Brookfield Properties wants to removed the grandest staircase in the city in the Winter Garden at the World Financial Center over the objections of City Planning Commission chair Amanda Burden, according to a report today by Julie Shapiro at DNAinfo.com.
John Zuccotti, a former chair of the City Planning Commission and the chairman of Brookfield Properties, wrote the commission June 23 that the sumptuous, semi-circular marble staircase needs to be removed "to clear a path for a new pedestrian tunnel beneath West Street," the article said.
"If the staircase stays in place, commuters exiting the tunnel will run directly into the 88-foot-by-15-foot wall that supports the steps, 'creating choke points and major inconvenience for pedestrians, severely impeding the flow of traffic," according to the Zuccotti letter quoted in the article.
"Our proposal removes the wall and the steps, restoring the unobstructed view of the Winter Garden and river beyond," Zuccotti's letter continued.
That proposal, of course, would probably doom the chances of sinking West Street into a tunnel along Battery Park City to improve pedestrian access to it and provide substantial new public open space for Lower Manhattan.
The Winter Garden is the centerpiece of the World Financial Center and was designed by Cesar Pelli as the spectacular downtown equivalent of the great ticket hall of Grand Central Terminal in midtown, which does not have its gigantic, telescoping skylights and enormous window fronting on a very large plaza, a big "big yacht" basin, the Hudson River and vistas of the Jersey City skyline.
The interior of the Winter Garden is filled with large circular black metal columns supporting the skylights and a tall bamboo "forest. The space recaptures much of the magic of the skylit waiting room of the greatly lamented Penn Station that was demolished in the 1960s.
The article said that Ms.Burden wrote Mr. Zuccotti June 2 to state that removing the stairs would "create a substantial void" unless Brookfield replaces the staircase with something similar. It said that Mr. Zuccotti's reply said that "Brookfield would reconfigure the walls and escalators of the Winter Garden to create a clear corridor lined with seating, with a temporary stage in the middle. In light of that plan, Zuccotti asked Burden to 'reconsider' her objections. But [Ms. Burden was not satisfied and wrote in a July 9 letter to Community Board 1 Chairwoman Julie Menin that City Planning 'objects strongly to the removal of the Grand Stairs.' [Ms. Burden called Brookfield's response 'tepid' and said it 'does not suggest an alternative with a permanent architectural solution.'"
Community Board 1 passed a resolution last week urging Brookfield to try to maintain the staircase, the article said, adding that "after repeated overtures from the community board, Brookfield recently agreed to attend a public meeting about the stairs in September."
John Zuccotti, a former chair of the City Planning Commission and the chairman of Brookfield Properties, wrote the commission June 23 that the sumptuous, semi-circular marble staircase needs to be removed "to clear a path for a new pedestrian tunnel beneath West Street," the article said.
"If the staircase stays in place, commuters exiting the tunnel will run directly into the 88-foot-by-15-foot wall that supports the steps, 'creating choke points and major inconvenience for pedestrians, severely impeding the flow of traffic," according to the Zuccotti letter quoted in the article.
"Our proposal removes the wall and the steps, restoring the unobstructed view of the Winter Garden and river beyond," Zuccotti's letter continued.
That proposal, of course, would probably doom the chances of sinking West Street into a tunnel along Battery Park City to improve pedestrian access to it and provide substantial new public open space for Lower Manhattan.
The Winter Garden is the centerpiece of the World Financial Center and was designed by Cesar Pelli as the spectacular downtown equivalent of the great ticket hall of Grand Central Terminal in midtown, which does not have its gigantic, telescoping skylights and enormous window fronting on a very large plaza, a big "big yacht" basin, the Hudson River and vistas of the Jersey City skyline.
The interior of the Winter Garden is filled with large circular black metal columns supporting the skylights and a tall bamboo "forest. The space recaptures much of the magic of the skylit waiting room of the greatly lamented Penn Station that was demolished in the 1960s.
The article said that Ms.Burden wrote Mr. Zuccotti June 2 to state that removing the stairs would "create a substantial void" unless Brookfield replaces the staircase with something similar. It said that Mr. Zuccotti's reply said that "Brookfield would reconfigure the walls and escalators of the Winter Garden to create a clear corridor lined with seating, with a temporary stage in the middle. In light of that plan, Zuccotti asked Burden to 'reconsider' her objections. But [Ms. Burden was not satisfied and wrote in a July 9 letter to Community Board 1 Chairwoman Julie Menin that City Planning 'objects strongly to the removal of the Grand Stairs.' [Ms. Burden called Brookfield's response 'tepid' and said it 'does not suggest an alternative with a permanent architectural solution.'"
Community Board 1 passed a resolution last week urging Brookfield to try to maintain the staircase, the article said, adding that "after repeated overtures from the community board, Brookfield recently agreed to attend a public meeting about the stairs in September."
Architecture Critic
Carter Horsley
Since 1997, Carter B. Horsley has been the editorial director of CityRealty. He began his journalistic career at The New York Times in 1961 where he spent 26 years as a reporter specializing in real estate & architectural news. In 1987, he became the architecture critic and real estate editor of The New York Post.
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