Broadway Public Plazas
Broadway just got a whole lot greener! In August of 2008, the FCBID partnered with NYCDOT to create the Broadway Public Plazas, which have brought much needed open space to the Fashion District. The streetscape project removed two lanes of traffic from 42nd Street down to 35th Street, on one of New York’s most famed boulevards, and transformed them into a bike lane and a series of pedestrian islands, complete with greenery and public seating.
The public space is maintained by the FCBID and is appointed with nearly 200 planters as well as benches, tables and chairs. Visitors can enjoy year-round, seasonal plantings, courtesy of the BID. The FCBID thanks Commissioner Jeanette Sadik-Kahn and NYCDOT for creating the Broadway Public Plazas. The FCBID also thanks W&H Properties for its generous sponsorship of the Broadway plazas.
Horticulture
The Fashion Center has a green thumb! We maintain hundreds of plants and trees throughout the neighborhood and our plants are notoriously oversized and awesome. Since there is no official green space in the Garment District, we work hard to add greenery.
Building Planter Program
The BID installs and maintains 155 planters in front of private properties through its Building Planter Program, which the BID began in 2010. The Fashion Center provides pots, plants and year-round maintenance at no cost to building owners. Please contact us to request planters in front of your property.
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Street Trees
Since 2008, the BID has worked with the City to plant over one hundred new street trees and the BID has installed tree guards on all of its street trees, with the exception of those maintained by private properties. Additionally, the Fashion Center plants shrubbery at the bases of all its trees to keep them looking vibrant and we expanded many tree pits in the area to allow for healthier tree growth and more shrubbery in the pits.
District Lighting
Due to a dire need for increased lighting, the Fashion Center installed roughly 400 security lights on area properties on side streets and on Eighth Avenue in the early 2000s. The BID performs biannual maintenance service to these lights. The BID has worked with the City to upgrade its lampposts and luminaires and to increase the quantity of lightpoles in the area. Our goal by 2015 is to have new, more modern and energy efficient lampposts, and building lighting which provides light to both the sidewalks below and which uplights the facades of our gorgeous historic buildings.