A Totally Feasible Plan to Turn Manhattan’s Busiest Street Into a 40-Block Park

New York City has plenty of parking lot that vamp mature theodolite substructure : TheHigh Line transmute a run-down get up rail path , theLowline repossess forgotten tunnels . But neither of those is as ambitious as the Green Line , a conception that would turn a major street into a additive park .

The Green Line is an idea by the architects atPerkins Eastmanto make the 40 mental block from Central Park to Union Square into acar - free public space . But the Green Line would do much more than that : It would also tie in many of Manhattan ’s revitalized walker - only plazas — Times Square , Madison Square Park , Herald Square — in effect make a continuous greenbelt ply through the mall of the city .

Perkins Eastman principalJonathan Cohn walks Dezeen through the idea , which is not only about giving more park infinite to New Yorkers but also a way to clean local waterways and stormproof the city . put back the mineral pitch with forage and other plantings ( called bioswales in landscape computer architecture terms ) would avail rain down to be absorbed into the footing on the spot . This would not only forestall flooding but would clean that water supply rather of flush it across Manhattan ’s paved open and floor those toxin into rivers and the sea .

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This sounds somewhat awesome , and not really any more basal than the idea to set apart 750 acres for Central Park 162 years ago . Hamburg is actually doing something like . Should we worry about kicking cars off Broadway?Not really . In fact , it might actuallyhelp traffic menstruum . When street in Times Square were closed as part of its footer plaza conversion , itimproved vehicular congestion . And this mode citizenry on bikes would have their own dedicated cycling highway through the center of much of the island , which means cars might get back a fleck of the real estate dedicated to motorcycle on other streets .

Over at CityLab , Kriston Capps asks a crucial question : Does New York really demand another High product line ? The biggest unfavorable judgment of the High Line is that the blocks around it have boom with ultra - luxury living accommodations and retail which has middling much price out anyone around it . ( I presuppose one might say the same thing happened around Central Park . )

Broadway already has some of the highest real estate price in the urban center , so I do n’t see much speedy gentrification in its hereafter . If anything , it would poke out the Central Park “ lung ” of Manhattan down through some of the depleted - income part of the city , making access to green distance more equitable . Plus , manypedestrian deaths would no doubt be preventedby remove cars from such a busy street . The Green Line would make New York City much more livable for everyone . And so much hefty .

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