On July 30, 2025, New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a $3 million public-private partnership to transform Manhattan’s 14th Street corridor, focusing on enhancing public spaces and the experience for 28,000 daily bus riders and pedestrians. The initiative, funded by $2 million from the city’s Fiscal Year 2026 budget and $1 million from the Union Square Partnership and Meatpacking District BIDs, will launch a 24-month design study led by the Department of Transportation and NYC Economic Development Corporation. The study aims to introduce landscaping, upgraded pedestrian areas, greenery, and safety enhancements while preserving the successful 14th Street busway. Modeled after the $400 million Fifth Avenue transformation, the project, backed by $9 million in City Council capital funds, seeks to boost local businesses, tourism, and safety, aligning with Adams’ vision for vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban spaces.
Mayor Adams Announces Public-Private Partnership to Reimagine 14th Street Corridor With Upgrades to Public Spaces, Pedestrian and Bus Rider Experience
City Launches Design Study to Develop Vision for Transformational Upgrades. $3 Million Public-Private Investment, $2 Million Commitment From City, $1 Million from Local Business Improvement Districts. Project to Follow Public-Private Model of City’s $400 Million Transformation of Fifth Avenue
NEW YORK – New York City Mayor Eric Adams, 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 Meatpacking District Management Association today announced $3 million in funding to develop a vision plan for 14th Street in Manhattan. Together, 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, building on the remarkable success of the corridor’s busway.
The $1.5 million investment in the Fiscal Year (FY) 26 Adopted Budget, which builds on Mayor Adams’ FY 2026 Executive Budget — often called the “Best Budget Ever” — along with $500,000 in funding from the NYCEDC, will help provide a once-in-a-generation upgrade to the entire 14th Street corridor for the 28,000 daily bus riders and thousands more New Yorkers visiting iconic destinations along the street each day. Design features will include, but are not limited to new landscaping, upgraded pedestrian space, greenery, and safety enhancements that all still preserve existing busway operations.
“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 busway has already been transformational for New Yorkers, creating a safer, more welcoming street while dramatically speeding up buses and reducing wait times,” said DOT Commissioner Rodriguez. “This study will help us unlock the full potential of the entire corridor and create a world-class, people-first 14th Street. We look forward to working closely with the New York City Economic Development Corporation and our partner organizations to develop this vision.”
“Union Square Partnership is excited to build on the momentum of our ‘USQNext Vision Plan’ to deliver a modernized Union Square Park and a reimagined 14th Street,” said Julie Stein, executive director, Union Square Partnership. “This is our chance to create a world-class public realm along one of New York’s key thoroughfares — with greener, safer streetscape, 21st century design features, and a best-in-class pedestrian experience. We look forward to working closely with public agency partners and community stakeholders to shape a bold vision for 14th Street and turn it into implementable, lasting improvements.”
“We know the power and importance of transforming public space with people at the center is always the right decision given our successful demonstrations at the Ninth Avenue Plazas, Gansevoort Landing, and new West 14th Street promenade,” said Jeffrey LeFrancois, executive director, Meatpacking District Management Association. “Improving public areas is good for the community and drives foot traffic to local businesses. With this study, 14th Street can set a new paradigm for how the city transforms its corridors for the future. This is a vital step in creating a new 14th Street, and we are excited to be a leading partner.”
“With the right vision and investment, Union Square can become among the most vibrant, safe, people-friendly public spaces in the entire city, and this investment will help us get that done,” said Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine. “I’m proud to support the USQNext Vision Plan, and am grateful for the vision, leadership and partnership of Union Square Partnership, the Meatpacking District Management Association, the city and local businesses and stakeholders.”
“The 14th Street vision plan represents the best of what we can accomplish when local leadership, community-based organizations, and the city work together with ambition and purpose,” said New York City Councilmember Carlina Rivera. “14th Street is a vital public space that connects neighborhoods, supports small businesses, and welcomes thousands of New Yorkers and visitors every day. I’m proud to have secured $9 million in capital funding to help bring this plan to life and unlock additional resources. I commend the Union Square Partnership and Meatpacking District BID for their bold vision and thank the administration and city agencies for their partnership in creating a more connected, walkable, and person-centered future for this iconic stretch of Manhattan.”
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 towards the effort. DOT will lead the study in close collaboration with the NYCEDC and the BIDs, with the aim of developing a world-class pedestrian experience along 14th Street and modernizing anchor public spaces like Union Square Park. The city will begin seeking a consultant for the study 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.
The project builds on the core tenets of the “New” New York action plan, which identified public space and pedestrian improvements as key forces for the city’s economic recovery. It also reflects other public-private partnerships to reimagine iconic corridors, which will provide the model for the 14th Street vision plan. In 2023, the Adams administration launched the Future of Fifth public-private partnership, which brings city agencies together with the Fifth Avenue Association, the Grand Central Partnership, the Central Park Conservancy, and the Bryant Park Corporation to further this project. As part of Mayor Adams’ Best Budget Ever, he announced total investments of over $400 million to fully fund the city and the Future of Fifth Partnership’s plan to transform Fifth Avenue — between Bryant Park and Central Park — into a world-class, pedestrian-centered boulevard, cementing the iconic corridor’s status as a catalyst for economic growth and job creation in New York City. Last year, the Adams administration cut the ribbon on the latest phase of Broadway Vision, the city’s plan to dramatically expand pedestrian and cycling space along Broadway, from Union Square to Columbus Circle.
The Adams administration has pedestrianized a record amount of public space, adding more than 1.4 million square feet of pedestrian space over the last three years. This is part of the Adams administration’s broader efforts 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’.
Today’s announcement is a reflection of Mayor Adams’ commitment to improving quality of life and public safety through improving public spaces, with a focus on better design, operations and maintenance, and enforcement. Recently, the administration announced the Department of Sustainable Delivery (DSD), a new entity housed within the DOT. DSD will conduct enforcement against illegal moped-, e-bike-, and e-scooter-riding; hold delivery apps accountable by ensuring that commercial cyclists are using safe and legal equipment and that delivery companies face repercussions for unsafe behavior; and address vehicle parking behaviors that endanger pedestrians, cyclists, and e-bike riders. As part of Mayor Adams’ Fiscal Year 2026 Adopted Budget, new funding will support DOT hiring up to 45 new peace officers trained to issue moving violations and enforce commercial cycling laws against businesses. This department will bring order to New York City streets as the number of app-based deliveries and delivery workers have soared, with little accountability in place for app-based companies.
In addition to DSD, the administration is advancing measures to combat reckless driving, including a dramatic expansion of automated enforcement against speeding drivers and red-light runners; as well as rules to prohibit e-bikes and e-scooters from travelling faster than 15 miles-per-hour on city streets, mirroring best regulatory practices for e-bike speeds in countries that are at the forefront of sustainable transportation, such as the Netherlands and Belgium, and matching the existing speed limit in New York City for stand-up e-scooters to ensure speed limits are applied consistently across e-mobility devices.
Today’s announcement builds on the Adams administration’s continued work to improve e-bike access and foster the growing use of legal e-micromobility options through the “Charge Safe, Ride Safe” action plan, while also shifting deliveries to more sustainable modes of transportation. DOT has built a record number of protected bike-lane miles over the past three years and also installed wider bike lanes along its busiest routes, expanded public e-bike charging options for riders, and educated the public and delivery workers about safe and legal e-bike use. This past spring, the city launched an e-bike trade-in program for delivery workers to exchange illegal mopeds and uncertified e-bikes for legal, fire-safe e-bikes and batteries. The city also established “microhubs” to shift deliveries from large, congestion-causing trucks to more sustainable modes, such as cargo e-bikes and smaller electric vehicles.
July 30, 2025 Manhattan. New York
Sources: NYC.gov , Big New York news BigNY.com
TV 503 News
