Times Square Urban Design Study

New York City

While Times Square’s streets are far cleaner and safer than they once were, they are too often cluttered, unappealing, ordinary, and, because crowding forces people into the streets, dangerous. Events, from the small, street musicians, to the mega, New Years, only add to the traffic. With the Times Square Alliance, the area’s business improvement district,... Continue Reading

While Times Square’s streets are far cleaner and safer than they once were, they are too often cluttered, unappealing, ordinary, and, because crowding forces people into the streets, dangerous. Events, from the small, street musicians, to the mega, New Years, only add to the traffic. With the Times Square Alliance, the area’s business improvement district, Starr Whitehouse coordinated the Second Century Workshop, a design workshop tailored to come up with viable, imaginative solutions to the Times Square squeeze. The workshop aimed for nothing short of a larger vision that can guide Times Square’s development in its second century so that it can unquestionably maintain its place one of the world’s great public places. Working closely with DDC, DOT, the Alliance, other consultants, and the participants, Starr Whitehouse’s role was that of a moderator, seeking to maximize creativity and feasibility of the design work by understanding the needs and motives of all of the players. Throughout the process, Starr Whitehouse met with participating designers to continue to hone and direct their ideas. Starr Whitehouse studied the open space benefits to Times Square of pedestrianizing Broadway. In 2007, Starr Whitehouse received a New York ASLA Merit Award for their work on this project.