New York to Spend $50 Million on 1,500 Protective Bollards

"Hundreds of new protective barriers will be permanently installed in Times Square and other locations around New York in an effort to block vehicles from hitting pedestrians after deadly attacks last year on crowds," reports CBS News.

The city will spend $50 million on the project, a figure ridiculed by some on Twitter as an example of New York's tendency to over spend on infrastructure. With 1,500 the target number of bollards announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio, the project works out to over $33,000 a bollard. Following up on the official announcement, Vincent Barone offered more detail about the costs of the project on Twitter.

Clarification on costs of de Blasio’s bollard plan: the $50M will in fact pay for 1,500 bollards. Mayor’s spox said most will be metal bollards, but others might be geometric structures, etc. Costs are high because some bollards will require moving underground ifnra, he said.

— Vincent Barone (@vinbarone) January 2, 2018

Specific details about where the new bollards will be located were also scant. "City officials didn't specify what other locations will be fortified, beyond the bike path and Times Square, but said there would be barriers set up in all five boroughs," according to CBS News.

CBS News also recounts the chronology of tragic events leading to the project, including the November terrorist attack on the Hudson River Bikeway and the Bastille Day terror attack in Nice, France.

[Update] The Village Voice has published an article by Jake Offenhartz that expresses a healthy dose of skepticism about the efficacy and cost effectiveness of the program.