Shutting down Broadway to cars passed its first major test yesterday, with traffic flowing smoothly out of the city during the usually horrific rush hour.
Drivers cruised down Ninth and Eleventh Avenues to the Lincoln Tunnel with few delays from the new surge of cars diverted to Manhattan’s West Side.
PEYSER: REAL NYERS ‘MALLED’ BY INCREDIBLY DUMB IDEA
The surprising results capped a day of gripes from drivers and business owners, with some saying the pedestrian plazas stole away many of their coveted tourist customers.
But the most dire warnings came from paramedics and other first-responders who said they have not yet been told the procedures for rushing into the packed squares during emergencies.
One EMT stationed at West 34th Street and Sixth Avenue yesterday compared it to “permanently being in parade or street-fair mode,” and said he would have to park his ambulance at the corner and run into the square if help was needed.
A paramedic union chief said he was worried that a shuttered Broadway would hamper their abilities to aid people in an emergency.
“We are monitoring it and are truly concerned about it,” said Pat Bahnken, the president of Local 2507, which represents 3,000 EMTs and fire inspectors. He said the area is “basically a frozen zone.”
He said the union is looking if the blockages will hurt “the flow of traffic at the adjoining streets and what impact that will have on response times.”
Still, FDNY officials were not concerned. “We requested access to the area in question and that is being provided to us,” said spokesman Jim Long.
Some business owners who previously thought they’d cash in on the shutdown said yesterday they may have lost money on the new plan.
“We have fewer customers because of the pedestrian mall. Tour buses used to drive up and stop in front of the store,” said John Palha, manager of Grand Slam souvenir shop.
“We used to get six or seven buses a day, but today we’ve seen 200 fewer customers than on a typical day.”
The city Department of Transportation added 66 percent more green-light time on Sixth Avenue going across West 34th Street, a jump from 32 to 54 seconds, said spokesman Seth Solomonow.
Also, officials said lights stayed green 20 percent longer on Seventh Avenue.
Jay White, who was delivering Coca-Cola around Herald Square, groused that he had to park his truck in one location and make several deliveries.
“This is the worst thing Bloomberg has ever done,” he said. “It’s just too complicated.”
Additional reporting by Kirsten Fleming and Tom Namako