To view our videos, you need to
enable JavaScript. Learn how.
install Adobe Flash 9 or above. Install now.

Then come back here and refresh the page.

The New York Times reported late Friday that the Department of Traffic is contemplating blocking off most traffic from a block of Broadway north of Union Square between 17th and 18th Streets. The Times said the plan will be proposed to the local community board on Monday.

Designs are also being reviewed for a walkway along 34th Street, with plans to eliminate cars on the block between Fifth and Sixth Avenues, meaning that 34th Street would no longer be a two-way street.

Cars would run west bound from Sixth Avenue to the West Side Highway, and eastbound from Fifth Avenue to the FDR Drive.

"Something like nine out of every 10 people that go across 34th Street either walk, or take bus or cab," said Mayor Michael Bloomberg on his radio show this morning. "It's so slow the cars can't get across, and so people go elsewhere or even if they try to do it it just takes them forever."

Buses would still operate in both directions, in dedicated lanes separated from pedestrians by a concrete barrier.

Passengers will be able to pay for the bus before boarding, and buses could signal traffic lights to stay green as they approach the intersection.

“I think that's a great idea,” said a pedestrian. “I work one block up from here and the commuter traffic here is pretty heavy. And between the tourists passing by and people going to work, it's usually pretty hectic here.”

“It's a good idea," said a bus rider.

"That's great," agreed another. "It's great because it takes me an hour to get in anyway."

But the controversial proposal is getting mixed reaction from drivers, many of whom opposed similar plazas in Times Square and Herald Square.

"How is closing off 34th Street, the major artery through Midtown east to west, going to make traffic flow better?” asked one driver.

"Bad enough they closed Broadway," said another. "We can't even turn up and down Broadway. It will make it even more worse than what it already is."

The project will cost at least $30 million and is expected to be complete by the end of 2012.