What to Know
- The city's firefighters union is slamming a plan to shut down streets around Rockefeller Center during the holidays
- The FDNY-Uniformed Firefighters Association says the street closures over the holiday season could actually become a safety concern
- The union president called the plan "misguided and makes this city less safe - plain and simple"
New York City's firefighters union cautioned against Mayor de Blasio's plan to expand the pedestrian space around Rockefeller Center, calling the plan "misguided and makes this city less safe - plain and simple."
Starting Friday, Nov. 29, the city will pedestrianize the streets surrounding 30 Rock and Radio City Music Hall, using movable barriers to institute full or partial street closures that will alleviate the crush of foot traffic.
The FDNY-Uniformed Firefighters Association issued a statement on Sunday warning that the street closures over the holiday season could actually become a safety concern.
"As it is, traffic is interfering with our firefighters abilities to reach the scene of a fire, but this new plan will have wide-felt repercussions in the form of traffic from river-to-river," said President of the Uniformed Firefitghters Association Gerard Fitzgerald.
"We all want pedestrian safety, but a key component of safety for all is the ability for New York’s first responders to reach the scene of an emergency, and this is not the best way to ensure the safety of New York’s over 8-million residents and millions of holiday visitors,” Fitzgerald added.
A spokesperson for the FDNY said the department will work closely with the city and "that our members can quickly respond to emergencies in and around Rockefeller Center."
Local
The NYPD and Department of Transportation will conduct joint round-the-clock monitoring of the area to adjust barriers if needed during times of high pedestrian activity and/or extreme weather.
Crowds are expected to flood the Plaza for the annual holiday tree lighting on Wednesday, Dec. 4 -- and every day thereafter to witness the 72-ton, 77-foot-tall Norway spruce in all its glory until it comes down on Jan. 14, 2020. See full details on the tree selected for this year's honor -- and how it grew from a plant on a coffee table in a New York village to taking the prime spot in Manhattan.
