Chapter 4: Urban Design and Visual Resources A. CONCLUSIONS OF THE FGEIS The FGEIS concluded that the Approved Plan will not result in any significant adverse impact on urban design or visual resources. Rather, it will significantly enhance the urban design and visual characteristics of the Project Site and the surrounding area. The Approved Plan will create new open spaces that will enliven the Project Site and surrounding area (see Chapter 6 of the FGEIS, Open Space ). Other proposed uses will be in keeping with former uses at the WTC Site and add cultural uses supportive of existing uses in the study area. Retail frontage along the sidewalks will increase pedestrian traffic, compared with pre-september 11 conditions. While there will be less office development, compared with pre-september 11 conditions, the overall density of development on the site will be comparable to pre-september 11 conditions. Division of the WTC Site into four blocks will improve its integration into the neighborhood as compared to the superblock. Extending Fulton and Greenwich Streets through the WTC Site will create new view corridors to the west and east, and north and south. This will benefit the neighborhood south of Liberty Street that has been isolated by the superblock of the former WTC and the lack of view corridors through the WTC Site. It was also proposed that the Southern Site be reconfigured to open Cedar Street between Greenwich and Washington Streets. Freedom Tower, which will be located at the northwest corner of the WTC Site, will reintroduce a very tall, iconic structure to the skyline. This will be a shift from the southwest quadrant, where the Twin Towers formerly stood. The height of Towers 2 through 5 will be similar to, and the design in keeping with, the tradition of modern development on the WTC Site, the Southern Site, and the study area. They will increase bulk along Church Street on the WTC Site and on the south end of the Southern Site. The five towers will block views across the WTC Site. However, these views were blocked by development on the Project Site prior to September 11, and no view corridors will be affected. Views south from the Memorial to 90 West Street will be partially blocked by St. Nicholas Church. B. PROPOSED REFINEMENTS POTENTIALLY AFFECTING URBAN DESIGN AND VISUAL RESOURCES SOUTHWEST QUADRANT Proposed Refinements to the design of this quadrant are intended for both aesthetic improvements and better visitor management. The most notable change would be removing the access ramp for the underground vehicular network from the south side of the Memorial. Other contemplated refinements or revisions to the Memorial and Memorial Center designs include 4-1
World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan Environmental Assessment for Proposed Refinements reducing the number of pedestrian ramps connecting to the below grade area from four to two: one for entrance and one for exit, located between the two footprint voids. The small entrance structure for the Memorial Center would be moved north of its previous location, opening up the southwest corner of the Memorial plaza to provide a space for commemorative gatherings. Further, the overall area of the Memorial would increase by over 34,000 square feet. NORTHWEST QUADRANT The at-grade separation of Freedom Tower and the Performing Arts Complex, intended to enhance the prominence of the cultural institution, would be increased from 30 feet to 60 feet to allow development of an additional public open space. The design of the Performing Arts Complex could include cantilevers, but any cantilevers on the north, east, and south façade would be subject to the City s agreement. The cantilevers would allow greater flexibility in the design of the complex. SOUTHERN SITE As previously described, the Proposed Refinements would move the vehicular access ramp to the south side of Liberty Street. The ramp entrance and exit would be on the western end of Liberty Park. To accommodate the ramp, portions of Liberty Park would be raised above grade by approximately 20 to 30 feet. The refinements would also expand the size of Liberty Park by approximately 11,400 square feet. The widths of sidewalks surrounding Liberty Park would be decreased. With the anticipated redesign of Liberty Park, the location of St. Nicholas Church would be moved from the western to the eastern portion of the park. Its site would also be increased from about 5,200 square feet to up to approximately 6,000 square feet. The Approved Plan would have reopened the block of Cedar Street between Washington and Greenwich Streets and allowed traffic to flow west across the Southern Site. With the Proposed Refinements, this block of Cedar Street would remain closed. It is possible that a vehicular culde-sac aligned generally with Cedar Street may be created on the north side of Tower 5. TOWER DESIGN As in the Approved Plan, there would be no more than 10 million square feet of commercial office space. The Proposed Refinements would shift office space from Tower 5 to the towers on the WTC Site. Specifically, Tower 5 would have approximately 1.2 to 1.5 million square feet, rather than 1.5 to 2 million square feet. Towers on the WTC Site would total approximately 8.5 to 8.8 million square feet, rather than 8.0 to 8.5 million square feet. The proposed shapes or bulk forms of Towers 2, 3, 4, and 5 have been slightly modified to maintain the downward spiral form of the relative tower heights while providing commercially viable floor plates. Specified streetwall heights would be in the range of 85 feet to 130 feet and possibly up to 150 feet. OPEN SPACE The refinements to Liberty Park are described above under Southern Site. The Memorial plaza open space would increase by approximately 34,000 square feet. Refinements to other open spaces would reduce the dimensions of Wedge of Light Plaza by approximately 7,200 square 4-2
Chapter 4: Urban Design and Visual Resources feet to accommodate the new Tower 2 footprint and an adjustment to the location of the permanent WTC PATH Transit Hall. The open space of PATH Plaza would also be reduced by approximately 1,800 square feet. September 11 Place would be a largely covered public open space beneath the canopy of the Cultural/Museum Complex open on several sides. In addition, a new approximately 12,000-square-foot open space would be created in the area between Freedom Tower and the Performing Arts Complex to both enhance the identity of the cultural institutions and provide additional attractive public open space. C. PROBABLE IMPACTS OF THE PROPOSED REFINEMENTS SOUTHWEST QUADRANT Removing the access ramp for the underground vehicular network from the south side of the Memorial would significantly enhance the ambience of the southern edge of the Memorial plaza by removing vehicular traffic and its noise and by improving sight lines to and from Liberty Street. Reducing the number of pedestrian ramps connecting to the below-grade area from four to two would increase the size of the plaza at grade. The approximately 34,000-square-foot increase in area would enhance the Memorial setting. Moving the small entrance structure for the Memorial Center north would allow the southwest corner of the plaza to be open space to accommodate commemorative gatherings. NORTHWEST QUADRANT The increase in the at-grade separation of Freedom Tower and the Performing Arts Complex would enhance the prominence of the cultural institutions by more clearly separating them from Freedom Tower. An attractive publicly accessible open space at this location would benefit occupants and visitors to both buildings. The possibility of cantilevers would allow the architect more discretion in designing the building and accommodating its program. Cantilevers could also create a more dramatic design and could provide a canopy for weather protection to pedestrians on the surrounding sidewalks and in the open space in the mid-block. SOUTHERN SITE To accommodate the vehicular access ramp in the western end of Liberty Park, portions of Liberty Park would be raised above grade by approximately 20 to 30 feet. This would block views south to the lowest levels of a highly ornamented façade of 90 West Street. This change in grade would be similar to changes in grade at the Irish Hunger Memorial and in Teardrop Park in Battery Park City as well as grade changes between the sidewalk and the park along portions of Central Park West. Since the ground level on the Liberty Park site generally slopes down to the west, the changed elevation in the middle and the western end of the park would be less noticeable from Greenwich Street on the east. The proposed elevation at the western side of the park would allow potential new viewing opportunities looking north toward the Memorial. As described in Chapter 5, Historic Resources, this difference in grade is not expected to have a significant adverse impact on 90 West Street. Further, as the overall area of Liberty Park would be expanded, these refinements would represent an improvement in the urban design character of the park. Placing St. Nicholas Church on the eastern portion of Liberty Park would move it farther away from the traffic along Route 9A. While it would block views of 90 West Street from near the 4-3
World Trade Center Memorial and Redevelopment Plan Environmental Assessment for Proposed Refinements intersection of Greenwich and Liberty Streets, it would no longer block views from the Memorial plaza or Route 9A to 90 West Street. As stated above, the raised grade of Liberty Park would reduce views of the 90 West Street façade, but at approximately 20-30 feet high, it would likely be lower than the church structure would be expected to rise. Overall, moving the site for the church would not have a significant impact on urban design or visual character. With the Proposed Refinements, the block of Cedar Street between Washington and Greenwich Streets would remain closed to vehicular through-traffic. It is possible that a vehicular cul-de-sac aligned with Cedar Street may be created on the north side of Tower 5. This change would not significantly affect views, since there would still be an open area between Tower 5 and Liberty Park. The removal of vehicular through-traffic would improve the environment of the park on its south side and would create a less busy setting for those enjoying the open spaces of the park. Overall, the Proposed Refinements affecting the Southern Site are not expected to result in significant adverse impacts to urban design and visual resources. TOWER DESIGN The Proposed Refinements would shift office space from Tower 5 to Towers 2 through 4 on the WTC Site. Since the reduction in bulk would affect only one building and the resultant increase in bulk elsewhere might be split between three buildings, the reduction would likely be more noticeable. As described above, as in the Approved Plan, there would be no more than 10 million square feet of commercial office space on the site. In any case, since the overall bulk of office development would not change there would be no adverse impact to urban design or visual character. The specified streetwall heights are in keeping with other street walls in the study area and would not be considered to have an impact on the urban design of the area, which includes street walls of varying heights. OPEN SPACE As described above, the refinements would significantly expand the area of Liberty Park and the Memorial plaza, and would add a new open space between Freedom Tower and the Performing Arts Complex. However, the area of Wedge of Light Plaza would be reduced by approximately 7,200 square feet, which would be a negative change for this specific open space. However, the essential shape and character of the plaza would not be changed. Further, since Fulton Street would continue to run between the two sections of the plaza, and by using the complementary pavement treatments to give the appearance of a continuous space, the size of the plaza visually would continue to be enlarged by the bed of the street. PATH Plaza would also be smaller by approximately 1,800 square feet. In terms of the overall amount of open space on the Project Site, the decrease in size of Wedge of Light Plaza and PATH Plaza would be more than offset by the increase in the amount of open space in the Memorial and Liberty Park, and the addition of the new open space between Freedom Tower and the Performing Arts Complex (see Chapter 6, Open Space ). Overall, these refinements to open space would not be considered a significant adverse impact on urban design or visual resources. With the contemplated design, September 11 Place would be a covered public open space beneath the canopy of the Cultural/Museum Complex. It would be open to the Memorial plaza and the sidewalk. It would still welcome visitors arriving at the WTC Site, the Memorial, and the cultural uses of the Approved Plan. Further, the canopy would provide protection to visitors 4-4
Chapter 4: Urban Design and Visual Resources from rain as well as sun on hot summer days. Having the Cultural/Museum complex as a canopy would enhance the use and function of September 11 Place and would not have a significant adverse impact on urban design or visual resources. 4-5