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(rshsdepot) WTC Station, NYC
From the Newark, NJ Star Ledger
Diverse plans focus on vital transit hub=20
Some bring commuters into 9/11 memorial
Thursday, December 19, 2002
BY JOHN MOONEY=20
Star-Ledger Staff=20
For the tens of thousands of New Jersey commuters who will once again hop
the PATH into New York City every day, the new gateway into Lower Manhatta=
n
will be a subway station from the pages of science fiction=2E=20
A new transportation hub -- some say the largest in the nation -- was the
one constant in the widely varying plans for the World Trade Center site
offered by seven renowned architectural teams yesterday=2E=20
And virtually all of their plans envisioned a station right out of "The
Jetsons," combining futuristic design with space-age convenience and easy
connections to other subways and trains=2E=20
In one plan, PATH trains would enter the station in glass tubes=2E Another=
would have passengers exiting the PATH virtually within view of the planne=
d
Sept=2E 11 memorial=2E=20
And in one plan, the trains would run in the open air along the edge of th=
e
South Tower's footprint in the shadow of a majestic, 2,100-foot spire=2E=20=
For officials and others who must decide on final overall designs, the
architects' attention to the site's transportation needs is a prerequisite=
=2E=20
"I think they have done a fantastic job, some of them getting right down t=
o
the details," said Joseph Seymour, director of the Port Authority of New
York and New Jersey, owner of the 16-acre site and operator of PATH and th=
e
three regional airports=2E=20
The Port Authority already has begun building a temporary PATH station on
the Trade Center site=2E The timetable calls for PATH service to the stati=
on
to resume by December 2003=2E The temporary station is likely to become th=
e
site of the permanent one, officials say=2E=20
In addition to the PATH, the new station would provide direct access to a
dozen city subway lines, as well as connections to the Hudson River ferry
services=2E A broad redevelopment proposal from New York City Mayor Michae=
l
Bloomberg this month also proposes rail lines connecting to Newark Liberty=
International Airport and JFK International Airport=2E=20
Whatever the eventual functions, the esthetic visions for the new
transportation center yesterday mostly fell in the modernist genre=2E=20
For instance, the firm of Foster & Partners proposed a glass,
"cathedral-like" center sitting at the base of two towers=2E "The greatest=
transportation hub ever built," said architect Norman Foster=2E=20
There also would be shops, a cultural center and museums, all part of an
underground network of corridors, escalators and ramps=2E "It would be an
extraordinary world down below," Foster said=2E=20
Another architect envisioned a "Great Hall," a 13-acre, glass-enclosed
plaza -- the largest covered plaza in the world -- to serve as the entranc=
e
to the new "Lower Manhattan Central Station=2E"=20
In another plan, two towers of open latticework would serve as bookends to=
a transportation center that would be powered by two wind-driven turbines=2E=
=20
"A reflecting pool above would bring actual light into the transportation
center," said Rafael Vinoly, part of the TeamTHINK consortium=2E=20
"This is saying it is not about a place that separates but one that
integrates above and below ground, where one could actually see the N and =
R
trains for Greenwich Street=2E"=20
The descriptions rose to exalted heights in some cases, invoking the
majesty of famed railroad stations such as Grand Central and Paddington
Station in London=2E=20
"It refers to the great glass sheds of historic stations," said Charles
Grathmey of Richard Meier and Partners=2E "It's uplifting, it's aspiration=
,
it becomes the vestibule to =2E=2E=2E the city=2E"=20
In one design, the station would virtually be part of the Sept=2E 11 memor=
ial
itself, providing a daily reminder to visitors of why there is a new
station in the first place=2E=20
The design for five interlocking towers -- including one that would be the=
tallest in the world -- includes a rail hub 75 feet below ground that woul=
d
open directly into the new memorial=2E=20
"The sequence of people as they go through the memorial every day brings a=
connection between the memorial and public life," said Greg Lynn of United=
Architects=2E=20
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railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org
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