A coalition of city agencies has teamed up to prioritize possible uses for New York’s waterfront. The Alliance for Downtown New York, Community Board One, the Economic Development Corp. and the Department of City Planning have launched a study to produce a conceptual land-use plan for the eastern section of Lower Manhattan. The study will survey a 30-block area bounded by the Brooklyn Bridge, the East River, Battery Park and State, Water and Pearl streets.
By examining the waterfront land use, the firms will help direct future development along the waterfront of Lower Manhattan on the East River. Proposed projects include the Downtown Guggenheim Museum on the piers south of the South Street Seaport and redevelopment of the historic, 140,000 sq. ft. Battery Maritime building. The study, expected to conclude this summer, also will consider alternative uses for the Fulton Fish Market, which faces relocation to The Bronx, and improved road and waterfront access, which is currently complicated by the FDR Drive and parking on the roadway underneath.
"The time is ripe for Lower Manhattan to take advantage of its waterfront that surrounds this community on three sides," said Carl Weisbrod, president of the Alliance for Downtown New York.
Marilyn Jordan Taylor, chair of New York-based Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, will lead the study along with Ken Greenberg, founding partner of Toronto-based Urban Strategies. The team also includes Arup, a London-based engineering consulting firm that will focus on transportation issues, and Hamilton, Rabinovitz & Alschuler, a New York economic research firm that will analyze financial issues.
