The Great Green Way Is Revitalizing Broadway’s Medians

A quiet but dramatic transformation is unfolding along Broadway. The Great Green Way—an initiative led by the Broadway Mall Association—is turning the center medians between West 70th and West 168th streets into a five-mile stretch of native plantings, pollinator habitat, and rest stops for migratory birds.

After a successful trial phase on West 83rd and West 164th streets, the project has entered full implementation. This spring, three contiguous malls near 73rd Street have been replanted using data-backed combinations of native trees, shrubs, and flowers designed to thrive with minimal maintenance.

“Phase 1 was our first planting, our trial, to see ‘Can we really do this? Is this really going to work well?,” said Ian Olsen, the director of horticulture with the Broadway Mall Association (BMA). “So we tried it on two very different malls; one on 83rd Street and one on 164th Street–different climates, different neighborhoods, different size. We also went through the process of selecting plants that can survive the tough conditions of being between lanes of New York City traffic.”

Now, with Phase 2, the team has the benefit of using plants that have proven to have a high rate of success in the challenging conditions of the malls. They are also working on three neighboring malls at once, creating a more continuous landscape with a stronger ecological and community impact.

“They have the formality of an English garden with the drifting landscape of native planting,” Olsen said, describing the new layout. “They grab attention while adding ecological value.”

And the new native landscapes are already adding ecological value. As part of the Atlantic Flyway, Manhattan sees seasonal waves of millions of migratory birds, and the re-wilded Broadway malls are quickly becoming a welcome stopover.

When Future Green Studio was commissioned by BMA to design the Great Green Way plan in 2019, they specifically recommended that the association collaborate with the NYC Bird Alliance to ensure the plantings would serve both ecological and migratory functions.

“The NYC Bird Alliance has been a great partner with us,” Olsen said, “and they’ve been sighting species that we are seeking to have there.”

The native plants offer not just visual appeal but ecological substance: seeds, berries, and insects that birds depend on during their long journeys. Many malls are closed to foot traffic, allowing them to become de facto sanctuaries where birds, butterflies, and bees can safely feed and rest.

“The extraordinary thing about the Broadway malls, compared to places like the Park Avenue malls or the West Side Highway, is the seating areas—what we call the endcaps,” said Andrew Genn, BMA executive director. “These spaces create a unique place for gathering and relaxation in New York. People know the benches are there, and they’re used frequently.”

Olsen explained that the flower beds around these benches are intentionally planted to create a welcoming atmosphere. “People love these areas; they’re constantly used—reading the signs, looking at the plants.” The BMA still plants 16,000 to 17,000 non-native tulips each year at these areas for visitors to enjoy.

What makes the Great Green Way unique among urban greening efforts is its scale and complexity. While most traffic medians feature low-maintenance ground covers like ivy or grass, the Broadway malls now boast more than 3,000 native species.

“We’re replacing what are essentially invasive weeds with plants that support biodiversity and habitat,” Genn explained. “That’s not typical for center medians.”

Despite the size of the project, the BMA operates with just three full-time staff. Much of the planting, cleanup, and care is handled in partnership with local volunteers and block associations.

“Collaboration is absolutely central to our mission,” said Genn. “We work with groups like the community groups all across Broadway from 70th to 168th, teaching composting, planting, mulching. It’s great because we can reach out to them and say we are doing a planting event or just a cleaning event and people will just show up to take care of the malls.”

This model extends the BMA’s capacity while also building grassroots investment. “There’s real value in connecting with people who live here,” Olsen continued. “We get to understand what they want to see in a space.”

The Broadway malls date back to the 1870s, part of urban planner Andrew Haswell Green’s vision of a Parisian-style boulevard through Manhattan. But by the 1970s, after years of neglect and budget cuts, they had become what former Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe described as “barren sheets of dirt, sometimes with wrecked cars.”

The BMA was formed in 1980 to rescue the spaces. For decades, it focused on beautification: tulips in spring, begonias in summer, evergreens in winter. But the Great Green Way marks a shift toward long-term resilience.

“It goes back to that 19th-century ‘City Beautiful’ idea,” Genn said. “And the fact that we’re still doing this work in the 21st century—that’s powerful.”