Five Principles for Greenwich South

The Name Of The Section

FIVE PRINCIPLES FOR GREENWICH SOUTH

A Model for Lower Manhattan The Alliance For Downtown NewYork

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The Name Of The Section

Five Principles for Greenwich South sets forth the Downtown Alliance’s point of view about what could and should happen in Greenwich South. The objective is to achieve a dense, vibrant and diverse urban realm. Unlike a traditional master plan, these principles are not highly prescriptive, but rather usefully adaptive: they can respond to and inform evolving interests and market conditions over the next half-century.

World Trade Center

Battery Park City

Greenwich South

This document has the following goals: Define a compelling vision for the future of Greenwich South

Financial District

Establish key planning concepts to guide future development, both public and private Identify a list of opportunities to achieve this vision over the short- and long-term

Battery Park

Influence public policy decisions that are critical to realizing the vision for Greenwich South’s future

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Five Principles for Greenwich South scale

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Beyer Blinder Belle

170 Varick Street 7th floor New York NY 10013 T 212.675.1870

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Contents

page 3

Principle 1

Encourage an Intense Mix of Uses

page 9

Principle 2

Reconnect Greenwich Street

page 15

Principle 3

Connect East and West

page 21

Principle 4

Build for Density, Design for People

page 27

Principle 5

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

Create a Reason to Come and a Reason to Stay

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The Name Of The Section

Principle 1

Encourage an Intense Mix of Uses

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

The 21st-century central business district embraces a robust mix of uses — commercial, residential, retail and tourism — as the key to both economic vitality and environmental sustainability.

This mix of uses is happening organically in Lower Manhattan. Greenwich South provides the city’s greatest opportunity to experiment with how best to integrate these different uses and cultivate a growing and dynamic economy.

The goal is to realize the potential synergies that can come from efficiently managing an intensely mixed-use environment.

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Encourage an Intense Mix of Uses

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Lower Manhattan serves a diverse community of workers, residents and visitors

1A

Foster the growth of a diverse economy.

The financial services industry should and will remain the lifeblood of Lower Manhattan’s economy. To remain competitive, however, the district must support a wide range of businesses. This process is already underway: publishing, architecture, design and advertising offices are among the more than 200 firms that have relocated to Lower Manhattan since 9/11.

The mix of industries has benefits beyond protecting the real estate market against cyclical downturns.

Diversity of businesses within a dense commercial district allows for the unscripted collaboration that can spur innovation and economic growth. To achieve this, Greenwich South needs to provide the basic amenities that support business, like ample lunch spots and access to taxi service. It also needs to offer such amenities as parking for bicycle commuters, co-working

Five Principles for Greenwich South

spaces and public WiFi, which appeal to a diverse and creative workforce.

Just as a mix of business types can support a more dynamic economy, so too can a mix of users — residents, artists, tourists and workers — foster a more engaging and vibrant atmosphere. Future development in Greenwich South should not be limited to a single use such as housing or big office towers, but should instead acknowledge all of the uses that contribute to the growing richness of the Downtown economy. Creating space for artists to work, and for their work to be seen from those on the street, is another way both to diversify the economy and activate the public realm.

Adding green commercial spaces with floor plates sized for smaller tenants can complement the large corporate office towers being built to the north.

Opportunities Incorporate WiFi into public spaces Create a “Green Exchange” trading floor for emerging green economy businesses Create new spaces or reprogram older office space as co-working, live/ work or incubators, which attract and accommodate diverse business sectors Install artist workspaces in the bases of new towers and vacant office spaces Install bike racks throughout Greenwich South

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Robert Caplin/The New York Times/Redux

Encourage an Intense Mix of Uses

Downtown has become a vibrant and diverse community

Create a neighborhood within a business district.

In the 1990s, the Downtown Alliance advocated for the integration of residents into the CBD as part of a strategy to repurpose outdated office stock and transform Lower Manhattan from a business-only district to a dynamic live-work community.

Since the Downtown Alliance began operation in 1995, the population below Chambers Street has tripled, but the rate of residential growth outpaced the development of traditional amenities.

This disparity is most prevalent in Greenwich South, where 5,000 residents live primarily in converted office buildings. Although the area has not struggled to attract residents, it has yet to define itself as a distinctive “neighborhood,” one simultaneously independent from and completely integrated into the surrounding commercial district. This means achieving a fully-functioning residential

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

environment with services, amenities and open spaces that are the standard in other city neighborhoods. A manifest neighborhood in Greenwich South might also emerge through design and programming of the public realm — perhaps with a community garden, a brunch café or an annual block party — to acknowledge residential life in ways that make the environment welcoming, personal and familiar.

Transform Washington Street into a “shared street” with programmed public events Create a neighborhood icon that can be a meeting place or “North Star”

Convert the existing West Street Garage into a public facility with recreation fields on the roof

Opportunities Launch a retail attraction campaign to bring more residentially focuses services and amenities create a community garden and start a Greenwich South garden club start an annual Greenwich South block party Incentivize development projects to provide community resources such as sports and fitness facilities, schools, artists’ studios, libraries and playgrounds

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architecture research office

1B

Encourage an Intense Mix of Uses

An idea for the re-use of the Battery Parking Garage, including a proposal for anarobic composting

by Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects and Transsolar Climate Engineering

Address sustainability on multiple scales to support a highperformance CBD. With millions of square feet of LEEDcertified development in the pipeline, excellent walkability and superior transit access, Lower Manhattan is one of the greenest CBDs in the world.

To remain ahead of the curve, Lower Manhattan must continually innovate to achieve new levels of environmental sustainability.

Government, planners, architects and real estate developers are pioneering policies and technologies that address sustainability at the building level. The density, diversity of use and significant development potential in Greenwich South offer a rare opportunity to experiment with sustainability solutions on a district-wide scale. For example, the evolving residential / commercial mix in Greenwich South provides potential opportunities to

Five Principles for Greenwich South

exploit the varied schedules of home life and office work to better balance demands on the power grid. And streamlining service protocols might improve the integration of residential and commercial trash collection.

As Greenwich South becomes increasingly dense and mixed-use, there will be ever more opportunities — and a growing mandate — to develop creative solutions for achieving environmental sustainability in the existing built environment.

The lessons learned can serve as models for other mixed-use districts throughout NewYork, and across the country.

Opportunities Design district-wide pilot systems for heating and cooling that capitalize on alternating cycles of residential and commercial peak power demand

Work with energy providers to develop an efficient energy system or “Smart Grid” for Greenwich South Create a district-wide green roof incentive program Upgrade the energy efficiency of existing buildings, including more efficient windows and daylighting Implement grey-water collection systems for building wastewater Explore widespread use of natural gas micro-turbines and co-generation to drastically reduce energy consumption and carbon emissions

DESIGN AND INSTALL carbon filtration modules to clean the air and collect solar energy

Design a district-wide pilot storm water management initiative that includes rainwater harvesting, biofiltration and reuse for landscaping irrigation

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coen + partners

1C

Encourage an Intense Mix of Uses

A vision of Greenwich South’s “utopian future,” including green roofs designed for wildlife habitats and artificial wetlands biogas processing, planted streets with permeable paving and all buildings operating to passive house standards

by Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects and Transsolar Climate Engineering

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

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Principle 2

Reconnect Greenwich Street

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

Name of Principal

The restoration of Greenwich Street through the World Trade Center provides a tremendous opportunity to renew Greenwich South by rejoining it to the rest of the city and establishing it as the base of the emerging Lower West Side, made up of Tribeca, Hudson Square, the West Village, the Meatpacking District and Chelsea.

A restored Greenwich Street can join Fulton Street and what will be an engaging promenade along the East River waterfront to create a loop of activity in Lower Manhattan.

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Reconnect Greenwich Street

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Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel

WHITNEY MUSEUM CHELSEA PIERS HIGH LINE

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HUDSON RIVER PARK

WORLD TRADE CENTER

BATTERY PARK

An idea for a sustainable transit line running along a reconnected Greenwich Street and connecting Greenwich South to the High Line,

by Beyer Blinder Belle

2A

Restore Greenwich Street from the Battery through the World Trade Center to maximize the flow of people into Greenwich South.

Two hundred years ago, Greenwich Street was the main road linking the mansions and farms of Lower Manhattan to Greenwich Village.

The development of the World Trade Center in the 1960s split Greenwich Street in two, which severed Greenwich South from the rest of Manhattan. The completion of the World Trade Center site redevelopment will reinstate Greenwich Street, connecting Greenwich South to Tribeca and creating a new pedestrian path from Battery Park to the 9/11 Memorial and on to the High Line.

It is anticipated that millions of people will visit the World Trade Center each year. Overly stringent

Five Principles for Greenwich South

security protocols at the World Trade Center could thwart movement into Greenwich South. The priority should be to offset security measures by building strong psychological and visual connections along Greenwich Street — including streetscape elements and a signage and wayfinding system that integrates Greenwich Street north and south of the World Trade Center site. Another way to overcome the obstacles imposed by security might be to create a new transit link, with pre-screened vehicles taking passengers from the Battery to the High Line and all of the thriving neighborhoods in between. These measures would help to reinforce the use of Greenwich Street as the main conduit into Greenwich South, providing a powerful catalyst for the area’s economic development.

Design security measures that are compatible with pedestrian and vehicle flow between the World Trade Center and Greenwich South Design and implement a new sustainable public transportation route linking the Battery to Tribeca and the High Line along Greenwich Street Redesign sidewalks, landscaping and crosswalks along Greenwich Street to mirror Tribeca’s “Greening of Greenwich” program Implement way-finding to orient people from the World Trade Center site and along Greenwich Street into Greenwich South

Reconnect Greenwich Street between Morris and Edgar Streets

Opportunities Advocate for vehicular access through the World Trade Center along Greenwich Street

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Reconnect Greenwich Street

CHELSEA

THE HIGH LINE

MEATPACKING DISTRICT

WEST VILLAGE

HUDSON SQUARE

WTC

GREENWICH SOUTH

BATTERY PARK

Greenwich South envisioned as the spine of New York’s Lower West Side

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

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Reconnect Greenwich Street

An idea for a landscape installation at the base of Greenwich Street by Coen + Partners

2B

Opportunities

Create a gateway to Manhattan at the base of Greenwich South.

Coordinate with streetscape, signage and lighting design of Battery Park to lead pedestrians to and from Greenwich Street

Numerous visitor attractions, residential buildings and commuter transit nodes draw thousands of people to the Battery each day. This concentration of activity, combined with the redevelopment of Battery Park and the reconnections along Greenwich Street, creates an opportunity to make the base of Greenwich South a gateway to the city. New architectural, landscape, streetscape, retail and traffic designs can work together to make the base of Greenwich Street an iconic, welcoming point of entry into the district and to the rest of Downtown.

Five Principles for Greenwich South

CAPITALIZE on existing and planned attractions and transportation infrastructure

Establish a Lower Manhattan information kiosk at the base of Greenwich Street Make improvements to the base of Greenwich Street including plantings and lighting, starting with small efforts and adding to them over time Integrate the concept of “it all starts here� into a new branding strategy

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Reconnect Greenwich Street

A vision of Greenwich Street as the spine of activity in Greenwich South by artist Jorge Colombo

2C

Make Greenwich Street the spine of Greenwich South.

Locate major programmatic elements on Greenwich Street including arts and entertainment venues and public space Create a sidewalk cafe district

Modify zoning to enable the creation of pocket parks along Greenwich Street and improve streetscape with plantings and new street furniture

Opportunities

WORLD TRADE CENTER SITE

WORK Work Park

Repurpose ground floor spaces facing Greenwich Street as retail, restaurants, entertainment venues and other public uses

EAT Eat Out Park

Commute Park

DISPERSE SHOP

Capitalize on the new market of WTC workers to attract retailers and restaurants that service the business community

PLAY

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Alliance For Downtown NewYork

Create a spine of public art on Greenwich Street such as a series of large-scale sculptures

G REEN

Once reconnected through the World Trade Center, Greenwich Street will again be a main northsouth route through Lower Manhattan, creating a new hierarchy among Lower Manhattan’s northsouth streets. Greenwich Street can even become a new kind of spine for Lower Manhattan, a more intimate alternative for people moving between Battery Park and the World Trade Center than the grand but often saturated Broadway.

Today, buildings shun the severed Greenwich Street. Restored connectivity will provide impetus for future buildings and redevelopment projects to acknowledge and engage with Greenwich Street.

The whole of Greenwich South should be organized around this new connecting spine to capture the

market demand of the thousands of workers and visitors at the World Trade Center. Greenwich Street is the obvious locus for programs and activities — restaurants, cultural programs, shopping and public spaces — to serve the area’s many users. These new programs and spaces can strengthen Greenwich Street as the spine of the district — the central means of northsouth circulation and the primary destination for economic and pedestrian activity.

Commission temporary arts installations in vacant spaces

BATTERY PARK

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Principle 3

Connect East and West

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

Greenwich South should be the lynchpin for Lower Manhattan, yet it is defined by seemingly impenetrable borders that make passage difficult.

Softening these hard edges and improving the east-west connection from Battery Park City to the Financial District will integrate Greenwich South into Lower Manhattan and begin to dissolve the barriers between these adjacent neighborhoods.

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Connect East and West

Major vehicular traffic limits pedestrian

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movement across West Street.

Five key points can be identified for improved pedestrian crossing:

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1 Liberty Street Crossing

(Elevated)

2 Albany Street Crossing

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3 West Thames Street Bridge

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4 Morris Street Crossing

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5 Battery Place Crossing

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(At Grade)

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3A

Strengthen east-west connections and commuter corridors, starting at West Street.

West Street, an eight-lane highway, is a prominent barrier that definitively divides Battery Park City from Greenwich South. It is the most significant obstacle to uniting Lower Manhattan. Crossing West Street is hazardous, difficult and unpleasant due to the width of the street and the speed of traffic. These conditions make it awkward for residents of Battery Park City to access Greenwich South, and impede NewYorkers and tourists hoping to enjoy the Hudson River Waterfront.

The long-term goal must be to create many options for crossing West Street safely, pleasantly and conveniently. A new bridge, like the one planned at West Thames Street, is an important step towards improving connectivity from Battery Park

Five Principles for Greenwich South

City. More steps, however, are needed to ameliorate fully the challenges of crossing West Street. Improvements to at-grade crossings can balance out the role of bridges, decrease the importance of each individual intersection and encourage a more even distribution of pedestrian flow.

In addition to addressing West Street’s physical barriers, efforts should also be made to mitigate the image of the street as a psychological barrier to Greenwich South.

The east side of West Street is visible from Battery Park City, yet, because the street wall is blank, the view is uninviting. The traffic, streetscape and retail environment along the eastern edge of West Street make it unappealing to pedestrians.

Within Greenwich South, the difficulty in moving east to west is compounded by the lack of through streets and narrow sidewalks. The east-west route across Edgar Street and Exchange Alley, used by thousands of Battery Park City residents every morning, is especially deficient. Thousands of pedestrians cut through the parking garage, despite

its being both unsafe and unpleasant.

Furthermore, the route across the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach is indirect and the existing bridge needs improvement. Rector Street is the only east-west through street for cars and pedestrians, but narrow sidewalks and unsafe intersections create hazardous conditions and impede auto and pedestrian traffic. Planning, building and landscape initiatives are required to redefine these corridors and strengthen the east-west experience through Greenwich South.

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Connect East and West

An idea for a reconnected Edgar Street between Greenwich and West Streets as envisioned by IwamotoScott Architecture

Opportunities Build a bridge over West Street from West Thames to JP Ward Street Use traffic-calming measures to reduce speed of traffic along West Street Increase the number and ease of atgrade crossings at West Street

Build a new bridge over the tunnel approach to realign Morris Street

Build an Olmsted-inspired land bridge across West Street

Create a unified way-finding system for West Street, Greenwich South and the World Trade Center widen the sidewalk and add landscaping to the streetscape to improve the pedestrian environment along the east side of West Street

architecture research office

Redesign streetscape on Rector Street to reinforce its function as a primary pedestrian route

Commission a graphic design, landscape and/or arts installation at Edgar Street crosswalk and through the MTA garage to improve the commuter corridor in the short-term

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

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Connect East and West

An idea for an art installation in Exchange

An idea for a sustainable pedestrian-oriented street on Carlisle Street

Alley by artist DeWitt Godfrey

by Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects and Transsolar Climate Engineering

3B

Opportunities

Reprogram side streets as magnets of activity.

Embed one side-street with water and energy infrastructure to support markets and other seasonal activities and events

Many side streets in Greenwich South are blank, narrow and steep. This uninviting character discourages pedestrian flow into the site from Broadway. The desolate spaces do not offer engaging uses or activities. Redesigning and/ or reprogramming these side streets could turn a negative aspect of the district into a positive one by inviting transverse movement across the site.

It could also create a diverse set of spaces and activities for residents, workers and visitors to explore. By capitalizing on the intimate scale, each of these streets could take on a particular character — and create places to be “discovered” in the neighborhood.

One location might house a desirable lunchtime food court similar to Stone Street on the east side of Lower Manhattan, while another could be the site of a rotating public art installation and a third filled with inviting street furniture and a free WiFi zone.

Enhance the pedestrian route defined

by Edgar Street by providing stronger midblock passage through a reconfigured ground floor of the former American Stock Exchange building

Five Principles for Greenwich South

Create a flexible outdoor food court with mobile kiosks and outdoor seating

Designate Exchange Alley as a long-term site for rotating site-specific installations Donate side streets to a rotating list of local arts- and community- organizations one day every weekend Create pocket parks that drive activity to underused streets

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Connect East and West

Strategically located art and architecture can help turn Greenwich South from a void into a magnet.

A Jeff Koons Puppy sculpture, as seen from Morris Street, is envisioned in a new public park atop the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach

Create visual connections from the outside in and inside out.

When the World Trade Center was destroyed, Lower Manhattan lost its “North Star.” Despite its proximity to those notable towers, the location of Greenwich South was never wellknown to most NewYorkers.

Upon completion, One WTC will be the most visible landmark in Lower Manhattan. It is important for Greenwich South to build off this renewed visibility and cultivate its own iconic skyline image.

Strategically designed buildings and well-positioned artwork can provide eye-catching glimpses from outside Greenwich South — facilitating way-finding and drawing people into the neighborhood.

These same design initiatives should also strengthen sightlines from inside Greenwich South, enhancing

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

views to the water and to the World Trade Center. View corridors along narrow side streets can become ideal vantage points to attract pedestrians along a path of exploration and discovery. Public art, landscape, street furniture and building facades can all enhance the pedestrian environment and reinforce continuous connectivity through a previously undiscovered neighborhood.

drawing people into the interior of Greenwich South Target and incentivize potential developers and investors to build iconic, visible buildings that define Greenwich South in the composition of Lower Manhattan’s distinctive skyline

Locate eye-catching architecture to establish a presence in the Lower Manhattan skyline

Opportunities Use decking or green roofs to establish upper level public spaces and create river views Curate temporary art at strategic locations within the district to attract visitors Create design guidelines that enhance pedestrian view corridors and encourage developers to follow those guidelines in new or redevelopment projects Commission permanent public artworks that are highly visible from side streets and points beyond the district,

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Principle 4

Build for Density, Design for People

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

With the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach and numerous under-built properties, Greenwich South offers millions of square feet of latent development potential that are key to Lower Manhattan’s long-term growth and vibrancy.

The challenge is finding a creative way to unlock that potential and to support Lower Manhattan’s ongoing evolution as a globally competitive business district.

Future development in Greenwich South also presents an opportunity to define a more welcoming, engaging pedestrian environment, with building design and programming that blurs the edges between public and private realm.

A more densely-built Greenwich South will also require new infrastructure, the form and function of which must be compatible with an intenselyused pedestrian environment.

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Build for Density, Design for People

In the future, Greenwich South can follow a new set of sustainable, mixed-use guidelines to match the rest of Lower Manhattan’s density, providing a rare opportunity for growth downtown

4A

Enable dense, largescale development.

Millions of square feet of unused development capacity reside in Greenwich South, and there are multiple sites for future large-scale development. The redeveloped World Trade Center will reinforce a taller scale for the district, and, even before completion, will catalyze a broad transformation throughout Lower Manhattan.

The market might not be ready yet for additional new development, but future market cycles will provide the impetus for building out Greenwich South. This future development should be contextually compatible with the areas that surround the World Trade Center, on a scale comparable to the World Financial Center and the Wall Street corridor.

A coherent strategy is necessary to ensure that future development in Greenwich South furthers Lower Manhattan’s primary function as a business district, creates a mix of uses,

Five Principles for Greenwich South

and enhances the Lower Manhattan skyline. New towers that mix commercial and hospitality uses in the northern part of Greenwich South for example, might complement towers with residential, retail, restaurants and cultural venues toward the south.

Development in Greenwich South should follow massing criteria that allows for density and height but also creates an appealing pedestrian environment, avoiding forbidding canyons and maintaining views and light. Such high-density development, easily walkable and served by excellent transit access, is also inherently sustainable.

Identify sites of appropriate size and location for commercial development Redefine tower height, massing and dispersal to avoid the canyon effect and to capture views, light and space Encourage new residential units of varying types throughout the district

Emulate Hong Kong’s zoning strategies to create generous bonuses based on publicly-programmed building bases

Opportunities Create a special zoning district for Greenwich South to allow the transfer of air rights from the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and historic buildings across the entire district

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Build for Density, Design for People

With new development, the lower floors of specific buildings could be strategically designed and programmed for public use, transforming the public realm

Encourage active building bases that foster a rich pedestrian experience.

While tall new towers will someday define the skyline of Greenwich South, the most critical component of the area’s new developments will be how these buildings meet the ground.

Building design should be architecturally dynamic, offering energetic bases with a varying array of public-oriented uses including retail, cultural and community functions. Such design and use criteria for Greenwich South can create a more engaging atmosphere on the street without sacrificing density. This programmatic differentiation between base and tower would be an evolution of the area’s building typology, expanding the public realm in Greenwich South and encouraging large-scale development. Zoning codes can be amended to encourage the creation of public spaces in

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

building bases and on upper floors and roofs. New and inventive building designs should seek to address the pedestrian, not only at street level, but in the interstitial spaces created by changes in topography across Greenwich South. Similarly, engaging new experiences can be imagined as architecturally significant and historic structures are repurposed for exciting new public and private uses.

Opportunities Create design guidelines to correspond with streets that encourage active ground floor use by design in Greenwich South

Encourage inventive yet contextual design interventions as a valid method of preservation and reuse of architecturally significant buildings Create new storefront and cultural spaces in existing buildings, such as the former American Stock Exchange building Incentivize the inclusion of cultural and public programming above street level Develop design guidelines to expand the public realm into building bases, and coordinate with streetscape to create an immersive pedestrian experience Create intensity of public-oriented activity in building bases

Establish a fine grain of continuous and engaging public-oriented activity at the street level Explore opportunities to adaptively reuse historic buildings that enhance development potential

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BEYER BLINDER BELLE

4B

Build for Density, Design for People

The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach site holds the potential for over three million square feet of transferable development rights — these could be redistributed throughout the neighborhood with the creation of a special zoning district 100

200

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4C

Leverage the air rights of the BrooklynBattery Tunnel site to turn an urban void into a positive space.

The single greatest challenge for Greenwich South is resolving the void and barrier created by the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach.

The redevelopment of the tunnel approach and parking garages also provides the greatest opportunity to transform Greenwich South.

Given a favorable market environment, there are several strategies that could unlock the approximately three million square feet of development rights associated with the tunnel approach and the garages. One option would be to use one or both of the garages as the site of an office building or multiple mixed-use towers.

This option could include decking the tunnel approach to generate additional air rights and creating

Five Principles for Greenwich South

a public use on the deck. Another option might be to create a special zoning district where the air rights from the tunnel site could be used anywhere within Greenwich South.

Any future development should reestablish a legible street grid, connecting Edgar Street from Washington to Trinity Place and reconnecting Greenwich Street between Edgar and Battery Place.

Development of the tunnel site should also create a major open space along Greenwich Street, the new spine of the Greenwich South district.

new public amenities and additional large-scale developments Plan for a rich texture of public spaces incorporating varying scales, uses, degrees of accessibility, intensity of activity and implied meaning

Clean the air over the tunnel entrance using both naturally occurring and technologically-advanced filtration tactics

Opportunities Undertake a study of the complex issues surrounding the zoning, structural engineering and financial feasibility of a deck over the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach Present an ambitious plan for the tunnel site Create a Greenwich South zoning district, within which air rights could be redistributed to achieve

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Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects and Transsolar Climate Engineering

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Build for Density, Design for People

An idea for a public market, public park and visitors’ plaza over the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach by Architecture Research Office

Integrate infrastructure planning and design with community needs.

History shows how the addition of new infrastructure in Greenwich South, though useful in supporting the needs of a growing city, had painful consequences on the local area. The dirt, noise and shadows that resulted from the construction of the elevated train in 1868 turned a thriving “Millionaire’s Row” along Greenwich Street into a district of brothels and boarding houses. The area recovered, and was a vibrant business district, until the building of the BrooklynBattery Tunnel in 1950 brought the noise and pollution of thousands of cars directly into the heart of Greenwich South. Finally, the creation of the super block for the original World Trade Center severed the connection along Greenwich Street, cutting off Greenwich South from the areas to the north and handicapping the district’s development for decades.

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

We must think more carefully about the role of infrastructure as Greenwich South evolves in the 21st century — and recognize that form is just as important as function. The number of people who visit, live and work in the district will continue to grow, placing greater demands on the performance of each square foot of space. Infrastructure that is insensitive to the area’s connectivity or is inhospitable to intense pedestrian activity is simply incompatible with the needs of a vibrant and dynamic district.

We must also think about how to civilize the spaces already ceded to infrastructure, and discover ways to lessen its imposition on the local area. Might there be opportunities to recapture some of the space taken up by infrastructure — perhaps creating a park on the roof of the BrooklynBattery Garage — to better integrate it with a rapidly growing residential community? All future decisions about development of new infrastructure must be made in light of the needs of a dense, rapidly-growing neighborhood.

Opportunities Implement a comprehensive strategy for the long-term planning and redesign of Lower Manhattan infrastructure Ensure that the pedestrian experience is foremost in the design and planning of future improvements along West Street Advocate for innovative methods of funding and design to support integrated and diverse modes of public transit Connect public and private partners to explore options for the tunnel approach site

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Principle 5

Create a Reason to Come and a Reason to Stay

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

Though thousands of people live and work within the boundaries of Greenwich South, few if any of them relate to the area as a distinctive place because there is no “there” there.

An important part of the evolution of Greenwich South requires establishing it as a place with unique qualities — and recognizable character that resonates in a powerful and positive way.

Initiatives aimed at creating more open space, iconic and defining architecture and art, and engaging programming can help make Greenwich South more charismatic and welcoming to the people in the local area as well as those from across the city and around the globe.

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Create a Reason to Come and a Reason to Stay

Public art in Chicago’s Millennium Park has become a main attraction in the city.

Public programs like a market hall, here envisioned by Architecture Research Office, could draw workers, residents and visitors to Greenwich South and provide a much-needed public

5A

Opportunities

Create public spaces to support new development and a growing population.

Create a network of pocket parks and plazas throughout the neighborhood

Open spaces help to balance a densely-built environment with the growing population — they should be the centers of public life, places where workers, residents and visitors all interact.

Multi-functional spaces should adapt to a range of uses — active and passive, programmed and unprogrammed, day, evening and weekend.

Smaller pocket parks and plazas can animate Greenwich South and provide places for the area’s diverse users. Greenwich South also needs a signature open space — an immediately identifiable park or plaza that creates a local focal point for community gathering and daily life.

Five Principles for Greenwich South

Create an iconic meeting place in Greenwich South

Encourage the creation of public facilities — markets, performance spaces, sports fields, outdoor movie theaters Create strong architectural character with existing and new buildings by encouraging design excellence in adaptive reuse and new construction Commission a district-wide public art program Create a new signature community open space for area residents and workers

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open

space for Lower Manhattan

Create a Reason to Come and a Reason to Stay

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Battery Park

Existing site conditions lend each of Greenwich Trinity Place could become a major retail thoroughfare

5B

Establish identities for north-south streets.

Changes to surrounding areas present an opportunity to organize uses along Greenwich South’s three interior north-south streets. Greenwich Street, which reconnects the Battery and the World Trade Center, should become the organizing element for Greenwich South. Open spaces, retail, restaurants, cultural and entertainment venues along Greenwich Street should establish the street as a complement to Broadway: accessible from anywhere in the city by vehicle or on foot, and animated by a variety of uses.

Trinity Place offers an extraordinary opportunity to extend a new retail promenade from Century 21 and the 500,000 square feet of retail at the World Trade Center to the street’s terminus at a remade Edgar Park.

Additionally,Trinity Place can become a hinge between the retail on Wall Street and the World Trade Center.

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

South’s north-south streets its own identity

Washington Street has a very different character from either Greenwich or Trinity. It primarily serves area residents and hotel guests.

Dead ends at the north and south limit through traffic, making it an ideal laboratory to test a new street typology. It could be a shared street, a market, open air lunchtime café with entertainment or something totally new that makes the street a neighborhood amenity.

Redesign Rector Street to make it a stronger connector between the WTC site and Wall Street Give West Street a human scale and functional identity by retrofitting and programming the east side of the street with services and retail

Reimagine Washington Street as a shared street neighborhood amenity

Opportunities Widen sidewalks and improve storefronts along the west side of Trinity Place, to create a shopping promenade that capitalizes on the future PATH and WTC retail along Church Street Maximize retail uses throughout the district with attractive street corners, incentives for new tenants and improved storefronts Identify location on Washington Street and work with property owner to attract a high-quality grocery store

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rendering by Squared Design Lab

Create a Reason to Come and a Reason to Stay

Cultural destinations in Lower Manhattan. Clockwise from top left: the future World Trade Center Memorial, the River to River Festival, Castle Clinton and 3-Legged Dog Media and Theater Group

Complement Lower Manhattan’s cultural destinations with dynamic programming to draw repeat visitors.

Signature arts and cultural offerings help define many cherished NewYork neighborhoods. Lower Manhattan has no lack of unique cultural destinations — its many historic sites and museums draw millions of visitors annually.Yet Lower Manhattan generally, and Greenwich South specifically, lack a compelling variety of venues to attract locals for repeat visits. A goal for Greenwich South’s future should be to bring a variety of dynamic arts, cultural and entertainment programming to Greenwich South to create a more charismatic identity for the area.

As the largest free concert series in the city, the Downtown Alliance’s River to River Festival provides an excellent example of how thoughtful and dynamic arts programming can

Five Principles for Greenwich South

engage the public. Expanding the Festival, which pulls in a million people every summer, to include more programming in Greenwich South could be one way to start animating this underserved area with arts and culture. The creation of the World Trade Center Performing Arts Center and the possible renovation of Castle Clinton into a year-round entertainment venue might also present programming opportunities for Greenwich South to share in the cultural events taking place nearby.

Cultivating Greenwich South’s credentials within the art community should also incorporate venues for both the production and consumption of art and culture. Creating temporary and permanent rehearsal spaces, studios and artists’ residences within Greenwich South would bring working artists to the area, providing an interesting new dynamic to the mix of users in the area that would not only enrich the character of Greenwich South might also attract attention from locals and outsiders alike.

Opportunities Program Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach site to capitalize on the major destinations surrounding Greenwich South: Battery Park, Castle Clinton and the WTC site Design Edgar Street Park with space for small outdoor performances attract institutions and activities with contemporary and dynamic programs to maximize return visits Incentivize creation of rehearsal, studio and/or performance spaces for small and medium-sized organizations within existing and future mixed-use buildings Curate a district-wide art installation

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raphael lozano-hemmer

5C

Create a Reason to Come and a Reason to Stay

Ideas for new buildings and installations in Greenwich South.

Clockwise from top left: Mixed-use tower by IwamotoScott Architecture; Art installation by DeWitt Godfrey; Green Walls landscape installation by Coen + Partners;

5D

Opportunities

Create icons that establish a new identity and sense of place for Greenwich South.

Renovate Edgar Plaza and commission an art installation to create an icon and place for gathering

Urban touchstones, like the steps of the Metropolitan Museum, Isamu Noguchi’s Red Cube at Liberty Street, or Union Square Park, define an image for an entire district. These icons create tangible incentives to visit the site. They can serve as a rendezvous destination, a location for public events or a lunch spot for workers, but they also become conceptual anchors that sustain neighborhood property values and enhance desirability. Creating large and small icons in Greenwich South would help provide both identity and gathering places within the district. New retail, cultural, dining and entertainment activities in the site can rely on these iconic destinations to attract activity, make wayfinding easier and support a 24-hour district.

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

Coordinate with streetscape, signage and lighting design of Battery Park to lead pedestrians to and from Greenwich Street

Expand Downtown Alliance Re:Construction program to sites in Greenwich South Commission temporary art installations over the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel approach and on the ventilation facility Host a rotating architectural design competition at the Edgar Plaza or Greenwich Gateway site akin to the Serpentine Gallery in London or PS1 in Queens Build a tall iconic structure that is not a building — like the St. Louis Arch — to enable a new perspective on Lower Manhattan and to establish a new datum for Greenwich South Build a new public space for the longterm future of Lower Manhattan Locate a weekend greenmarket site in Greenwich South

page 31

open

live-work Plug-In Tower by WORKac

Downtown-Lower Manhattan Business Improvement District

Greenwich South

Five Principles for Greenwich South

was commissioned by

with support from

and made by

Alliance for Downtown New York

Greenwich South Study ad hoc committee

Greenwich South Study project team

Elizabeth H. Berger President

co-chairs

Architecture Research Office

Alliance for Downtown New York project team

Nicole LaRusso Senior Vice President of Planning and Economic Development Christopher Reynolds Assistant Vice President of Planning Gideon Zeus Friedman Assistant Director of Research and Planning

Timur Galen Goldman Sachs & Co Frank Sciame F.J. Sciame Construction Co., Inc. members

Eric Anderson Anderson Equities Rick Bell AIANY

Stephen Cassell AIA LEED AP, Principal; Kim Yao AIA, Associate; Annie Barrett, Project Manager; Nicolas Harrison; Emelie Larsson; Adriel Mesznik; Neil Patel; Jejon Yeung LEED AP

Beyer Blinder Belle Neil P. Kittredge AIA AICP, Partner; Sapna Advani AICP LEED AP, Associate; Rayna Huber Erlich R.A. LEED AP, Senior Planner; Richard Miller; Marie Hines; Ralph Choueiri

Open Scott Stowell, proprietor; Ryan Thacker; Robert A. Di Ieso, Jr.; Lucia Vera Gehrenbeck

Elizabeth H. Berger Alliance for Downtown NewYork, Inc.

Marc Kristal

Frank Bisignano JP Morgan Chase & Co.

project advisor

Sheldon Cohen CB Richard Ellis

jones | kroloff visioning

Lawrence Graham Brookfield Properties Corporation

Architecture Research Office

Francis Greenburger Time Equities, Inc.

Coen + Partners

Peter Herman Milbank,Tweed, Hadley & McCoy LLP

IwamotoScott Architecture

Julie Lasky Design Observer

Morphosis

Beyer Blinder Belle DeWitt Godfrey Jorge Colombo

Robert Mueller Urstadt Biddle Properties

Lewis.Tsurumaki.Lewis Architects

Warrie Price The Battery Conservancy

Raphael Lozano-Hemmer

Carl Weisbrod Trinity Church Real Estate

WORKac

Open

design: open (www.notclosed.com)

Transsolar Climate Engineering

Alliance For Downtown NewYork

The Alliance Name Offor TheDowntown Section New York

The mission of the Alliance for Downtown New York is to be the principal organization that provides Lower Manhattan’s historic financial district with a premier physical and economic environment, advocates for businesses and property owners and promotes the area as a world-class destination for companies, workers, residents and visitors. The Downtown Alliance manages the DowntownLower Manhattan Business Improvement District (BID), serving an area roughly from City Hall to the Battery, from the East River to West Street.

Robert R. Douglass, Chairman Milbank,Tweed, Hadley & McCoy LLP

David W. Levinson L&L Holding Company, LLC

Frank J. Bisignano JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Canon Ann Mallonnee Parish of Trinity Church

Hon. Michael R. Bloomberg Mayor, City of NewYork

Julie Menin Chair, Manhattan Community Board No. 1

Peter Braus Sierra Realty Corp.

Harry Bridgwood NewWater Street Corporation

Janno Lieber World Trade Center Properties LLC

Cherrie Nanninga CB Richard Ellis, Inc.

Betty Cohen Century 21 Department Stores

Dr. Antonio Perez Borough of Manhattan Community College

John V. Connorton Jr. Hawkins Delafield &Wood LLP

Peter Poulakakos Harry’s Café

K. Thomas Elghanayan Rockrose Development Corporation

William C. Rudin Rudin Management Company, Inc.

David V. Fowler The Bank of NewYork Mellon Michael B. Francois Port Authority of NewYork & New Jersey Rachelle Friedman J&R Music and ComputerWorld Stephen J. Friedman Pace University Timur Galen Goldman Sachs & Co. Hon. Alan Gerson Councilmember, City of NewYork James F. Gill Battery Park City Authority Robert J. Giuffra Jr. Sullivan & Cromwell LLP Lawrence F. Graham Brookfield Properties Corporation Stanley E. Grayson M.R. Beal & Company Francis Greenburger Time Equities, Inc. Thomas Hughes Resident Representative

Alan M. Scott Deutsche Bank Michael Skidmore Maxwell-Kates, Inc. Allan G. Sperling Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP Hon. Scott M. Stringer Manhattan Borough President Kent M. Swig SwigEquities, LLC William C. Thompson Comptroller, City of NewYork Comm. Robert W. Walsh Department of Small Business Services Anthony L. Watson HIP USA Health Plans Frederick J. Wunschel American International Realty Corp.

Elizabeth H. Berger Alliance for Downtown NewYork, Inc.

Richard T. Kennedy Cushman &Wakefield, Inc. Stephen Lefkowitz Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP

downtownNY.com Five Principles for Greenwich South

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