Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey37The Street Grid Urban Design ElementsThe street grid of Manhattan has evolved constantly throughout the city’shistory. Streets added in one century are often unrecognizable in the following,leaving historians with little evidence of what came before. The city’s remark-able growth has pushed development forward at exponential rates, with newstreets added and existing ones reconfigured to accommodate more peopleand new uses. Nowhere is this more true than in Lower Manhattan. While muchof Manhattan north of Canal Street is laid out in a perpendicular grid withnorth-south avenues and east-west streets, such tidy intersections are oftena far cry from the intricate maze that is Lower Manhattan. With a mix of avenues and curving streets wending their way among tall officetowers and the city’s oldest buildings, Lower Manhattan reflects both the ear-liest history of Manhattan and its modern reimagining. Streets designed toaccommodate 17th century pedestrian traffic are today crowded with cars,buses and trucks, all attempting to weave their way through narrow, sky-scraper-lined canyons. We must reconcile twenty-first century demands fora pedestrian-friendly public realm, sites for future development, and accessibletransportation facilities with the existing configuration of downtown streets.There is no one exact street grid to be restored. The World Trade Center siteitself was a part of the Hudson River in the 17th century, when GreenwichStreet formed the western boundary of Manhattan. Since that time, Manhattanhas extended progressively further west into the Hudson River, with Greenwich,Washington and West Streets each serving as the island’s western boundary atone point in the city’s history. With the construction of Battery Park City in the1970s, the Manhattan coastline pushed beyond West Street to where it is today.Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey38The Street GridUrban Design ElementsHistoric Maps of the Downtown Street GridIn 1766, when this map was first published,Greenwich Street marked the westernboundary of Manhattan. Though LowerManhattan today little resembles what itdid in the late 18th century, we can stillfind such landmarks as Trinity Church andCity Hall Park on the map.By 1797, just thirty years later, thebeginnings of Washington Street can beseen along the western shoreline,though the street did not connect southbeyond Liberty Street. Greenwich Streethad also been widened to accommodatemore north- south traffic. Slowly, more andmore land was added to the Hudson Riverpiers.Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey39The Street GridUrban Design ElementsBy the late 19th century, as seen in this1867 map, both Greenwich and WashingtonStreets connected directly to the southerntip of Manhattan. The city had expandedfurther into the Hudson, with West Streetnow forming the city’s boundary. Just aswith Washington and Greenwich Streets,West Street also ran to Battery Park.The building of the World Trade Center(1966-1973) transformed the street grid ofLower Manhattan. A superblock boundedby Vesey, Church, Liberty and West Streetsdivided both Greenwich and WashingtonStreets into two. The boundary of Manhattanwas pushed westwards as the ninety-twoacre Battery Park City was created withmaterial excavated during the constructionof the World Trade Center.West St.Church St.Liberty St.Vesey St.BroadwayCITYHALLPARKTrinity Pl.Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey40The Street GridUrban Design ElementsNorth-South CorridorsThere are several possible changes to the Lower Manhattan street grid thatshould be explored. A north-south connection through the site could be achieved through the exten-sion of Greenwich Street, an alternative which became a possibility followingthe decision not to rebuild 7 World Trade Center over the former GreenwichStreet right of way. Greenwich Street, which had formerly been interruptedat Barclay Street, could be connected all the way through to Liberty Street,allowing for greater traffic movement down the west side to the southern tip ofManhattan. This extension could also create a long view corridor extendingfrom Lower Manhattan north to TriBeCa, allowing for increased light and air.This extension could be accomplished by either extending Greenwich Streetthrough the site and then having it connect up directly with the remainder ofGreenwich below Liberty Street or by extending Greenwich through the siteto connect to Washington Street.Greenwich Streetlooking north fromthe BrooklynBattery Tunnelapproach.Greenwich Streetlooking southfrom FultonStreet.Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey41The Street GridUrban Design ElementsEast-West CorridorsAn east-west connection through the site could be achieved by the extensionof Fulton Street. With this alternative, Fulton Street, which currently extendswest from South Street to Church Street, could be extended across to WestStreet. Just as extending Greenwich could create a strong north-south trafficaxis, so too could extending Fulton Street to West Street create an east-westaxis running from the South Street Seaport to the World Financial Center. Thisextension could run straight across to the World Financial Center or it couldbend to culminate at the Winter Garden, creating an impressive approach tothe World Financial Center.With four subway lines converging at the Fulton Street Station, this corridoris already an important hub of activity for Lower Manhattan. The creation ofan east-west axis with view corridors extending to Battery Park City couldcreate a dramatic entrance just at the point where many travelers to LowerManhattan arrive and surface from the subway.Fulton Street looking west from Broadway.Other CorridorsLike Fulton Street, Cortlandt, Dey and Liberty Streets could also be extendedto the west to allow for expanded view corridors and increased light and air.The expansion of these streets would allow more options for traffic flows,which could potentially ease some of the burden of already overcrowdedstreets. The new streets could be open to all traffic, limited to service vehi-cles, or set aside for pedestrians.Lower Manhattan Development CorporationPort Authority of New York and New Jersey42The Street GridUrban Design ElementsDey Street looking west
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