ISLAND ZERO: One Year Later

One Year Overkill? It’s true, and we are all guilty and yet still overdoing it. But we all see that so many of these feelings are worth being replayed, reprised, and refelt until we get a handle on them. Sure, we are all periodically aghast about some element of the redevelopment or repopulation of the World Trade Center site, and that’s why we can’t help but be a part of a dramatic civic process that is defining how western 21st century cities see themselves. This week, Waterwire offers a few reminders to all involved in this process—that’s you.

Ground Zero for Governance

Governance of the site has created enormous tension. Whether the Port Authority surrenders control of the site in exchange for the land under NYC’s two airports remains to be seen. But if we’re trading apples and oranges already, why not let NYC throw the East River Bridges into the deal? As a trade, the PA could then use revenues from East River Bridge tolls to support a comprehensive regional ferry service.

Ever since the geographic whole of the NY-NJ Harbor Estuary was divided into New Jersey and New York in 1665, regional factionalism has undermined our ability to harness the greatest value of our waterways as natural assets. The Erie Canal allowed New York to leap ahead, but the laying of rails across America enabled New Jersey to catch up. In that everything connected in nature is divorced in politics, the NY-NJ metro waterfront region is losing out to other, lesser harbors.

The Chesapeake Bay markets their environment; the Port of Long Beach is investing dramatically in intermodal facilities. In San Francisco, $1 from every toll on the Bay Bridge is used to support the ferry system. In our region, we still only see ferry service growing where the economic elite can afford it. The middle class and the poor are missing the boat because there is no boat available to them. Shouldn’t water transit be subsidized like all other forms of public transportation? There are other issues.

Ground Zero is an Island

Perhaps the most limiting factor for reclaiming the Lower Manhattan waterfront is the fact that our ideas for a waterfront city are derived only from places we’ve seen before—and most of us haven’t traveled nearly enough.

These models are generally based on two extremes. One is the 19th century industrial belt like that of Constable Hook or Sunset Park, which squelches any other uses and occludes any type of access. The second is the 20th century parkway, like a Harlem River Drive or Route 21, which only reinforces the edge condition created by the waterfront. The space between the highway and the water is often too narrow to be pleasant or useful. Even in Battery Park City, where thousands enjoy Manhattan’s premier promenade every day, there are serious design flaws. The lack of bollards or gates along the Battery Park City seawall (at right) was a tremendous barrier to rescue efforts on 9/11/2001.

One of the largest visions for the area surrounding Ground Zero is Sen. Chuck Schumer’s proposal for a “green wrap,” connecting Hudson River Park and East River Park around the tip of Lower Manhattan. Will this vision for a 21st century waterfront accommodate waste transfer stations or concrete plants that are truly needed to support a business district that is surrounded by water? Will the bulkhead have the tie-ups needed for vessels in the event another 250,000+ person evacuation has to be staged in the future?

Ground Zero of the Region’s Knowledge Base

Much has been said about the loss of financial expertise in the knowledge base of the economy, in both human and professional terms. What has been largely overlooked is the loss of policy expertise the region has suffered. Also lost in this tragedy were hundreds of public employees in key government agencies like the NY Metro Transportation Council and the Port Authority of NY&NJ. Many New York State employees were killed. Ironically, many of their departments had been the very first to arrive as tenants in the complex three decades ago. With train delays, and bridge and tunnel scares almost commonplace, we have all been reminded in the last year that transportation and commerce are probably the two key determinants to our region’s overall quality of life. On 9/11 we lost irreplaceable expertise in these fields, but perhaps we can honor these endeavors with the creation of magnet or vocational schools in emerging waterfront centers like the Military Ocean Terminal-Bayonne and Governors Island to cultivate the next generation of innovators and experts.

Ground Zero is a Place

It is all hallowed ground. As is Washington Square Park, Madison Square Park, even the land beneath the 290 Broadway Federal Office Building. Every one of these places was a burial ground, but has been largely reclaimed for human use. At Ground Zero, the footprints of Towers 1 & 2 are the most hallowed (in my mind at least), mostly because they were the symbolic center of our entire region, perhaps the nation.

But it seems that Church Street, Park Row, or the roofs of buildings blocks away where there were other victims, illustrates the fact that the hallowed ground is much, much larger than the 16-acre footprint of the WTC complex. In the big picture, this 16-acre footprint is not nearly large enough to solve the real issues facing our region.

Summary

The visions for Ground Zero have ranged from a memorial fountain to the transformation of the 16 acres into a memorial pool fed by a Liberty Street Canal. What we seem to be forgetting is that the water is not just an aesthetic element, but critical to the future performance of the land in the worst of conditions.

From the billions of gallons that were sprayed upon the WTC site to the waterways that surround it, the water must be seen as the most critical element of Lower Manhattan’s renewal. Whereas bridges and tunnels are enclosed spaces with limited ingress and egress, the waterways are largely open corridors. The waterfront is a place that offers natural benefits for recreational and commercial uses alike—often in the same space.

Visit The Battery some morning and see commuters carrying brief cases walking by fishermen reeling in striped bass right next to the working tug boat waiting for the next assignment. On the water, a commuter ferry will pass behind an oil lighter while kayakers stroke their way along the shore. Often, a giant cruise ship like a floating hotel will arrive and reload with enormous transfers of passengers and goods that enhance this region’s role as a service and distribution center. The waterways make this all possible. Global warming or not, the waterways are the closest thing to permanent infrastructure there is.