By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — Times Square's well-worn pedestrian plazas are getting a fresh coat of paint.
A year after being transformed by a public art project designed to look like an urban river with azure, navy and electric blue paint snaking along Broadway, the plazas at the Crossroads of the World are once again being transformed — this time in solid shades of blue.
"It was looking grungy. It needed a face-lift," said Rick Diffendale, 56, assistant director of sanitation at the Times Square Alliance, who was among those hard at work Wednesday afternoon sweeping and rolling paint between West 43rd and West 44th streets.
The blocks north of West 44th Street have already been re-coated with a periwinkle shade, and crews are now at work on blocks to the south, moving block by block.
The plazas had taken a beating over the winter as the once-brilliant hues from the previous project faded and sections began to peel, leaving remnants of an even older paint job, which featured mono-chromatic rust-colored circles, peeking through.
The blocks are being painted five different shades of blue, ranging from "Georgian Blue" to "Downpour," Diffendale said. Areas where tables and chairs will be placed will be "Jackson Tan."
Brian Hester, 46, who works on the 12th floor overlooking Times Square, said he'd been watching the progress unfold and was pleased so far.
"It looks good. It’s coming along," he said in admiration.
All of the plazas between 41st and 47th streets are expected to be completed by July 15, a spokeswoman for the alliance said.
