34th Street: Pedestrian Counts off the Charts
34th Street is one of the safest, most meticulously maintained neighborhoods in NYC, and as our pedestrian counts have demonstrated for years, it’s also one of the busiest. Three times yearly, in the spring, in the fall, and during the holidays, 34th Street Partnership conducts pedestrian counts at key points throughout the district. The most recent counts were performed on two weekdays (December 17 & 18) and on the Saturday before Christmas (December 20). They show that despite the economic slowdown, 34th Street continues to deliver huge numbers of pedestrians to the doors of district restaurants.
The counts were impressive throughout the district, but some corners stood out. We counted 9,156 people walking E/W on the NW corner of Broadway and 34th St. during a peak hour, and 9,408 walking N/S. On the NW corner of Seventh Ave. and 34th St., we counted 6,432 pedestrians walking E/W and 9,552 walking N/S. Overall, the counts were only slightly down from last year, and a comparison of the Saturdays before Christmas in 2007 and 2008 shows a negligible difference.
These pedestrian flows, bolstered by the thousands of office workers, tourists, shoppers and commuters that fill the 34th Street corridor each day, have remained remarkably consistent over the years. What they represent for restaurateurs is a guaranteed steady stream of hungry potential customers laying eyes on their restaurants each day.
