1.   First came the pedestrian barriers in midtown, then the crackdown on jaywalkers and speeding drivers.

2.   Pedestrian barriers on Fifth Avenue?

3.   That would be like New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani deciding to install pedestrian barriers in midtown but needing permission from former Mayor David Dinkins first.

4.   The fate of the widely criticized pedestrian barriers in midtown was the subject of considerable municipal confusion Wednesday.

5.   To non-New Yorkers, all this hoopla about some pedestrian barriers may seem like much ado about nothing.