On Thursday, Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen and NYCEDC President Maria Torres-Springer announced that the agency has selected the Lowline team to turn the abandoned former Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal into the world’s first underground park.
Using cutting edge solar technology to deliver sunlight beneath the streets, the Lowline team aim to create a one-acre, underground, plant-filled public park on the Lower East Side. The space is roughly 60,000 square feet and runs underneath Delancey Street between Clinton and Norfolk streets. The team must now meet several requirements over the next year to proceed with the project–including raising $10 million in funding.
Glen said, “When they first presented it to me, I thought, ‘That is some crazy, smoking-dope stuff — let’s check it out!’ We’re very excited about taking interesting technology, and the way the tech ecosystem is converging around cities, to solve civic problems and objectives.”
Check out the above video for more information and to see renderings of the project.
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