Terrible location for retail, even with all the tourists -- and what kind of retail would work there? I'd guess that most folks will be coming across the bridge and through the new park, not crossing from Liberty across West at street level. But maybe once West Street is re-done and the east side of the street is spruced up the situation could change.
Well, the base is supposed to be full of retail, so who knows. It may be an open cafe to enjoy the view of the memorial as well.
I's interesting to see that the Liberty Street Bridge will serve the park. It's basically a ramp from ground level into the WFC, and a walk through the complex will lead to the new headhouse into the underground WTC. I'm trying to figure out if they planned all of this years ago, or does everything fall into place, like one big puzzle?
There should be no retail near the memorial. WTC memorial shop, maybe, but anything having nothing to do with WTC or the memorial, no.
Plans for the VSC & Liberty Park have really been kept under wraps. I don't recall seeing any images of the park, the bridge connection or (until the recent image in the Tribeca Trib) of the streetscape nearby. Given the recent comments from the NYPD about how the area will be secured I'd not be surprised if this is all still a work in progress.Originally Posted by BStyles
The size and location of St. Nicholas church has been a factor in why this area hasn't been finalized.
When I said "definitely no retail here" before, it was not because of whether or not I think there ought to be retail, but because there isn't any retail at the VSC nor is there any available space for it.
The Greek Archdiocese of New York, which plans to file a lawsuit to force the Port Authority to honor a disputed agreement to build it a new church across the street from the World Trade Center site, might need a prayer before the case even goes to court.Holy war pits Greeks vs. PA
Greek Church fights PA
Last Updated: 1:50 AM, December 14, 2010
Posted: 12:18 AM, December 14, 2010
Steve Cuozzo
REALTY CHECK
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...#ixzz186wsKs00
The proposed church building would rise at 130 Liberty St., site of the former Deutsche Bank tower, to replace St. Nicholas Church at 155 Cedar St. nearby, which was destroyed on 9/11.
But steel the PA has already ordered for the Vehicle Screening Center to be built beneath 130 Liberty St. can't support the church structure which the archdiocese wants to erect above it, engineering sources said.
Not only the amount of steel which the PA ordered over a year ago, but also the way it's being fabricated to house the underground "helix," is inadequate to hold up the church, which would be larger than the original and was to include public meditation space and other facilities.
In fact, according to our sources, the way the VSC has been designed beneath 130 Liberty St. now makes it impossible to construct the church, which the archdiocese hopes to compel the PA to help it build and partly fund.
Since a breakdown of talks between the agency and the archdiocese last year, the PA has endorsed building a replacement church at the 155 Cedar St. location.
The VSC will serve as a security-clearance facility for trucks making deliveries and providing services to all buildings at the WTC site. Construction of it will begin once the Deutsche wreck is dismantled.
Asked to comment on our sources' claims, PA spokesman John Kelly said, "Designs are complete and contracts have been awarded [for the VSC] that assume a church structure on the original site, 155 Cedar St."
Mark Cunha, a lawyer for the archdiocese at Simpson Thacher & Bartlett, was not moved. "It sounds like baloney," Cunha said. "They didn't order enough steel, order more steel. Anybody in litigation can say they can't do something."
However, an engineering source who is affiliated neither with the PA nor the archdiocese told us, "It's over. To redesign the VSC and re-order steel would add tens of millions of dollars to costs and set everything at Ground Zero back by two more years, and Larry Silverstein would have new grounds to blame the [PA] for not completing infrastructure on time."
The PA and the archdiocese have had a bitter war of words since last winter, when the church blamed the PA for reneging on a "binding" 2008 agreement to build a new facility at 130 Liberty St. Last week, the archdiocese filed notice of its intent to sue, alleging "fraudulent conduct" by the agency and accusing it of illegally appropriating its land at 155 Cedar St.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/busines...#ixzz186x1viyo
Not sure where I found it, but a render of Liberty Park.
Hoping one of our insider experts can give us the low down on this situation.
Would that be West Street at the lower left and Liberty Street up top?Not sure where I found it, but a render of Liberty Park.
I think the black street is Liberty St., east at bottom, west at top right corner with the Memorial off to the right. That would put the Tower 5 site to the left of those trees in the upper left corner. You can see the entrance and exit to the VSC off of Liberty.
As far as I know, the VSC was redesigned to hold the church on the western side of the park only, out of view in that rendering.
Is the VSC basically under the site for Tower 5 and is parkland planned for part of the ground-level above the VSC?
Here's a map:
The ramps that actually descend are somewhat under DB, but the rest of it is in what was mostly a parking lot and St. Nicholas Church. My question is will cars enter the VSC on Liberty, or the reconstructed Cedar street?
NYKnight's assessment (that the black street in the render ^ is Liberty) indicates that the vehicle entry and exit points are on Liberty (note the curb cuts and openings at the upper right) opposite the south pool.
^Yep. It's a shot from roughly Greenwich and Liberty looking east. West St. has, as we went over before, a 20 foot high sheer wall facing it. Cars will enter on liberty, but there is a connection to (at least a section of) a rebuilt Cedar St. Whether Cedar will go all the way through to the financial district depends on the final design of 5WTC, otherwise it will end in a 90* turn on to Washington.
Last edited by STR; December 16th, 2010 at 02:20 AM.
It's roughly a view from Tower 4 looking southwest.
Vehicles exiting the VSC from levels below are forced to go eastbound onto two-way Liberty. But there is also an alternate exit from the VSC onto one-way Cedar St. which takes vehicles west directly to northbound West Street. I believe this exit is for vehicles that don't pass inspection, for whatever reason, they exit the VSC immediately onto Cedar instead of proceeding down the spiral.
You can't see that in the rendering, or maybe it's barely indicated at the very top - hard to tell.
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