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Plans Presented for Transforming a “No-Man’s Land”
by Etta Sanders
A state-of-the-art automated bus garage, a park arching over the Battery
Tunnel and a new bridge across West Street are the centerpieces of a long
awaited plan aimed to transform the eight-acre area around the Brooklyn-Battery
Tunnel.
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The goal of the plan, called the Greenwich Street South Design
Study, is to remove barriers created by the tunnel and garage, to
ease access from Battery Park City to subway lines, and to address
the problem of the hundreds of idling commuter buses that currently
line the streets.
“This area is what many of us believe to be a no man’s
land. It’s not easily passable by vehicles and it’s certainly
not easily passable by foot, “ said Stephan Pryor, a vice president
of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, in an April 12 presentation
to Community Board 1.
Battery Park City resident and CB1 member Bill Love agreed. To reach
his office on Rector Street, he said, he dashes across several lanes
of cars emerging from the tunnel an
d then cuts through the parking garage. “That garage is a big
barrier. I used to hold my breath going through there to Edgar Street.
It’s gloomy,” he said, adding that crossing in front of
the tunnel is also a challenge. “It’s a bit scary because
you can’t see what’s coming. You have to be ready to start
running at any moment.”
To make that crossing easier, the plans would create a park and
pedestrian passageway by decking over the top of the tunnel between
Morris and Edgar Streets. Those streets would be
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extended to West Street. Some,
or all, of the 2,000-car garage would be removed and a new bridge
would be erected across West Street from Third Place to Edgar Street.
Catherine McVay Hughes, a CB1 member, said she supported improvements
to the area, but questioned how the parking spaces would be replaced.
“This is a very depressed area so I’m really glad you’re
doing something, but I’m concerned about where these cars are
going to go,” she said, adding that she parks her car there.
“Every time I find a good spot it seems to be eliminated.”
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New parking areas for 1,200 to 1,500 cars are being looked at in other
areas Downtown, said John Fontillas, of H3Hardy, the architectural
firm that created the study. Only 600 cars use the garage daily, according
to Madelyn Wils, who attended the meeting in her role as Lower Manhattan
Development Corporation (LMDC) board member.
The board reacted most favorably to the plans to get buses off the
streets. The proposed multi-level automated bus storage facility would
be located just north of Battery Place and could house between 150
and 200 commuter buses, as well as some weekend spillover of tour
buses at the World Trade Center site.
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“The bus depot has been a top priority for this board
for years and years,” said Joe Morrone.
The facility would use technology similar to a robotic car
garage in Hoboken, N.J., but it would be the first time that
the technology would be tried for buses, according to Michael
Samuelian, director of Lower Manhattan special projects at
the Department of City Planning.
Financing for the bus garage, including payments to the MTA
to acquire the property, would come from an LMDC contribution
of up $125 million out of the remaining community development
block grants (CDBG) funds controlled the agency.
The park and street revisions would be paid for by the sale
of development rights to five sites near the tunnel that would
be created for new residential buildings. Those sites could
eventually result in at least 2.5 million square feet of new
residences.
The plans, Pryor told the board, are at a conceptual stage
and it is possible that some parts could be implemented and
other parts dropped. “You’re at the right point
to affect the designs,” he said.
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