Times Square Set for Redesign
Thursday, Sep 29, 2011 | Updated 6:39 AM EDT
NBC New York
A plan to improve Times Square, New York's best-known landscape, includes laying a concrete floor, removing dozens of street lamps and installing permanent benches. Roseanne Colletti reports.
Times Square's pedestrian plazas will be getting a sleek redesign.
The Times Square Alliance says it's intended to simplify and de-clutter — and create a unified identity for the heart of Times Square.
The $27 million plan is heading for final approval and is expected to be completed in 2014.
The Manhattan firm Snohetta, which is also involved in the National September 11 Memorial & Museum design, unveiled its preliminary plan at a community board meeting Monday night.
The plan is part of a redesign that began in 2009 when Mayor Bloomberg banned cars from parts of the square and pedestrian plazas were installed.
The new look calls for large slab-like benches to replace the current red metal chairs. Stone or concrete will cover the now blue-painted asphalt.
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