Reply With QuoteRight, but imagine the plaza in front of the Seagram Building elevated and set behind the building itself. What's the point, even, in going there?
I think that the wild card here is accessibility. If people find it easier to get to this plaza now that the escalator(s) have been modified, then perhaps there's some hope. At the very least, it might be attractive to the office tenants of 55 Water.
Perhaps comparing this plaza to Union Square is a bit erroneous and misleading. Union Square is a park of sorts in a vibrant mixed-use neighborhood, with lots of shopping and sights nearby. The plaza at 55 Water is, well, a plaza at an office building. It's a very corporate space in a very corporate place: namely, the Financial District. The closest and fairest comparison that I can think of, therefore, should be Seagram.
Right, but imagine the plaza in front of the Seagram Building elevated and set behind the building itself. What's the point, even, in going there?
The barren old plaza used to be a great place to ride a bike -- doubt that I'll be allowed to do so now. Fair trade-off, though.
The fact that "The newly renovated one-acre park, which will be open to the public during daylight hours" is not to be accessible to the public after sundown is a major negative.
I'm still opting for isolated "cuddle" spotOriginally Posted by czsz
Still, it's also likely that workers in 55 Water might be tempted to take their lunch outside in nice weather. We'll have to wait until it warms up again, unfortunately, to see if that will be the case.
Photos from the plaza
OCTOBER 30, 2005
^ Nice ...
Except that the staircase out the back is basically the same...
A water slide would have been nice
Not great public space, but maybe public-use space, a destination.
It could use some street advertising. You'd never know it was open to the public.
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Great photos, as always
I especially like:
1. The expanse of lawn in relation to the old Police Building on Old Slip
2. The concrete steps / retaining walls and how they bend and relate to the slope of the original building
I´m looking forward to seeing this. I wonder if they´ll have guards up there ...exposed as it is, I imagine it´ll need constant maintenance. Maybe that´s why they went for the weedy natural-looking landscaping.....but for me that´s starting to look a lttle cliched. Look how great the formal green lawn looks....kind of Bryant Parkish. The whole operation, starting with that beacon-of-progress, on to the wild-life-preserve asthetic, seems to be a mish-mash of ideas.....like they´re trying way too hard. A bar or cafe?
Last edited by Fabrizio; November 3rd, 2005 at 03:07 AM.
The area along the building (4th photo) would be good for some sort of food concession, but whether someone would be willing to take a lease will depend on how popular the space becomes.
The plaza is split into two distinct environments. The sloped landscaped section is focused on the river. A good place to take in the views or read a book.
The other section is an amphitheater focused on the lawn, somewhat sheltered from winds. A good place for lunch.
I don't know why I didn't check when I was there, but in my minds eye, the lawn is artificial.
^ Yep -- it's fake, which is probably the only way they could keep looking green.
After going up and hanging out for a while, I found the placement of the concrete "amphitheatre" to be odd ... sitting there the sun is always to your back and you're left with a view of the sloping Brutalistic wall of the building -- when what you want is to be leaning against the concrete and looking out over the river with Brooklyn beyond and the sky going on forever.
Also: many small but persistent looking cracks have already appeared in the concrete of the amphitheatre risers (running the full width and ocurring about every three feet). Perhaps this is unavoidable???
Another quibble ...
NONE of the escalators were working -- perhaps because it was Sunday -- but not one other person was up there, despite clear skies and an amazing mid-November temperature of 65 degrees.To lure people back, the architects have radically altered the Water Street approach, replacing the long escalator and staircase with a series of four smaller stairways and four shorter escalators, better lit and punctuated by terraces and overlooks.
"The designers have transformed a forbidding escalator into a celebratory and wonderfully imaginative ascent," said Amanda M. Burden, the chairwoman of the City Planning Commission.
Terraces? overlooks?? celebratory??? wonderfully imaginative????
That's a bit of over-sell if you ask me.
The best thing IMO (besides, of course, the view out to the harbor) is the way the roof of the Old Slip Police building frames the edge of the plaza beyond the lawn.
And: Don't miss the old bit of seemingly original 70's pipe railing where the sloped down edge of the building meets the wall of the plaza. It's the one bit of humor in the whole place (hoping they don't change that).
*yawn*
All that money spent for...what?
They ought to turn it all over to a high-powered restaurateur. In good weather, outdoor power lunches with a view.
But of course: keep public access.
Wait, the lawn is fake? What kind of park is this?
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August 14, 2007
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