Beach on Broadway

Ok, for those of you not from NYC, let me give you the exposition: Idiot Mayor Mike Bloomberg decided it would be a great idea to shut down traffic on Broadway in Herald Sq and Times Sq. He gave some bogus explanation about it improving the experience for tourists and "helping" to ease traffic, though no one understands the logic behind that. So now a 6 lane street is covered in cheap beach chairs with tourists sitting and sunning themselves like they are at the beach.

WHAT?!

WTF?!

Are you really serious? Like seriously serious?!

let me explain what is wrong with this picture, the obvious and the not-so-obvious

FIRST - dude, seriously, you are not improving the tourist experience at all! You have not improved foot traffic with this move as the road, instead of being covered with cars, is now covered with sitting people. So it's still only the sidewalks that can be used for walking. You have also not improved the view. I would rather stare at 1000 cabs than gross people eating and sunbathing when there is NO OCEAN in sight. It's just a testament to laziness. Or something.

SECOND - dude, seriously, you have not improved traffic elsewhere. What would make you think that you have? The same amount of cars have to travel to the same places, but now they have fewer avenues to do it on. Yeah, good plan. ALSO, the trucks that used to make deliveries on Broadway now have to park around the block and walk deliveries which is inconvenient, inefficient, and OH YEAH makes traffic worse.

THIRD - dude, seriously, this is costing the city - which is at the EPICENTER of the world's recession - a ton of money. The tourists are TRASHING Times Square so you have hired a bazillion extra sanitation workers. Also, traffic cops to redirect the motor traffic that SHOULD be on Broadway. Also, regular cops because of a reason I don't quite comprehend...
And, also, guess what? If people are sitting in the middle of the street, it means they are NOT shopping, eating, or seeing shows. So they are not spending money. They are COSTING you money.

Is this smart? REALLY? JESUS. Every time I walk in that area of town, I am filled with such a rage that I cannot even describe it. I moved here for that area! The hustle and bustle of the "crossroads of the world" is what draws people here. And now, instead of a fast-paced, high-stakes, uber-cultured area, they might as well be in Myrtle Beach. It's tacky, it's pointless, it's expensive, and it's counter-intuitive.

Good work, Mayor. REALLY.