Mayor Eric Adams, the New York City Department of Transportation (DOT) Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez, New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) President and CEO Andrew Kimball, and leaders from the Union Square Partnership and the Meatpacking District Management Association recently announced $3 million in public-private funding to upgrade the 14th Street corridor in Manhattan. An extra $2 million will come from the City, while another $1 million will come from Local Business Improvement Districts.
Renderings above and below reveal the scope of the expanded public plaza spaces and revamped sidewalks around Union Square. Design features will include new landscaping, upgraded pedestrian space, greenery, and safety enhancements that all still preserve existing busway operations.
The proposed overhaul for 14th Street around Union Square. Rendering courtesy of Union Square Partnership.
The proposed overhaul for 14th Street around Union Square. Rendering courtesy of Union Square Partnership.
Here we see some of the transformed spaces in the Meatpacking District.
In 2025, the Meatpacking District transformed underutilized roadbed along West 14th Street with new gathering areas, lush landscaping, and future opportunities for public art ©BrakeThrough Media
The recent addition of public space on West 14th Street marks the second phase of a far West Side improvement plan put into action by the Meatpacking District with help from New York City DOT ©BrakeThrough Media
“Our administration continues to invest in transformative generational projects that redesign our public spaces, support our small businesses, boost tourism, make our city safer, and encourage world-class recreation across the five boroughs,” said New York City Mayor Eric Adams. “As part of our ‘Best Budget Ever,’ we were proud to work with the Union Square and Meatpacking District BIDs and the City Council to advance a study of 14th Street that will usher in the future of this iconic corridor. We continue to think big and imagine what is possible on our streets and in our communities in service of our mission to make New York City a safer, more affordable city that is the best place to raise a family.”
The 14th Street corridor project will follow the public-private model of the City’s $400 million proposal to transform Fifth Avenue with wider sidewalks, more greenery, dedicated bus lanes, and more. The DOT, NYCEDC, and the Union Square and Meatpacking District Business Improvement Districts (BIDs) will conduct a study to evaluate transformational upgrades to the pedestrian and transit rider experience along 14th Street in Manhattan.
The $1.5 million investment in the fiscal year (FY) 26 Adopted Budget, which builds on Mayor Adams’ FY 2026 Executive Budget, along with $500,000 in funding from the NYCEDC, will help provide funding for the entire 14th Street corridor, which sees 28,000 daily bus riders and thousands of locals and visitors seen along the street each day.
The 24-month design study includes a $2 million investment from the city with the Union Square Partnership contributing $750,000 and the Meatpacking District contributing $250,000 for a combined contribution of $1 million toward the effort. DOT will lead the study in close collaboration with the NYCEDC and the BIDs. The city will begin seeking a consultant for the study later this year, with plans to engage the public in the first quarter of 2026 and have capital projects developed by the end of the study. The City Council has made a down payment on those capital projects, with Councilmember Carlina securing $9 million in city capital funds across fiscal years 2027-2029. Borough President Levine has also allocated $500,000 for the future capital project.
So far, the Adams administration pedestrianized more than 1.4 million square feet of outdoor public space over the last three years. This is part of the much broader effort to create safe, welcoming streets through the expansion of the city’s Open Streets program and a newly established permanent outdoor dining program, “Dining Out NYC.”
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Nice, but basically making it impossible for cars and busses to travel.
Exactly.
No, it will only make it impossible for cars to travel in large numbers. The busses will be fine. This is a city. I don’t know about you, but I came here to get away from car primacy.
What Cars? It’s a busway. Cars are only allowed to travel a single block before they are required to turn off. lol
Having only 1 lane for traffic in each direction makes no sense. Traffic will come to a halt if there is a problem. How can first responders get through with priority? Drop off zones are needed for deliveries and for-hire cars and cars for disabled people. Where are the bike lanes? The sidewalk doesn’t need to be that wide. Sidewalks need trees for shade in the summer. Who is this design for?
It’s literally been a busway for years now and it’s fine. If anything, it’s way faster for emergency vehicles to cut across 14th street than it was before since there is no traffic in the way.
This is great! 14th street is currently gross
Why don’t renderings show NYC in January?
The same reason building renderings greenwash with a bunch of plants that will never be installed: it gets on base.
Don’t put bike lanes in the middle of ****ing pedestrian paths.
I like this, at least the drawings at this point. The bigger issue is that bikes and pedestrians need to co-exist, but those earning a living on motorized two-wheeled equipment seem to think they are immune from any and all rules of the road. This needs to STOP!
I totally agree when I bring this up I am told that bikes are better than cars. They both suck. At least with cars they are big enough to see before they kill you.
Not if you’re looking the other way!
no pics of the mess that is 14th Street between 6th and 7th avenues. why don’t the BIDs expand to include this section of 14th Street
This is a fact. The motorized bikes and mopeds cannot be classified as those used by tourists and regular residents. The city desperately needs to regulate the category for the sake of saving lives.
I hope they incorporate elements that can help lower the temperature inside of the Union Square subway station.
Start with putting more cops and getting rid of all the drugs and pot smoking.
Put in more pot smoking!
Get rid of the drugs and trash. And how about some green space for once…
Why all the new pavement? The entire space should be planted with shade trees. This new normal oppresive heat we’re enjoying needs more shade to reduce the heat island effect.
Yeah, I had the same thought. The raised planters shown in the renderings makes me think that they don’t have much clearance between the roadbed and the Canarsie Line below. At Union Square conditions are made even harder with the Broadway and Lex lines running through.
Good point. But my office building is surrounded by large shade trees in raised planters. There are 3 basement levels directly below.
Add raised planters which double as benches under the shade. This new project needs rethinking.
Because these “new plazas” are not going through be plazas at all. They will end up as painted roads with concrete blocks and planters like all the other pedestrianization projects.
This city needs permanent redesign of public spaces. Not temporary retasretasking of roadways.
It has the beginnings of a nice lunch spot in the park now but they cut down the trees in this pavement oriented plan. Obviously the designer never spends any time in Union Square.
The property and business owners will never accept that much restriction on cars and buses. I think they’re misguided about that, but they won’t.
Is Union Square a good place to buy drugs?
oh Yeah!!! Even hardened NYPD detectives will not go in there. Christ, you can’t walk by without seeing some crazed, passed out junkie.
14th Street, Union Square Park, Washington Square Park.
Why is the City paying anything? This will hugely increase the values of the buildings on 14th St. Let them pay for it.
Oh that’s right. Adams gets his funding from developers.
Where do you buy your drugs, timebomb?