Tourists and New Yorkers Take a Rubber Seat in Times Square

Times Square without vehicles is as bizarre a phenomenon as Greenland with hula dancers, a snow-covered Miami Beach, or Yellowstone turned into a parking lot....  the chairs are the least of it....  and the idea of New Yorkers sitting down.... not in a hurry.... my mind is incapable... 

"~Daily Feng Shui Tip ~"  take your chair and head to the square or anywhere.
 
"  'The course of true love never did run smooth' but on this midsummer night, that
dream of love can finally come true if you invoke a little assistance from the
faery realm. Ancient tradition suggests that on this night of the Summer
Solstice the fairies that exist in nature actually interact and mingle among us
and, as such, can grant a wish or two if we only ask their intercession. Of
course, we have to show just desserts and offer a little appreciation in return.
This custom calls for leaving plates of food as well as a container of drink to
be left for the little ones in the garden all night. If you don't have a garden
or even a backyard then it's okay to leave something outside on a windowsill in
the hope that the wee ones will make an empowering appearance. This is an eve
when the faeries are allowed to bestow great fortunes and good luck on humans,
even of the love variety. Sometimes they even leave a charm or a crystal in
their stead. Get clear your intention and then get cooking, a recipe for success
is waiting right outside your door! "

My daughter, two grandchildren and I were in New York recently.  We took one of the bikers up on his offer to ride all four of us!  (unbelievable -- never broke a sweat!)  We saw, as we were riding around a little section in the middle of the street where people were sitting at tables and chairs -- where an island of some sort would usually be.  The biker rode in and around them -- I'm sure really annoying them, but the kids loved it -- so, Times Square as a sit-down?  How can it be New York, Times Square, if you're not dodging cabs (and bikes)?Not sure I like all these changes, but it does give you pause. 

"pardon me, Madam, but is this seat taken?"

How Appalling!!  How can this be?  Times Square with rubber chairs!! with stripes no less!!  It has to be against the law.  How Dreadful.  I'm with you Doc Nolan.Cuukoo1 - sorry.  Will this ruin the faeries visit? and why would they want to visit rubber chairs with stripes or the people who sit in them?
 

roadyacht:  or, is this street taken?  Looks like it is.  Or they are.  Change is hard.  I'm not a big fan of it.

Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly
People gotta sit, and we all know why.
A rubber chair down in old Times Square
A pair to share, baby I am there.
 
I hope John Peterman's got a notion
To sell these with suntan lotion
When the Apple's done with 'em
Eyesters gonna sit in 'em.
 
Out in the back, we'll find a bit of shade
Watch the world go by, we'll have it made
A tall cold drink, time to think
I got a lot of mileage outa that little link!
 

Olivia: <applause> Brava!

How beautifully surreal. It looks less like part of a civic project, more like a modern art installation.

I'm all about interesting and useful items made of rubber, and happily, no latex allergies here *twinkle*...

I admire some others their talent
For creativity regardless the heat
As for me I am shot
When the thermometer reads "hot"
My cleverness beats a retreat.

In other words, when some sizzle I fizzle.

Today, for example.  As Cole Porter wrote:

It's too darn hot

It's too darn hot

As for that rubber seat in Times Square? You're welcome to mine.  I'll take my summers the old fashioned way: with an Old-Fashioned, in a café, and under a ceiling fan, where it's so darn cool.

Even more surreal is sitting at the computer watching people sitting in Times Square:
http://www.earthcam.com/usa/newyork/timessquare/?cam=tsone_str

click cam1 to see the streaming from different viewpoints

Cole Porter wouldn't like what happened to his song.  Here we go; let's try again.
 
It's too darn hot
It's too darn hot
 
I'd like to sup with my baby tonight
and play the pup with my baby tonight
I'd like to sup with my baby tonight
and play the pup with my baby tonight
but I ain't up to my baby tonight
cause it's too darn hot
It's too darn hot
It's too darn hot
 
I'd like to stop for my baby tonight
and blow my top with my baby tonight
I'd like to stop with my baby tonight
and blow my top with my baby tonight
but I'd be a flop with my baby tonight
cause it's too darn hot,
It's too darn hot
It's too darn hot
 
I'd like to fool with my baby tonight
break ev'ry rule with my baby tonight
I'd like to fool with my baby tonight
break ev'ry rule with my baby tonight
but pillow you'll be my baby tonight
cause it's too darn hot
it's too darn hot
 
 
There.
That's better.
Now:  how about that Old-Fashioned?  Anyone else?  I'm buying today.
 

Great link, Daniel!  Thanks so much!  Big Brother is watching everything and everyone all the time...wow.

that's a great link, daniel, i had no idea......it's only 66* there....95* here, with a heat index of 111*  that'll keep me busy while i cool off inside...
 
i'll have one park4, thank you!!!
 
 

Doc N. and Cosmic Jester.... I think you're spot-on mates!  

I don't remember which of us was for or against chaos but it seems to me that shaking up the normal routine by placing chairs in Times Square is exactly the sort of thing that a chaos-embracer should like.  I have nothing against tradition but sometimes, you gotta do what you gotta do.....

OK friends, let's not get overly excited.  First of all, there is no such thing as Times Square without traffic.  I'm there every day and there's still plenty of traffic.  Times Square is where Broadway and Seventh Avenue converge in the area between 42nd and 49th Streets.  The lawn chairs are spread out in the section which is closed to vehicular traffic and that is Broadway (and ONLY Broadway).  Seventh Avenue and all the cross streets still have as many vehicles as ever.  Broadway still has as much pedestrian traffic as ever.  They just have more space to spread out now... and that's good!
 
As a guide of walking tours, I love the fact that my Broadway Theatre District tour (which begins right in the heart of Times Square) involves so much less tripping over people than before, thanks to the change in the makeup of the streets.  As a guide of bus tours, I find that not much has changed.  True, I can't approach Times Square from the north on Broadway so, instead, I approach from the north on Seventh Avenue.  The only significant difference is that we don't see as many of the theatres between 49th and 51st Streets but this is of comparatively little consequence.
 
In the New York tourism trade, there was a lot of skepticism about this plan.  I was one of the skeptics.  But I have to admit, so far, it's working beautifully.

but why not?  They worked on tarpaper beaches all over the city.  And in grand NY tradition, Christo will soon cover them with some fabric.