Tube City Almanac

May 28, 2009

They Laughed When Greeky Did It

Category: Commentary/Editorial, Satire || By



Back in 1963, when former Mayor Andrew "Greeky" Jakomas blocked off Fifth Avenue between Market and Locust streets and turned the area into a pedestrian mall, people around here were laughing so hard, they could barely breathe.

In fact, bring it up now, and certain people still laugh until the tears run down their cheeks. (Or until the tears run down their legs, as my friend Larry Slaugh used to say.)

The idea --- which was proposed again in 1969 --- is still shorthand in the Mon Valley for "dumb city planning."

But now New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg has decided to block off the "crossroads of the world" --- Times Square --- and create a pedestrian mall. I'm pretty sure that Times Square sees more traffic today than Fifth Avenue in 1960s McKeesport.

And people in New York (with the exception of cab drivers) are saying the idea is "good for business" and that they're "in love with it" (New York Daily News) and that it's "satisfying" and "calming" (New York Times).

We all owe Greeky Jakomas an apology.

Also, New York City owes McKeesport royalties.






Your Comments are Welcome!

I remember my parents talking about this when I was young (let’s say, oh, 1985 or so) when we were downtown for something. I remember thinking how cool of an idea it was back then. I still think it’s a cool idea. Only in America would a planner be scoffed at for such an idea.
Schultz - May 29, 2009



Well, in fairness, a lot of pedestrian malls failed. East Liberty and Carnegie are two recent examples, and the business districts in both communities improved after they were eliminated. Now, in East Liberty, the prime has definitely been pumped, but I’m not sure that was the case in Carnegie.

In theory, a pedestrian mall is a great idea. But since in most American communities — sadly — many people are going to be driving to a business district in the first place. So you have to find a place to put their cars, usually on the periphery, forcing them to walk — gasp! — some distance to the actual pedestrial mall. Plus, that land where the parking goes is now essentially wasted.

Times Square is different because most people in N.Y.C. rely on public transportation. In particular, most people in Times Square are tourists, who most defintely have likely not driven their cars there.

That isn’t to say that pedestrial malls are the cause of decline in some of the aforementioned business districts. But planners who pinned their hopes on pedestrial malls saving business districts were misguided.
Jonathan Potts - May 29, 2009



I’ve been following the New York pedestrian mall story as of late. I go to NYC a lot and I agree that there need to be more provisions for pedestrians, but these proposals don’t really make a lot of sense for the simple fact that pedestrian malls traditionally don’t work. Even the most successful ones choke existing businesses and have to survive as quirky enclaves of unique shops: exactly what Times Square is not.
Steven Swain (URL) - May 29, 2009



They also put in a pedestrian mall in beautiful downtown Youngstown, and it did the same thing: I’m not going to say it killed downtown, but it sure didn’t help. They ended up, like Carnegie, taking the bricks up and restoring the road under it.
Vince - May 30, 2009



Did I really write the prime has been pumped? The pump has been primed, nimrod.
Jonathan Potts - June 03, 2009



Oh, don’t worry about it. We got what you meant. And pumping your prime in public can get you arrested.

Besides, I’m the one who thought I had a 1-in-500 chance of selecting the right number from a pool of 1,000.
Webmaster - June 03, 2009



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