Rampage spurs calls to ban cars from NY’s Times Square

NEWYORK » Is it time to get cars out of the Crossroads of the World?

The vehicle rampage that killed a teenage tourist in New York’s Times Square this month has prompted conversations whether the city should still be allowing cars, cabs and trucks to cruise down the neon-lit blocks where huge crowds of people gather daily to buy theater tickets, gawk at street performers and marvel at the crush of humanity.

Vehicles were banished from Broadway where it passes through the square eight years ago. Some city officials and traffic experts say the ban should be expanded to include the north-south artery Seventh Avenue, turning Times Square into a series of pedestrian plazas.

“The vulnerability of Times Square was made scarily apparent during the most recent attack and I think there has to be a conversation about closing this area to regular traffic,” said City Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, a Manhattan Democrat. “This is one of the most highly trafficked areas in the world for tourists and we can’t have it remain a soft spot for those with theworst intentions.”

Known around the world for the New Year’s Eve ball drop, Times Square is crowded most days with tour groups, costumed characters, sightseeing bus hawkers and office workers. Foot traffic slows to a crawl when Broadway theater-goers spill out. Taxis, buses, delivery trucks and private cars clog the streets.

Police say Richard Rojas, a Bronx man who had been discharged from the Navy, was high on PCP when he took a U-turn off Seventh Avenue and plowed down sidewalks leading into Times Square for three blocks on May 18, killing 18-year-old Alyssa Elsman, of Portage, Michigan, and injuring 22 others.

Rojas, 26, was charged with murder and attempted murder and is being held pending a July 13 arraignment. An attorney for Rojas did not return a call seeking comment.

While police say there are no indications that Rojas was inspired by any militant ideology, Times Square was also targeted in 2010 by wouldbe terrorist Faisal Shahzad, who built a powerful car bomb that failed to detonate. Shahzad is serving life in prison for that failed attack, which authorities said could have killed hundreds if his bomb had gone off.

Temporary concrete barriers were installed along the Seventh Avenue sidewalk after the May 18 carnage while city officials weigh a long-term solution. That could involve installing more steel posts along the avenue, called bollards, like the ones that eventually halted the progress of Rojas’ car.

“We’re now sitting down and having a deeper discussion about what are the right design elements, where might we put bollards, what are the ways we can make sensible protections, but also hopefully keeping the space somewhat inviting and attractive for pedestrians,” city Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg said.

MARY ALTAFFER — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS A car rests on a security barrier in New York’s Times Square after driving through a crowd of pedestrians. A three-foot-tall piece of stainless steel in the ground stopped a speeding Honda as it barreled down the crowded sidewalks of Times Square. The...