Reported by Mitchell Kabakow and Tod Shapiro for Flatiron Hot! News
On the evening of July 9th we attended the meeting of the Community Board 5 Parks and Public Spaces subcommittee held at the Bryant Park Corporation HQ. The topic of the meeting was the unveiling for public comment of the proposed designs for the new One Vanderbilt Plaza public concourse; taking advantage of the closing of Vanderbilt Avenue just off 42nd Street adjacent to Grand Central to make a new pedestrian thoroughfare.
Rendering of the new Public Space and Concourse at One Vanderbilt and Grand Central
The new plaza will be between Grand Central and what will be the new One Vanderbilt building, currently under construction. It will fulfill the agreed-upon public realm improvements and transit infrastructure upgrades that were granted as part of the overall project, which had been negotiated between the city, elected officials, DOT, the MTA, and the Developer SL Green, over the course of many years pursuant to the City’s zoning laws and ULURP approval process. One Vanderbilt is is still under construction and when completed will be a state-of-the-art office building in a part of the city that needs to be upgraded to be competitive in today’s market. The new pedestrian plaza is intended to be a pedestrian-only conduit between One Vanderbilt, Grand Central, and the surrounding streets, creating space and breathing room for one of the city’s transit hubs. As a result, it is expected that the plaza will be used by thousands of visitors a day once it is finished – a vital need considering the high volume of the expected East Side Access from Penn Station and Long Island, ever-growing traffic from the subways, and the new building itself.
The 13 members of the committee were presented with the design for the plaza for general discussion, as was the public in attendance. As it stands at the moment, the plan is supposedly based on and inspired by the great open plazas in Europe, with finely detailed and embellished walking surfaces, similar to the Kings Crossing Plaza in London, among others shown in the designers’ presentation, in that it emphasizes an open landscape devoid of seating, dining, shopping and other elements often present in public spaces with lower pedestrian volume. Given this overall design objective, the Community Board felt that the current version of the plaza’s design, which includes a line of five trees in the middle of the plaza with round raised bases measuring 20 feet in diameter, as well as a proposed monumental sculpture, was at variance with that objective, and might need to be revisited or scaled back. The trees and their treatment drew much discussion and varied opinions from the Community Board and members of the public that were present.
The members of the committee were concerned over the inclusion of the large trees and planters. While it was acknowledged that the planters were visually pleasing, it is feared that they may interfere with the flow of people through the plaza. Due to the number of people traveling through the space during the day, the committee’s first concern is keeping the flow of people moving. It is felt that the planters might obstruct this flow by limiting surface space and encouraging pedestrians to sit on them. All in attendance agreed on one issue–the removal of traffic obstacles lining the new pedestrian plaza adjacent to Grand Central. As a pedestrian plaza with no vehicles, with entrance from 42nd Street and other feeding streets closed off, there is no need for these anymore, and they can be removed during construction. Clayton Smith, the Parks Subcommittee Chair, mentioned that, aside from these concerns, the new plan was largely consistent with Community Board 5’s prior resolutions and concerns on the redevelopment and, in most respects, deserves support.
As a result of this, the committee voted to approve the plans on a conditional basis, using its “Deny Unless” language, to encourage the developers and planners to consider additional design elements or modifications, if possible to address the concerns brought up at the meeting.
NYC Theater News
Community Board 5 Parks and Public Spaces Subcommittee Discusses One Vanderbilt Plaza
Reported by Mitchell Kabakow and Tod Shapiro for Flatiron Hot! News
On the evening of July 9th we attended the meeting of the Community Board 5 Parks and Public Spaces subcommittee held at the Bryant Park Corporation HQ. The topic of the meeting was the unveiling for public comment of the proposed designs for the new One Vanderbilt Plaza public concourse; taking advantage of the closing of Vanderbilt Avenue just off 42nd Street adjacent to Grand Central to make a new pedestrian thoroughfare.
Rendering of the new Public Space and Concourse at One Vanderbilt and Grand Central
The new plaza will be between Grand Central and what will be the new One Vanderbilt building, currently under construction. It will fulfill the agreed-upon public realm improvements and transit infrastructure upgrades that were granted as part of the overall project, which had been negotiated between the city, elected officials, DOT, the MTA, and the Developer SL Green, over the course of many years pursuant to the City’s zoning laws and ULURP approval process. One Vanderbilt is is still under construction and when completed will be a state-of-the-art office building in a part of the city that needs to be upgraded to be competitive in today’s market. The new pedestrian plaza is intended to be a pedestrian-only conduit between One Vanderbilt, Grand Central, and the surrounding streets, creating space and breathing room for one of the city’s transit hubs. As a result, it is expected that the plaza will be used by thousands of visitors a day once it is finished – a vital need considering the high volume of the expected East Side Access from Penn Station and Long Island, ever-growing traffic from the subways, and the new building itself.
The 13 members of the committee were presented with the design for the plaza for general discussion, as was the public in attendance. As it stands at the moment, the plan is supposedly based on and inspired by the great open plazas in Europe, with finely detailed and embellished walking surfaces, similar to the Kings Crossing Plaza in London, among others shown in the designers’ presentation, in that it emphasizes an open landscape devoid of seating, dining, shopping and other elements often present in public spaces with lower pedestrian volume. Given this overall design objective, the Community Board felt that the current version of the plaza’s design, which includes a line of five trees in the middle of the plaza with round raised bases measuring 20 feet in diameter, as well as a proposed monumental sculpture, was at variance with that objective, and might need to be revisited or scaled back. The trees and their treatment drew much discussion and varied opinions from the Community Board and members of the public that were present.
The members of the committee were concerned over the inclusion of the large trees and planters. While it was acknowledged that the planters were visually pleasing, it is feared that they may interfere with the flow of people through the plaza. Due to the number of people traveling through the space during the day, the committee’s first concern is keeping the flow of people moving. It is felt that the planters might obstruct this flow by limiting surface space and encouraging pedestrians to sit on them. All in attendance agreed on one issue–the removal of traffic obstacles lining the new pedestrian plaza adjacent to Grand Central. As a pedestrian plaza with no vehicles, with entrance from 42nd Street and other feeding streets closed off, there is no need for these anymore, and they can be removed during construction. Clayton Smith, the Parks Subcommittee Chair, mentioned that, aside from these concerns, the new plan was largely consistent with Community Board 5’s prior resolutions and concerns on the redevelopment and, in most respects, deserves support.
As a result of this, the committee voted to approve the plans on a conditional basis, using its “Deny Unless” language, to encourage the developers and planners to consider additional design elements or modifications, if possible to address the concerns brought up at the meeting.