Neighborhood Newsletters

Flatiron street to become pedestrian plaza

Thu, 31 Jul 2008 18:24:00 GMT

By Sabina Mollot

As part of the city’s attempt to become more pedestrian friendly as well as give a boost to local businesses, several busy sections of streets throughout Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx will soon be converted into car-free zones with tables, chairs and decorative plantings.

One of the areas destined by a pedestrian plaza, where work is already well underway, is the west side of Madison Square Park, where Fifth Avenue and Broadway connect.

Dubbed “The Madison Park Pedestrian Project,” the conversion will create over 35,000 square feet of public space filled with 40 tables and large umbrellas, 110 chairs and 170 plantings, including shrubs and trees, in three areas. Those three plaza areas are located between 22nd and 23rd Streets between Broadway and the Flatiron Building, between 23rd and 24th Streets where there is currently a small island in the middle of the intersection and around the Worth monument in the park.

Jennifer Brown, the executive director of the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership BID, joked that the project will give tourists a more convenient place to snap their photos of the Flatiron Building.

Right now, “they do it from the buses,” she said. “Sometimes, they get off the bus, but this would give them a place to stand.”

Earlier this year, the Flatiron/23rd Street Partnership agreed to become one of two maintenance partners in the pedestrian project, which was spearheaded by the Department of Transportation. This means that once the converted streets are paid for and completed by the DOT, The Partnership and the other maintenance partner, the nonprofit Madison Square Park Conservancy, will be responsible for keeping the areas clean and turning them into destinations.

Debbie Landau, the president of the Conservancy, said once the plaza areas open, the partners will begin evaluating the best uses for the space.

“The first thing we want to see is how people use it,” said Landau. “Parks are all about passive enjoyment. It’s where people come to relax or contemplate.”

Possible uses for the space that are being tossed around include a flower market, a holiday market similar to the one that takes place each year in Union Square, public art installations and a concession stand.

“Hopefully then the tourists will want to stay in the neighborhood,” said Brown. “And if there were some kind of market, it would be an amenity for residents and workers.”

Additionally, the expanded pedestrian spaces, which are scheduled to open in late August, will include more crosswalks, an expanded lane for bicycles, and a shortened Fifth Avenue bus route. According to the information provided by the DOT, the entire project is expected to cost about $1 million, and will be funded by the federal CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality) program.

Other areas in the midst of being converted into a pedestrian space are Broadway Boulevard and the HUB in the Bronx. Recently completed similar projects include changes to the Gansevoort areas, the reconfiguration of 9th Avenue between 16th and 14th Streets and Grand Army Plaza and Pearl Street Plaza in Brooklyn.

Source: Town & Village

Maloney announces $492G grant for Solar 2

Thu, 24 Jul 2008 17:23:00 GMT

By Sabina Mollot

Plans for the construction of Solar 2, which will be the city’s first carbon neutral building, were helped along this week with the announcement of a $492,000 donation.

The money, which came in the form of a federal grant secured by Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, will finance detailed design and construction drawings of Solar 2, the eventual replacement for Solar One, a one-room environmental center in Stuyvesant Cove Park.

“Solar 2 will be an iconic structure in New York City,” said Chris Collins, Solar One’s executive director, “and we look forward to working with the congresswoman to make Solar Two a reality.”

Solar One, itself a “green” building, has long since outgrown its single-room space. Solar 2 will be located where Solar One is now, and based on the current center’s design, only larger. It will also have a solar roof, technology that produces heat from the earth’s exterior and collect rainwater, which will provide the center’s non-potable water.

A nonprofit organization, Solar One offers daily classes to NYC students on environmental topics and also hosts a number of free, public events, from concerts to dance performances, all on solar-powered stage.

Solar 2 has an estimated cost of $12.5 million, and so far, Solar One has raised over $5 million of that, mostly from government allocations.

“They say, ‘it’s not easy being green, but today Solar One is showing that building green can be done in a cost-effective and sensible way,” Maloney said on Tuesday.

Source: Town and Village newspaper

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Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:00:00 GMT

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