Planners Propose A New York City Underground Park
- 9 years ago
A new Lower East Side underground park project called the Lowline is being proposed as a means of providing area residents with much-needed public space.
New York City’s Lower East Side is experiencing a population spurt, with young people moving there in droves. While the neighborhood is gaining plenty of new residents, it’s still lacking public spaces for them.
That’s where a new underground park project called the Lowline comes in.
Private planners are proposing that the city allow them to transform a 116-year-old trolley terminal into an urban oasis.
It’s estimated that revamping the subterranean area will cost around 60 million dollars, much of which will come from private investors.
Over a million dollars has already been secured and is being used to conduct research and explore design possibilities.
Currently, solutions to essential project aspects like lighting the terminal and cultivating plants in the space are being hashed out.
On those fronts, solar collectors have been identified as an ideal way to illuminate the space, but the means of spreading that light throughout the area is still a matter under consideration.
Developers are in communication with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA, which leases the desired location.
The Two Bridges Neighborhood Association has already expressed concerns about a plan to make the park available for private events, since doing so would close it off to the public it's meant to serve.
New York City’s Lower East Side is experiencing a population spurt, with young people moving there in droves. While the neighborhood is gaining plenty of new residents, it’s still lacking public spaces for them.
That’s where a new underground park project called the Lowline comes in.
Private planners are proposing that the city allow them to transform a 116-year-old trolley terminal into an urban oasis.
It’s estimated that revamping the subterranean area will cost around 60 million dollars, much of which will come from private investors.
Over a million dollars has already been secured and is being used to conduct research and explore design possibilities.
Currently, solutions to essential project aspects like lighting the terminal and cultivating plants in the space are being hashed out.
On those fronts, solar collectors have been identified as an ideal way to illuminate the space, but the means of spreading that light throughout the area is still a matter under consideration.
Developers are in communication with the Metropolitan Transit Authority, or MTA, which leases the desired location.
The Two Bridges Neighborhood Association has already expressed concerns about a plan to make the park available for private events, since doing so would close it off to the public it's meant to serve.