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New Pedestrian Plaza Eyed for Site Near World Trade Center




The entire Site 5 (within green line) was the site of the Deutsche Bank building, damaged during the Sept. 11 attacks. The red line denotes area being considered for a pedestrian plaza and Greenmarket. Photo: Joe Woolhead


By AMANDA WOODS
Jul. 07, 2014

A newly vacant, 7,000-square-foot lot near the World Trade Center site may be on its way to becoming a pedestrian plaza with seating and tables, greenery, film screenings and, eventually, the long-awaited return of a neighborhood Greenmarket.

The block-long space at Albany Street between Washington and Greenwich—part of a larger, 32,000-square-foot lot known as Site 5—served as the queuing area for ticketed visitors to the September 11 Memorial. The space was vacated on May 15, when the September 11 Museum opened and visitors gained free access to the plaza.

On July 1, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp reacquired the space from the Memorial and, along with the city and the Downtown Alliance, is pondering its future use.

First and foremost, that appears to be a Greenmarket, also favored by Community Board 1.

To test the foot traffic for an eventual Greenmarket, officials from the city’s Department of Transportation and the Downtown Alliance told CB1's Financial District Committee last week that they are working to close the nearby Washington Street Plaza, between Carlisle and Albany streets, and create a new plaza in the former queuing area.

“We think that by moving tables and chairs into the space, and moving some of the planters into the space, activating it with games, movies and other things like that, the community could start to embrace it,” Dan Ackerman, the Alliance’s chief of staff, told the committee. He added that the Alliance would like to see market stalls “right to the edge of the site on Greenwich Street.”

Long-term plans for the entire Site 5 remain uncertain. A “general project plan” for the space, formerly occupied by the demolished Deutche Bank Building, calls for a 1.3-million-square-foot office tower. That plan would not be feasible with the already excessive supply of office space in the area, David Emil, president of the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., told CB1's Executive Committee last month. The future of the site, he said, depends largely on public feedback.