City Planning Commissioner Amanda M. Burden today announced a proposed zoning change that would enliven the streetscape of Water Street in Lower Manhattan and make it more economically vibrant.

Although Water Street is a main corridor for Lower Manhattan's financial core, it is a lackluster environment for pedestrians, with underutilized arcades and few active ground-floor uses.

The new Lower Manhattan Arcades Modification would encourage public use of this important street by allowing tables and chairs to be located year-round in arcades, giving these spaces a new purpose and providing an amenity to employees and visitors.

The proposal would help Water Street become a lively pedestrian corridor connecting visitors from the South Street Seaport area down to the Staten Island Ferry Terminal, with outdoor cafes and new signs of life. The text amendment builds on the success of City Planning's many initiatives to improve the pedestrian realm, and furthers Mayor Bloomberg's commitment to revitalizing Lower Manhattan.

"Having a lively and attractive pedestrian realm is key to promoting vibrant retail corridors throughout the five boroughs," said Commissioner Burden. "How New York City looks and feels at the street-level affects how we all experience the city. By allowing tables and chairs to locate in Water Street arcades, this proposal will help the street reach its potential as a vibrant and dynamic place where office workers, residents and tourists will be able to have their lunches, or simply rest and linger, under the shelter of public arcades. It may seem like a small change, but it will greatly enhance the public use of this underutilized street and become an asset to the Lower Manhattan community."

In some zoning districts throughout New York City, a floor area bonus is given to developments that create public arcades. The area in which this proposed zoning change would apply is generally bounded by Pearl Street, South Street, Fulton Street and Whitehall Street, where 17 of these arcades are located. The zoning text amendment, called the Lower Manhattan Arcades Modification, would allow movable tables and chairs to be located year-round in these arcades, supporting active ground-floor uses such as cafes to help enliven Water Street. The tables and chairs would also serve as a continuous visual cue of seating, possibly with umbrellas, drawing people along Water Street. This will transform the underutilized arcades into attractive and active environments for pedestrians.

Concern for interesting pedestrian environments, of course, was pioneered by the William Kaufman Organization which created exotic and unusual plazas at two of its Water Street office buildings designed by Emery Roth & Sons. At 77 Water Street, it had a "general store" on a wood platform with a "soft plastic" soda-can machine, a meandering river, and large plastic disk loveseats. At 127 John Street, it had a corrugated steel tunnel entrance with neon lighting, large wood sculptures of toy soldiers and a multi-faceted series of canopies.