.

I wasn't completely enthralled by any of the designs, however, and some of them were just bad. I really don't think that much needs to be done outside of general clean-up and replanting and altering traffic patterns, adding crosswalks, etc. I suppose we live in a post-modern age, but it seems clear this Plaza calls out for some sense of symetry, something that seems to be lacking from most of the plans.

I don't sense there is actual money to implement this, so I'm not going to fret too much, but I do hope that when a design is implemented it embraces the classical beauty of the original design.

Here's a short video of Grand Army Plaza taken from the gym on Eastern Parway.

Link to design ideas