On February 26, 2009, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that traffic lanes along Broadway from 42nd Street to 47th Street would be de-mapped starting Memorial Day 2009 and transformed into pedestrian plazas until at least the end of the year as a trial. The same was done from 33rd to 35th Street. The goal was to ease traffic congestion throughout the Midtown grid. The results were to be closely monitored to determine if the project worked and should be extended.[32] Bloomberg also stated that he believed the street shutdown would make New York more livable by reducing pollution, cutting down on pedestrian accidents and helping traffic flow more smoothly.[33] The project was originally opposed by local businesses, who thought that closing the street to cars would hurt business.[34]
The original seats put out for pedestrians were inexpensive multicolored plastic lawn chairs, a source of amusement to many New Yorkers. They lasted from the onset of the plaza transformation until August 14, 2009, when they were ceremoniously bundled together in an installation christened "Now You See It, Now You Don't" by the artist Jason Peters.[35] Although the plaza had mixed results on traffic in the area, injuries to motorists and pedestrians decreased, fewer pedestrians were walking in the road and the number of pedestrians in Times Square increased.[36] The plastic chairs were shortly replaced by sturdier metal furniture, and on February 11, 2010, Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced that the pedestrian plazas would become permanent.[37]
from
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Times_Square
The basic idea is to make it as close to impossible as you can get to allowing cars into town. Widen the sidewalks, put planters in between the bike lanes and the car traffic lanes to narrow the number of lanes available to cars to the bare minimum, change the timing of the traffic lights to slow car traffic to an absolute crawl, anything that makes it a hassle to use a car in town. The basic rule is that the easier you make it to use a car, the more people will use them, so you have to be merciless in making it as difficult as you can for them to be used.
There was another thread that said the tolltakers on the Golden Gate were being eliminated in favor of electronic tolls. Wrong move. Get those tolltakers back. Those electronic tolls are a convenience to car users. ANY convenience to them is bad.
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