Park Avenue is hard enough for pedestrians to cross with crossing signals. But for years, in the short stretch of just over ten blocks north of Grand Central Station, there haven’t even been those to guide walkers across the wide boulevard. This results in a lot of unnecessary sprints in work pumps, or clustering in the middle of the road in the blistering heat. But no more! Three years ago, the city announced that at last, they would install crossing signals on these corners. And now it looks like they have: Though they’re not yet functional, the above shot showing the new signals was snapped on Park and 53rd this afternoon.
And by the way, the rumor that Park Avenue residents were too snooty to allow unsightly crossing signals is an urban legend: The real problem is that Park Avenue is built on top of a thin deck over the Metro-North Railroads, and engineers had to find a way to install the signals without puncturing through into the train tunnels.
