REIMAGINING THE ALLEN STREET PEDESTRIAN MALL

From Blight to Bright

Urban Research Team

Reframing the Spaces Between:

5,322,266 ft.2
OF LEFTOVER / FILLER SPACE IN MANHATTAN

...WHY WASTE?

FUTURE NYC DESIGNED FOR RESILIENCY

TYPICAL POWER DISTRIBUTION HURRICANE SANDY DISTRIBUTED POWER SYSTEM

EXISTING POWER SYSTEM

Existing power systems rely on a singular power source that is channeled through various substations and distributed to homes around its vicinity.

HURRICANE SANDY BLACKOUT

Flooding in a Con-Edison substation on 14th street knocks out power for the entire lower Manhattan.

the distributed power system

Multiple power sources from various energy generating systems offer an emergency safety net to surrounding homes.

ALLEN STREET: PLUG & PLAY PARK

Strategy A flexible toolkit
The list of opportunities to enhance New Yorks individual and collective communities is long. Relevant solutions with the highest value-add will vary greatly based on specific site and context. To create an approach that understands site specificity but is also scalable to a neighborhood or city-wide scale, we developed a community interventions toolkit. The toolkit incorporates numerous community and resilience strategies (many of which attempt to solve both issues in tandem biomass generators that provide power charging stations, for instance) designed to be plug-and-play based on specific context. The opportunity exists to both gain community input up front about what strategies would be most valuable, and to maintain flexibility after implementation to switch out solutions based on community usage and reaction. step 1: nyc social media OPEN TOWN SQUARE MAKER APP! step 2: SITE SELECTION PICK A SITE FOR INTERVENTION step 3: vote! vote for nyc street square module

jane st.

hudson st.

dog park

discoteque

ALLEN STREET

east houston st.

park ave.

SWIMMING POOL

SAUNA

step 4: ship it! the modules get shipped to the site

step 5: setup modules get assembLed

step 6: ENJOY! COMMUNITY ENJOYMENT

PLUG & PLAY MENU

PEBBLE BEDS RECYCLED WOODEN PLANKS BICYCLE LANES

RAINWATER

RETENTION AND TREATMENT

HONEY HIVE

BRAND

PRODUCT LAUNCHES

EXHIBITIONS

STROLLER PARKING

DOG PARK

RESTROOMS

SHADING SHELTER

$
WATERFALL TAX CONSULTING RETAIL CLASSROOM BIKE STATION
PARKING/SHOWERS/PARTS/ REPAIR/AIR PUMP

zz
DISCOTEQUE NIGHT CLUB DRINKING FOUNTAINS

NAP AREA

BICYCLE RACK HYDROPONIC PLANTER

RAIN FED PONDS RESTING AREAS

LOUNGE AREA NATURAL SHADE

HUMAN ENERGY
GENERATOR/COLLECTOR

GREEN TECH

DESIGN WEEK

DESIGNER

MEETS AND GREETS

ELECTRIC

CHARGING STATION

SAUNA

FIRE/HEATERS

EXERCISE

GARDEN/FARM

WORK STATION

BAKERY

PUBLIC HEALTH

RAIN COLLECTOR / CANOPY

RAIN COLLECTOR / LOUNGE SPACES

RAIN COLLECTOR & RAIN FED PONDS

SWIMMING POOL

PUBLIC KITCHEN

KIDS GARDEN

SEATING AREA

DYNAMIC SCENARIES

ELECTRIC CAR CHARGING STATION ELECTRIC CAR RENTAL DOCKS

PLAZA BAR

FUTURE NYC DUAL PURPOSE PARKS

ALLEN STREET: A NEW URBAN OASIS

PHASING - ALLEN ST.

1942 - 2004
Allen Street, formerly home to the 2nd Avenue Elevated subway, became a six-laned traffic street with a central meridian divider.

2004 - 2015 (Present day)

Cycling lanes were added to both sides of the concrete meridian coupled with a painted traffic buffer. A formerly sixlaned street is condensed into a four-laned street. The concrete meridian is still underutilized.

2015 - 2020 (Phase 1)

A community focused design initiative begins to convert the concrete median into a park. New plantings, seating, and bicycle racks are coupled with sustainable technologies to create a fully net-zero park.

2020 - 2030 (Phase 2)

The park becomes fully carbon negative, generating more power than it consumes. An electric car docking/charging station is added while the power producing elements of the park are connected to surrounding homes. The painted traffic buffers are removed and replaced with bioswale rain collectors.

2030 - 2050 (Phase 3)

Green roofs are installed on the surrounding buildings, wind turbines are set up througout the city streets. New York City is on the path to becoming the worlds first carbon neutral city.

FUTURE NYC THE INTERCONNECTED CITY

CONNECTING PARKS TO HOMES

The most abundant source of renewable energy the city has at its disposal is solar power. Though limitations in current PV technology have made large scale solar power an unpractical solution to powering our entire citys infrastructure, experts believe it must be included in the mix of renewable as we decrease our consumption of fossil fuels. We envision surfaces throughout the cityscape in combination with architecture within the town square as a means to collect and distribute energy. A diversified power source would reduce use of carbon emitting power sources, result in the potential for energy sharing, while simultaneously mitigating the risk of systemic power failure in the event of natural disasters.

ALLEN STREET: A NEW URBAN OASIS

ALLEN STREET: A NEW URBAN OASIS

VIEW LOOKING SOUTH ON ALLEN STREET

ALLEN STREET: A NEW URBAN OASIS