City Council Looks Into Bringing Back Crosswalk System From Decades Past

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- They say everything old is new again.

As CBS2's Elise Finch reported, city lawmakers are looking to bring back a crosswalk system that dates back to 1960s-era New York as part of a new plan to prevent car versus pedestrian accidents.

City Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal (D-6th) is set to introduce a bill Thursday that could bring what is known as the "Barnes Dance" back to the Big Apple.

The Barnes Dance is named for former Henry Barnes, who began promoting the system in the 1940s and brought it to New York after being named the city's traffic commissioner in 1962. The Barnes Dance stops all vehicles for a few seconds and allows for only pedestrians to cross an intersection in all directions at once.

"In my bill, what I'm doing is asking the DOT to study the 25 most dangerous intersections -- in other words, the ones where there have been the most deaths or critical injuries -- and see whether or not a Barnes Dance wouldn't make sense at those cross walks," she said.

Rosenthal noted how much a Barnes Dance could improve safety at dangerous intersections.

"When you cross a very crowded avenue and the cars are always trying to turn right into your crosswalk it's always very frustrating and there's this tussle between the car and the pedestrian," she told 1010 WINS.

Rosenthal said her bill was inspired by Cooper Stock. The 9-year-old boy was West End Avenue on the Upper West Side with his father in January 2014 when they were both hit by a cab. Cooper was killed in the accident.

An investigation later revealed Cooper and his father had the right of way.

"The effort is to slow cars down so we have fewer deaths in New York City," Rosenthal said.

The Barnes Dance, also known as the "pedestrian scramble," was introduced in cities across the world beginning in the 1940s. But its popularity eventually waned.

Today, there is only one Barnes Dance pedestrian crossing in Manhattan. It is near City Hall where Park Row, Broadway, and Vesey and Ann streets all meet.

"It gives everybody enough ample time to cross safely, and the drivers ample time to be able to make their turns," said Kenneth Dominguez of Morris Park, the Bronx.

Most people who spoke to seemed to think a Barnes Dance system can make the city's most dangerous intersections safer.
"I think it's a good idea especially if it saves lives," said Ronald Davis of the Upper East Side.

But others aren't convinced.

"I don't think anybody's going to pay attention to it, for the most part," one man said.

Some drivers thought it would make their already sluggish commutes worse.

"That's no good," a man said. "Too much traffic in New York City."

"It's probably going to slow traffic down," another man said. "It's not going to help traffic in any way."

And Nate Ashway, of Queens, went even further, telling 1010 WINS' Glenn Schuck bringing back the Barnes Dance is a terrible idea.

"What's been going on in Manhattan over the last 15 years or so has really become the Cleavlandification of New York," he said. "We have taken gorgeous six-lane thoroughfares and turned them into three lanes with trees and little gardens and bike lanes and there's no wonder that people are getting hit by cars because there's no room for cars to drive."

Rosenthal will introduce her traffic bill later this week. From there, it will go to the City Council Transportation Committee to be discussed.

The city Department of Transportation will conduct a study and decide whether the Barnes Dance crossings will improve safety.