Reply With QuoteI believe it has to be a mistake. Lower Manhattan has to be #3 still.
That's not hard to believe, in light of the seemingly irreversible growth of government.Originally Posted by debris
I believe it has to be a mistake. Lower Manhattan has to be #3 still.
No, it's DC. Gov't is growing. Lower Manhattan lost the WTC and millions of sq. ft. of space are now residential. Not sure where we would stand after WTC and GS, but we should be close again.
Lower Manhattan and DC had been close for some years.
I read somewhere that the total NYC CBD is larger than the next 5 cities combined.
The fact that Downtown is now fourth-largest is unsettling; the article could have made a lot more impact if Brian Hatch had merely written "until recently it had been the third-largest, but has since been supplanted by Washington/Atlanta/Houston/whatever". Then the emphasis on weak transportation links could come into play, making the situation seem all the more dire which it is, of course.
That said, to build a rail link from 33rd Street-Penn Station all the way down to Lower Manhattan will have to clear multiple hurdles, particularly concerns about inconveniences and demolition resulting from construction of what will likely be a deep-bore tunnel.
Wouldn't a deep bore tunnel be less inconvenient, since the only surface disturbance would be at the vertical access shaft?
Yes, but even as we've seen with the construction of the Third Water Tunnel, even boring that deep will result in complications.
Houston Street Reconstruction
Houston St. Dig Begins
By Albert Amateau
Volume 18 Issue 16 | September 09 - 15, 2005
http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_12...digbegins.html
Much actual digging might not be noticeable yet, but the reconstruction of Houston St. began Aug. 1 with the contractor, Tully Construction, marking out the project on the street surface between Bowery and West. St.
The project, to begin with the deepest work, the replacement of sewer lines and water mains, followed by surface reconstruction, is expected to take 29 months with completion expected in January 2008.
At $29.4 million, this is about as big as these jobs get in the city, said John Spavins, spokesperson for the city Department of Design and Construction.
Residents and merchants along the route that separates the Village and Noho from Soho, the South Village and Nolita are bracing for the noise dust and disruption of traffic. And Community Board 2 members, who found fault with many of the surface features that they reviewed more that two years ago, are still dissatisfied with the final plan.
While a few of the disputed features were changed, most remain in the plan.
We still hope to be able to get some more changes in the final phase of the reconstruction, because Houston St. affects the way traffic moves through our neighborhoods, said Brad Hoylman, a member of the Community Board 2 Traffic and Transportation Committee.
The board is working with the TriState Transportation Campaign, a nonprofit advocacy group, to assess truck traffic on Houston St., Hoylman noted.
On the plus side, the Houston St. final design reflects community objections that median tips were to be eliminated from crosswalks at Elizabeth, Mott, Mulberry, Lafayette, Broadway, Mercer, Greene, Wooster, W. Broadway, Thompson, Sullivan and MacDougal Sts. All those median tips will extend into the crosswalks when Houston St. is rebuilt, Spavins said.
But proposed left-turn bays from westbound Houston St. onto Mercer, Broadway and W. Broadway are still in the final plan, as is a left-turn bay from eastbound Houston onto northbound Lafayette St.
However, the medians at the left-turn bays will be 7.5-feet wide to accommodate pedestrians.
The proposed 5-foot-wide median at the Houston/Crosby intersection, which residents fear would act as a barrier between Soho and Noho, is still in the plan. The medians will all be about 2-feet high.
The widening of the sidewalk on the south side of Houston St., a feature that some supported and others opposed, remains in the plan. Between W. Broadway and Sixth Ave., the sidewalk will be widened from 9 to 22 feet.
Between Sixth Ave. and Varick St., the sidewalk on the south side of Houston will be widened from 15 1/2 feet to 20 feet.
The N line could be extended over the Hell Gate Bridge from Ditmars Blvd to The Bronx and run along Amtrak's ROW. Randall/Wards Island would finally get a stop in the process. I think it's worthy.
MTA $3 Billion Bond Act
MTA Chairman Starts Push For Bond Act Approval
September 13, 2005
http://www.ny1.com/ny1/NY1ToGo/Story...id=1&aid=53485
With the general election now less than two months away, supporters of a Transportation Bond Act on the November ballot are starting their push to get out the vote.
Later this week, posters will go up throughout the subway and bus system explaining the Bond Act. If approved, it would authorize the state to borrow $3 billion, with half that money going directly to MTA projects, including $450 million for the Second Avenue subway, $450 million for East Side Access which would bring the LIRR to Grand Central and $100 million for a new rail link to JFK Airport from Lower Manhattan.
By law the MTA cannot advocate for the measure, but supporters, including the New York Building Congress, are hoping to raise as much as $2 million for their campaign, starting with a fundraising breakfast Tuesday.
"Without the money, without the infrastructure, without all the stuff that I'm telling you guys about, this system will start to deteriorate, no question about that," said MTA Chairman Peter Kalikow.
If approved, the bond act would also authorize about $1.5 billion worth of state highway and bridge projects.
The Astoria El could be extended to a new upper deck on the Hell Gate Bridge. That bridge is a very solid span and was built to allow for double decking. The el section on 31st St. between Astoria Blvd and Ditmars (only about 4 blocks) would have to be dismantled and rebuilt to allow for the higher elevation and curve. A new Ditmars station would be on top of the Hell Gate span slightly to the west of the current one complete with elevators and ADA access. I don't think it would even cause a NIMBY problem. This could be done concurrent with the building of an AirTrain structure from Astoria Blvd to LGA along the Grand Central Parkway that would continue on to the Flushing Meadows/Shea Stadium IRT and LIRR stations. I think it's very doable and not nearly as cost prohibitive as the LIRR from Brooklyn to Downtown tunnel boondoggle.
"L" Train extension
Is there any plan to extend the L west to the Hudson and then north to 34th St and beyond in conjuction with the "7" train's extension west and south down 11th Av? Now would be a good time to do it. They should also extend its southern terminal so it reaches the end of the Bay Ridge freight line on the waterfront.
^ There has been no discussion of that, though it would be a great service. The far west side has no public transportation except for a few of bus routes. With the large amount of new housing going in from W. 12th St. north to W. 72nd St. new transportation options are needed.
There is no infrastructure existing to support a new subway line that I know of.
When the Westside Hiway was built a huge opportunity was missed -- that was the chance to add a light rail line / trolley down the westside.
I guess the 11th Ave. Subway (EAS) would be the most logical name for it. A line from 79th to 23rd St and then on to the existing "L" terminus at 8th Ave. and 14th St. would be great to complement the "7" train extension. (where the lines run together they could make it 4 track or two levels) With some inter-State collaboration one could connect the 7 with PATH on Christopher St down Hudson St and have an AirTrain from Newark to LGA (via major stops like Port Authority, Times Square and GCT) run on it. (PATH and IRT are compatible) It Bloomberg and Doctoroff are really serious about West Side development this would do wonders. The area would be instantly accesible for commuters from Queens, Brooklyn and NJ. If they bring the MNR Hudson line service down the Amtrak tracks to Penn Station and put a station on 59th St to connect with the "L" things could be booming for this area. I'm surprised that residents, property owners and businesses in Upper West Side, Clinton/Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea and West Village aren't clamoring for it. The increase in revenue from sales and property taxes in that area alone would more than pay for it. Other important projects wouldn't have to suffer.
Posting Permissions
Bookmarks