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Transportation & Environment
The Fashion Center BID request to install newly designed news racks that would replace the current news boxes.
WHEREAS, In the Fashion Center BID area there are some intersections with as many as 12 plastic news boxes, many in deplorable condition and some without any literature in them; and
WHEREAS, The Fashion Center commissioned Antenna Designs, the firm that designed the new subway cars and the MetroCard machines for the MTA, to design a news rack that would double as a planter thereby lessening the number of fixtures on the already crowded sidewalks; and
WHEREAS, The proposed news box design would brighten the experience of pedestrians in the district by adding plant life and would alleviate the sometimes dark and gloomy atmosphere caused by the height of the buildings and narrowness of the streets; and
WHEREAS, The Department of Transportation has reviewed and approved the design and the Art Commission has requested that a prototype be placed on the plaza of 1411 Broadway or 555 Seventh Avenue prior to the approval of the entire 23-box program; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five supports the proposal by The Fashion Center BID to install a prototype news rack/planter in front of 1411 Broadway or 555 Seventh Avenue to gauge whether this innovative design meets widespread public approval.
The above resolution passed with a vote of 23 in favor, 0 opposed, 1 abstention.