NYC 2016

NYC 2016: Experiencing the city by bike

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I noticed right at the beginning of the residency month that using only the subway and walking was going to kill my feet. We thought cycling is an answer for that. I have previously done sightseeing in many cities from Kyoto to Berlin by bike and found it a nice way to get to know the city. Biking in a much larger city like New York made me a bit nervous in the beginning, even though I knew that numerous procedures done in recent years makes it easier and safer to bike in NYC nowadays.

How did NYC become (more) bike-friendly

The change into a bike-friendly environment happened thanks to Janette Sadik-Khan, a former Transportation commissioner of New York City. As she tells herself, in just two years after she started in the job, they had created a 200-mile bike lane network in NYC, doubling the existing 220 miles of bike lanes. I didn’t happen without resistance. One of the hottest arguments was about bringing a bike lane to Prospect Park West. Park Slope next to Prospect Park happens to be a nice and expensive neighbourhood. Prospect Park West on the other hand didn’t seem heavily trafficked at all when we went there one Friday afternoon, one of the busiest rush hours of the week. Clearly the bike lane has not been the disaster opponents were expecting, even though a former 3-lane street was transformed to a 2-laner. Actually quite the opposite has happened, since the number of accidents has decreased and traffic flow has improved, as Jeff Speck tells in his book Walkable City.

NYC (285).JPGProspect Park West.2012guidance_protectedcycletrackNYC’s Department of Traffic has worked closely with NACTO in creating street design principles. Here is an example from NACTO’s Urban Bikeway Design Guide 

Broadway bike lane and plazas

In 2008, the vehicle lanes of one of the most prominent and central streets of NYC, Broadway, were narrowed down to make room for a bike lane. Simultaneously, a series of plazas were created in the corners where diagonal Broadway meets avenues from Times Square to Union Square. In some of these plazas all motored vehicle traffic is forbidden.

NYC (552).JPGCycling in Broadway.

In action it seemed that the bike lanes and plazas slowed the motored traffic down a bit, but at the same time speeded up cycling tremendously. The sense of safety, which I very much appreciate, was better than in most streets of Helsinki. Plazas were cozy and popular places to sit down, even though they looked temporary (on purpose). It was actually hard to imagine Broadway how it must have looked like before the change.

PLACES0.jpgPlaza and a Citi Bike station along Broadway.

Biking environment in general

Subway stations are usually about ten streets or roughly one kilometer apart, and they run effectively only towards downtown both in Manhattan and Brooklyn. Luckily New York City has a Citi Bike system since 2013 and we decided to give it a try.

citibike.JPGAdjusting a Citi Bike.

Citi Bike was super easy to use and we found it affordable. You can choose between a 1-day pass, a 3-day pass or a yearly membership. You find the whole station map on their website. As usually in shared bike systems, you have to return the bike within a half an hour, but you can take as many rides as you want to. Citi Bikes are apparently popular in work commuting. During rush hour and near big workplaces Citi Bike stations were sometimes empty, but otherwise there was always a bike to rent.

We explored the city by bike several times. The combination of subway and Citi Bike worked seamlessly together and we didn’t have to walk in the heat any more than necessary. Manhattan traffic culture was quite forgiving towards cyclists and car traffic was so slow that fears quickly disappeared. It felt different to cycle in less central areas of Brooklyn, where driver is still clearly the king.

NYC (389).JPGCycling in Midtown Manhattan.

All in all, New York City has succeeded making cycling a real, approachable option in commuting and moving in the city. This has happened in just a few years, and the walking environment has improved a lot at the same time. We have a bike boom in Finland as well, so let’s keep it growing! If change  is possible in NYC, it is possible anywhere!

– Laura

 

NYC 2016: Visiting local planners pt.2

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WSP – Parsons Brinckerhoff visit

Our second chance to meet local planners was at my current (and Laura’s former) employer, WSP – Parsons Brinckerhoff’s local office in NYC. The NYC office’s history has its background in Parsons Brinckerhoff, which was founded in NYC in 1884 and merged with WSP group in 2014. PB has a long history of projects in NYC, as one of their early projects was NYC’s original IRT subway line which was opened in 1904. So we got a chance to visit a company whose designs we had also experienced as users during our trip.

newport_bridge.jpgWe crossed the Newport Bridge, which is designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff.

We had a casual meeting where we exchanged ideas about current urban planning and design topics in Finland and in the US and our approaches on design.  The contexts and scales vary of course, but a lot of the issues behind our assignments are the same at the moment. We both have projects dealing with freeway removal, transit oriented design, walkability and street transformations. These are of course global trends, so it is not that big of a surprise. But since this was a meeting between two units within the same company, we didn’t have to market ourselves.We could also talk about our daily practice and the difficulties in it openly. And surprisingly, a lot of the everyday challenges were so similar as well!

Besides the projects, the meeting was of course about cultural exchange within a global company. When you give or see presentations abroad it is not only interesting to see what is presented, but also how it is presented. We dare to say that we are at least decent presenters by Finnish standards, but we realized there’s a lot to be learned from the way US professionals present their work. They present even the every-day projects with such a confidence that many times you would expect to see something really groundbreaking, yet you don’t get the feeling of exaggeration.  I think it just shows that they take the project seriously and do it with pride. There is something endearing in our way of being (too) humble in Finland when we talk about our work, but a pinch of self-confidence wouldn’t hurt.

WSP-PB in NYC has a great midtown location which offered us a peak into the daily office life in those busy quarters. After seeing their work environment, we also got an invitation to see their after-work environment in a nearby restaurant. While the atmosphere in the initial meeting was already laid back and welcoming, it was also nice to see the ties loosen up a bit and get to know the people a bit more.

-Tomi & Laura

NYC 2016: Visiting local planners pt.1 (bye NYC!)

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Before arriving here, we arranged a few meetings in NYC with some professionals whose work was interesting and close to our own field. We got to visit two local planners: WSP-Parsons Brinckerhoff NY office and New York City Planning Departments office.

NYC Planning Department visit

A couple of weeks ago, we visited New York City Planning Department. Obviously, city planning is in a whole different scale in NYC than in Helsinki, but we found a lot of things in common as well.

We talked about New York City’s hottest development areas. Like in Helsinki, waterfront is attractive, and the focus has slowly moved outside of Manhattan. In NYC waterfront zoning, there is usually a required amount of public spaces along the water. Public access to the waterfront is usually a must. We discussed a lot about Brooklyn, which has undergone a lot of changes during its renaissance. Gowanus canal and Red Hook in Brooklyn are some of the most interesting ones. There are plans to clean up the polluted Gowanus canal, nicknamed “the Buttermilk Channel”, so that it can be turned into a canal-fronting park and develop the real estate in the area.

WP_20160821_16_04_59_Pro.jpgGowanus canal now

NYC waterfront areas have a distinct problem though – there is a risk for flooding all over lower Manhattan because of major storms. Helsinki is not as vulnerable, because it is not by the ocean and in tropical storms’ reach, but we are preparing for the climate change still. Right now in NYC there is a flood protection program on the way.

We also talked about the streetscape changes that DOT, the Department of Transport in New York has promoted and we have mentioned in previous blog posts. Among those changes is an interesting concept called “squeet” (square+street) .  In NYC there are loads of intersections where a diagonal street meets the orthogonal city grid resulting in leftover spaces in the crossroads. By reconfiguring the intersection the leftover street space can be turned into a “squeet”. The first squeet in 2007 was a former parking lot transformed into plaza: the Pearl Street Triangle in Dumbo. As explained in her book The Street Fight, Janette Sadik-Kahn stated the iniative to the transformation of the square came from the local entrepreneurs. Like the other squeets, it is a private-owned public space (POPS). There are dozens of similar privately owned public spaces in New York City, both street plazas and more park-like public spaces. The city puts a minimal public investment into changing the space and local community takes care of the maintenance.

NYC (111).JPGPearl Street Triangle in Dumbo

It seems that especially finance related issues in city planning and finding the role between a planner and a real estate finance negotiator are common problems both in Finnish planners’ life and here in NYC. In both countries the base degree for an urban planner or designer is usually an architect, which does not cover all the needed knowledge to master the profession.

The New York City Planning Department has basic planning guidelines which we could very much relate to: keeping in mind the sense of place, making plans open and accessible and designing with care. But the one that we would like to practice back home is “plans, that make us feel good” – isn’t that what it is all about?

Bye New York – blog continues

This is our last day in New York City. It has been hectic and amazing. So hectic, that many blog posts are yet to be finished – so we are publishing the last ones this and coming weeks. We will miss you!

– Laura & Tomi

NYC 2016: Street & park events

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They claim that during August, every New Yorker escapes the heat to Long Island, but the city has been anything but dead. We have bumped into some awesome summer events all over New York.

New York is a big city in population as well as in distances, but the city structure of conjoined villages makes it easy to approach. Different neighbourhoods have their own characters and local events, which are often not too big at all.

NYC park events

As I mentioned earlier, we went to see a free movie to Brooklyn Bridge Park one night. I was delighted that the movie night was well put together, yet it was not too crowded at all. I noticed that there is an impressive list of events in the park during the summer season: from kayaking and basketball to horticultural volunteering. Part of the events run understandably spring through fall only, but all in all the event calendar covers the whole year. I find this kind of an approach a real asset for the neighbourhood, increasing livability and expanding scarce living area to outdoors. As the public spaces are used more, it improves social control and thus the feeling of safety, and maybe even increases the value of the nearby apartments.

NYC (608).JPGBrooklyn Bridge Park joggers

Besides movies, there are a lot of free or low-cost events in parks all over the city. The events are gathered under one website, where you can also filter the events according to the area or activity type.

I have tried different yoga and pilates classes in Fort Tryon Park, Hudson River Park and Jane Bailey Memorial Garden. They have all been very professional and a good way to get to know NYC parks. There are so many options all over the city that groups tend to stay small and you can just sneak in. I think these kind of easily accessible events could work for example in Helsinki, too. In best case scenario you develop a closer relationship to your neighbourhood community when you start going to your local yoga.

pilates.jpgHudson River Park pilates

jooga.jpgJane Bailey Memorial Garden yoga

BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival

Celebrate Brooklyn! Festival is a one of New York City’s longest running, free, outdoor performing arts festivals and it takes place in Brooklyn’s Prospect Park. It was launched in 1979 and the organizer, Brooklyn Information & Culture or BRIC, claims that the event was an early anchor in the park’s revitalization and brought people back to the park after years of neglect. Naturally, they work in cooperation with the New York City Department of Parks & Recreation and the Prospect Park Alliance.

Two weeks ago, on a Friday night, we happened to pass by the Prospect Park festival venue and decided to stay for the concert. The performers were a psych-pop band Dr. Dog with an orchestra collective the Knights. The event was free, even though they hoped for a small donation of a few dollars at the door. Despite it being free, the venue was professionally executed, nicely decorated, not too crowded and there was plenty of lawn to lay down your picnic quilt. The food trucks deserve a special mention, because food was delicious, local and reasonably priced.

NYC 2016 känny (163).jpgCelebrate Brooklyn!

I was once again impressed how a free event can be of such high quality. Obviously, a free lunch is never free, and this event is largely funded by Friends of BRIC Celebrate Brooklyn!. There are different donor levels and benefits accordingly. I am sure that this event gathers a lot of donors since it has a distinct image and sense of locality combined with a tradition.

Street events

A long tradition is New York City is to to open up their streets to pedestrians for play on a recurrent basis under Play Streets Program. For schools and community groups with insufficient active play spaces, Play Streets open up streets in quieter blocks for physical activity. The change is meant to be permanent, but it can be easily dismantled if there was a need to do so.

I visited 78th street Play Street in Jackson Heights. The location is ideal, between a playground and a school. It is a renowned public space improval that started with the community initiative. The project began in 2007 when a group of neighborhood activists, the Jackson Heights Green Alliance (JH Green) wanted to improve and increase the amount of public space in their neighborhood. The street was quiet during the day, but even some benches and trees are obviously a welcome sign to spend time on the public space instead of walking by, or worse, driving by.

NYC (209).JPGA Play Street in Jackson Heights, Queens.

When talking about temporary street closures, Summer Streets should be mentioned. We took part in it the first Saturday of August. There will be more on that in Tomi’s recently released blog entry!

…and more

Pop-up events seem very trendy in New York at the moment. I actually noticed an event series called Pop Up New York, where they close a part of a central street every now and then to open it for people, food and live music.  think I am going to check it out this weekend.

– Laura

NYC 2016: Summer Streets

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On our first weekend here in NYC we participated in the annual Summer Streets event. It is a street celebration where nearly seven miles of streets in Manhattan, mainly Park Avenue are closed from motorized traffic and opened to the public to exploit it on foot or on a bicycle. Additionally, a big part of the intersections were closed as well and where there was crossing traffic, crossing supervisors and even police officers helped people get through safely. The event was held this year on the first three Saturdays in August between 7 am and 1 pm.

The idea for the event came from Medellín, Colombia, where they have been arranging temporary street closures on Sundays and public holidays. NYC’s first Summer Streets was arranged in 2008 and after almost a decade of arranging it, it has a long list of partners that provide activities during the event and it seems to attract a large crowd. The idea of regular street closures has also spread to other major cities around the globe, including London and Paris.

kollaasi1.jpgThe Summer Streets route map and a few views of the event

We started our exploration of the event relatively early, at 9 am and hit the route towards the grand Park Avenue. In the morning hours there were times you couldn’t see that many other cyclist or runners around so the avenue felt really spacious. It reminded me of a scene from the movie Vanilla Sky where Tom Cruise cruises around empty streets of NYC… Somehow it was a little disappointing at first that the streets weren’t packed with people. But actually, it was kind of cool to experience a major city street that way, meaning that as a pedestrian or a cyclist you are so used to the idea that you should stay on the edges of streets and keep out of the way of “real” (read cars) traffic.

summerstreet1At the early hours Park Avenue looked deserted at times…

summerstreet2
…but streets started to fill up soon.
summerstreet3Towards the end of the event there was already a pedestrian and bicycle rush hour

Being suddenly able to choose whatever lane you want and set the pace as you prefer was not only empowering and sort of cool, but also it allowed you to see the street in a totally new perspective. It is not often that you have so much time to observe sight-line endings and street side buildings. Usually there is only time for seeing the things on the ground floors of the buildings since you are concentrating on the traffic. The experience must be even more empowering for kids and other people who are not used to cycling amongst heavy traffic.

different_groupsSummer Streets attracted cyclist from different age groups

The event was of course not only about cycling. There were actually a lot of people running, walking and just lingering back and forth Park Avenue. We ran part of the route and it was great fun as you could imagine yourself taking part on a New York City marathon.

Laura_runningSpeeding through Park Avenue on foot

There were lots of other activities offered on five rest stops, including a zip-line, educational and informational stands by co-operators, art performances and fitness classes. Especially the dance-classes offered by a local studio had a nice impact on the crowd as passers-by started to spontaneously join the fun. On our journey we also stopped by at a farmer’s market along the route.

summerstreet4At the last one of our stops it was a full-on street festival with during the public dance classes

vihanneksetFarmer’s market: wow, such nice groceries!

It is no wonder that temporary street closures are listed as one of interim design strategies in NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide. I’ve been impressed here in NYC  about the not-so-polished interim designs to add bike lanes or make lane diets to streets. The street closures add another layer to thinking differently about streets as it lets you imagine in a real setting what it would be like if our streets were not dominated by cars. For example, it was great to have Kurvi Block Party in Helsinki last summer to close part of Hämeentie from motor vehicles. We should really get a regular event like Summer Streets in Helsinki as well. I think that giving us a chance to see a radically different use for streets more often would help us better imagine a streetscape that doesn’t have to be dominated by cars.

-Tomi

 

NYC 2016: Waterfronts so far so good

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New York City is surrounded by water with different uses and relationships with water. Here are some that I observed.

Outdoor living room Brooklyn Bridge Park

We went to see a free outdoor movie in Brooklyn Bridge Park one night and while there, I took a look around. It seems that there something for everyone and the park is basically an extension to their living rooms.NYC (671) muok.jpg

The park consists of several piers and a greenway which combines them. Like usually, this area used to be an industrial  harbour until the 1980s. The first redesigned piers 1 and 6 were opened to public in 2010. The construction is still going on in the pier 5.NYC (673) muok2.jpg

Each pier has a different function. There is a picnic lawn, sports fields, a sandy beach, secret hideouts under the luch vegetation, you name it. The event calendar is very impressive and offers a lot of free options. All of this is managed by the Conservancy and enabled apparently largely by volunteer work, donations and memberships.NYC (685) muok2.jpg

But despite all the activities, the view is the best part of this park.

Self-organized Hudson River Greenway

Last Sunday, I wandered around Harlem trying to find a place to read a book. Behind a railway overpass and a highway underpass the Hudson shoreline was suddenly there. And I wasn’t alone – there were dozens of locals jogging, biking and hanging around, having a nice Sunday afternoon.NYC 2016 känny (117) muok.jpg

Families had BBQs and birthday parties along with booming reggaeton music. I found it nice that people were enjoying themselves despite the elevated Henry Hudson Parkway and its enormous junction nearby. This area is a vague no-mans-land, except that it is not, because it is  very much in a proper use! Luckily the road was originally built far enough allowing the use of the waterfront.NYC 2016 känny (119) muok.jpg

Ecological values in Muscota Marsh

On the way to a free outdoor yoga class (the luxury!) I went to see the northernmost tip of Manhattan, Muscota Marsh park. It is a tiny wetland park that was built by Columbia University, in collaboration with the NYC parks department. It is place where freshwater of Hudson River and salty water of the sea meet.  There was a rich estuary ecosystem before European arrival.

I think it is amazing to have a place like this to see a bit of the the original Manhattan nature rehabilitated. Even the name is a reminder of the history: “Muscota” is the Lenape word for “meadow by the water,” or “where the reeds grow.”NYC (40) muok.jpg

The cityscape is also interesting: the gigantic Bronx apartment buildings and Henry Hudson bridge behind the peaceful marsh and Spuyten Duyvil creek. Quite a contrast!NYC (46) muok.jpg

Industrial Red Hook, soon to be developed

There was a music-and-arts festival in Red Hook last weekend. If you ask me, this kind of an industrial environment is the only appropriate background for electronic music. The venue itself, Gowanus Bay Terminal, was very far from all the public transport, but I guess you have to be willing to walk miles to see places like this.

We could have taken a ferry to the festival though, because since 2008 there has been an Ikea that is served by a ferry from downtown. The rugged industrial area is getting a real clean-up now that the construction work of an enormous Norman Foster-designed office building on the other side of Ikea begins and the development of  Fairway Market and waterfront gets going. I predict it is “bye-bye festivals” soon.NYC 2016 känny (170) muok.jpg

Echoes from the past in Coney Island

Last week we took an impromptu trip to Coney Island. Brighton Beach was the last stop of a subway line, far away from the city both in my mind and in reality. Russian-language signs, high residential blocks and the suddenly opening beach behind them make a peculiar mix. The amusement park was a refreshingly old-school place, like time has stopped in the early 1900s. On a weekday the beach was half-empty.NYC (352) muok2.jpg

– Laura

Bonus: Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis Reservoir

Tomi admires the Central Park view.NYC (384) muok2.jpg

NYC 2016: Visiting NACTO

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We got the opportunity to visit the National Association of City Transportation Officials’ (NACTO) headquarters here in NYC last week and meet two members of their Global Designing Cities Initiative program.  NACTO is a non-profit coalition between 42 US  and 4 international cities (Canada and Mexico) that promotes cities’ interest in federal decision making regarding transportation and works as a knowledge sharing network. As mentioned before as a part of the knowledge sharing they’ve made an impressive set of street design manuals with distinctive, comprehensible and high-class visuals.

nactovisualsimage 1: Example of the appealing visuals of Transit Street Design Guide by NACTO

I first came across with NACTO’s guidebooks when I was working in WSP Finland on a project to set principles for designing Espoo’s city centers to more urban areas. Going deeper into the ingredients of urbanity, walkability stood out as one of the main components of urban neighborhoods. Most of the (sub)urban centers in Finland are missing a public environment and streets that encourage to walk. Looking through Finnish cities’ street dimensioning manuals I noticed that most of them could be improved with a more complete spatial vision of streetscapes (image 2 shows a typical representation of street type). This is why I started to look for examples from abroad.

HKI-pääkatuimage 2: A typical Finnish depiction of a street type. 

As it turns out, we are not of course alone with our pursue for walkability and automobile-centric practices in designing streets are still a norm also here in the US. As Jeff Speck puts it in his book Walkable City “What characterizes the discussion on cities these days is not a wrongheadedness or a lack of awareness about what needs to be done, but rather a complete disconnect between that awareness and the actions of those responsible for the physical form of our communities”. Like in Finland, also in the US urban street design is often hampered by instructions made for either suburban or highway conditions that lack the understanding of streetscapes as important public spaces. That’s the reason why e.g. NYC Department of Traffic lead by commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan worked with NACTO on street designs more appropriate for city needs.

Seeing NACTO’s Urban Street Design Guide is like a breath of fresh air among street manuals. It is immediately comprehensible and it has great visuals to support the ideas. Already in the beginning of the book the street design principles set the tone for human-centric and versatile approach (see the principles below in picture 3).

NACTO-street-principlesimage 3: Street design principles from Urban Street Design Guide by NACTO

Downtown Transit corrdi.jpgimage 4: Downtown transit street from Transit Street Design Guide by NACTO

Taking things to the global level

We were super lucky to get an appointment now in August since it was a hectic time in NACTO’s office: they are just about to publish a new book called Global Street Design Guide. A guidebook that tries to address street design issues on a global level might feel a bit of an exaggeration at first, but when it comes to walkability and streets as public space, things are truly global. After all, doing pedestrian-friendly environment is about human dimensions which are universal. And as we got to see some sections from the upcoming book, human-centered design is indeed the focal point of the book as seen in the great visual seen in image 5. Helsinki has also made a similar prioritization in its traffic development plan but yet again NACTO does the same accompanied with great complementing imagery.

NACTO_GSDG_Teaser_final_v15_Page_1image 5: Prioritization pyramid from Global Street Design Guide by NACTO

Another important and ambitious point in the global guide is to build a worldwide peer-to-peer network and to collect a good set of best practices from around the globe. (E.g. Helsinki has also contributed some examples to the upcoming manual.) Typically in Finland one might look at a street design recommendation and think “how does this work with snow”. The idea in the global guide is to show more general principles on comfortable, safe and delightful street designs in the manual and have the global network of cities as an extra support for more detailed solutions. The global network has also provided realized examples of different street solutions which is a great addition to the visual representations.

It is also interesting to notice in this kind of peer-to-peer meetings that although the contexts may vary, a lot of the current topics are the same. For example we all shared the notion that different professions in planning tend have different approaches and this kind of proactive street design guidelines should be made as a multidisciplinary joint effort. I think this is why it is important to share the experiences and knowledge instead of competing professionally and NACTO is doing a great job in that!

-Tomi

WP_20160810_12_05_38_ProTwo happy urban designers after a great visit to NACTO.

PS. On our way to the meeting we got a good example of the versatile transport options in NYC. As we were heading to the meeting office the subway train suddenly stopped about 15 streets away from NACTO’s headquarters. We first tried to walk (a little bit of runnig occured as well 🙂 ) but we soon noticed a Citibike-station nearby. Luckily it is quite quick to purchase a day-pass to the system! Thanks to this unusual travel-chain we were able to make it to the meeting on time.

NYC 2016: Changing High Line pt.2

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Spatial structure and views

The scenery and spatial structure of the park has changed a lot compared to the last time I visited it. At first I couldn’t tell exactly what was so different, but then I realized that vegetation has grown so much it is hard to recognize places. Paths are narrower and there is more shadow all over. Tall grass creates isolated spaces for lingering. In some sections, grown trees hide the urban landscape outside of the High Line and you can almost pretend you are somewhere away from the city.

NYC (106).JPGWildness in the city.

The quiet benches on the edges of the park offer good places for people observing. In a way, the life and people are the main attraction of the park. On the other hand, people sitting behind the tall grass are almost like elegant statues.

People that are walking on the High Line are also observed by residents on the neighbouring apartments. Most of the new residential buildings had balconies facing the park. That means that the residents are also being watched by the people strolling in the park. From a Finnish point of view that is quite hard to comprehend – in Finland, privacy is highly valued.

NYC (117) muok.jpgPrivate terraces by the High Line. 

Not that people are the only thing worth observing here. There are several viewing points where you can look at the skyline in the distance and roaring traffic below the High Line. I find it quite interesting that the city itself is seen as a valuable ever-changing landscape, with the traffic noise and all. And since the park flows through the block structure you’ll get to see the insides of the perimeter blocks that remain a mystery when walking in the surrounding streets.

The questions of temporality and conservation

Walking along the High Line I noticed a lot of temporary structures where there were building sites. Sometimes it was hard to tell what was temporary and what was not – beautifully curved canopies turned out to be Zaha Hadid’s designs. This could be a good point to learn in Finland as well – temporary can and should look beautiful. Pedestrians’ safety and orienting should always be the main concern around the building sites. If they are well taken care of, suddenly it doesn’t even matter if there is a construction work going on.

NYC (180) muok2.jpgZaha’s construction shed.

As the environment is in constant change, the whole question of a “ready” or “temporary” seems to become irrelevant. When is the High Line with its surroundings built ready? Does the area lose something of its rough charm if it is doomed ready?

The uniqueness of Chelsea was noticed as it was designated as a Historic District 1970. In 2008, a new Historic District focusing on the industrial history in West Chelsea was approved. It seems that the previously mentioned Zaha Hadid luxury apartment house is rising in that small historic district. Without a doubt, many others are also interested in building there. But every time a new design is erected, a piece of the original landscape disappears. Ultimately, what will there left of the industrial Chelsea and the High Line? At least the locals are worried: there is a community-based organization Save Chelsea that wants to maintain the economic, social and architectural variety in the area. After all, that very history is the base of all the recent development and added value.

– Laura

NYC 2016: Changing High Line pt.1

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From an industrial rail to a park

I am quite sure that everyone who is into urban planning and urban development especially in industrial areas is familiar with the High Line. But if not, let’s revise the history quickly. The High Line was an elevated rail that ran from 34th Street to St John’s Park Terminal. As the goods traffic ended in 1980, a group of property owners lobbied for demolition, but thanks to local activists, planning for the reuse started in the early 2000s instead. Finally, the first part of the new park was opened in 2009.

I was lucky to visit it soon after its opening in 2010. I was interested in urban fallow visions and city transforming through regeneration. The High Line was a perfect example of those optimistic visions becoming true. Back then only the first part from Gansevoort Street to West 20th Street was open. Nevertheless, I was thrilled. The transformation was successful – there was a distinctive touch of the industrial past left to see and the landscape architecture adapts to the existing structures seamlessly. The park seemed to be very popular then, and now even more. The latest figures show it has nearly 6 million visitors per year.

P1070188.JPGThe High Line, second section.

High Line and surroundings go hand in hand

Obviously the development of the High Line park has benefited a lot from the on-going gentrification of Meatpacking District and Chelsea. The area has transformed into one of the trendiest – and most expensive – neighbourhoods, and for example Chelsea Market in that area is another successful example of industrial turned commercial. In 2005, much of West Chelsea was rezoned to allow the reuse of High Line and to encourage the residential development and the use of former industrial spaces as art galleries, while maintain the mix of residential, light industrial and retail uses.

NYC 2016 (29) muok.jpg520 West 28th is advertised to the strollers on the High Line.

The success of the High Line and other projects has attracted high-end architecture and investments in Chelsea-Meatpacking District area. Back in 2010 there were already shiny new buildings surrounding the High Line, such as the world headquarters of IAC by Frank Gehry and the residential building “Vision Machine” by Jean Nouvel. Now I noticed the well-advertised Zaha Hadid design, which is a luxury apartment building, and Thomas Juul’s new double apartment complex. Many residential or commercial buildings, often designed by big names, are yet to be finished. Everybody is trying to ride the High Line wave. But with the visitor numbers like these, who wouldn’t? The cityscape around the High Line is mixed and puzzle-like and tolerates well different types of buildings. The big object-like buildings are observed from an elevated level, which makes the scenery far more interesting than observing from the street level.  The starchitect designs are changing the High Line more like an architecture outdoor gallery though, adding the hype and making prices skyrocket.

NYC 2016 (48).JPGIAC headquarters and the Vision Machine seen from the High Line.

At the southern end there is the new building of Whitney Museum of American Art. It is designed by Renzo Piano, and includes approximately 50,000 square feet of indoor galleries and 13,000 square feet of outdoor exhibition space and terraces facing the High Line. I think that along the outdoor architecture gallery the museum fits in the place perfectly. Coming from the north, it frames the view elegantly.

NYC 2016 (148)_muok.jpgThe terraced building of Whitney Museum of  American Art.

NYC 2016 (21)_muok2.jpgWhitney’s main entrance creates a pleasant plaza in the front.

Hudson Yards development

The third section of the High Line opened in September 2014. The part seems to be still very much in progress, especially because there is a large construction site next to the railyard. I found out that this site is the largest private real estate development in the history of the United States, the Hudson Yards. When completed in 2024, 125 000 people a day will work in, visit, or live in Hudson Yards. I was surprised to find out that the High Line is barely mentioned in their site although one third of it literally wraps around the development site. The High Line is featured as “a neighbouring park”. Curious!

P1070146.JPGHudson Yards site.

Success attracts everybody

The smell of success attracts the most imaginative projects to hop on the High Line train. Recently, a project called the Lowline, an underground park, got New York City’s official approval. Although this project is not connected with the High Line as far as I can tell, just the name alone connects it with its predecessor. The Lowline Lab is yet to be visited, hopefully there is time for it next week.

More reflecting on the High Line following soon in an another post!

-Laura