The scale of an event as monumental as the World Cup lends itself to bold rethinking of our public realm, starting with the future of the FDR South Viaduct. Constructed in the 1950\u2019s, this elevated roadway segment runs 1.25\u00a0miles along the East River, stretching from the Brooklyn Bridge down to The Battery. RPA first identified the viaduct as a barrier to river access and park space in our Fourth Regional Plan (2017). Momentum for change grew in 2023, when now-Comptroller Mark Levine proposed \u200b\u201cRaze the FDR\u201d, a vision to demolish this segment of the viaduct and transform the corridor into an at-grade, pedestrian-friendly boulevard. Additionally, the FiDi & Seaport Climate Resilience Master Plan mentions this as a community-supported initiative in its \u200b\u201cnext steps\u201d section. Could the World Cup be a creative catalyst for piloting future removal?<\/p>\n
We\u2019re proposing the closure of this viaduct segment to car traffic and transforming it into a World Cup Promenade that links three major public viewing areas. This would not be the first time New York City has allowed pedestrians to experience the elevated view from the viaduct, as several Fourth of July Fireworks shows have hosted special FDR Drive closures. However, by extending this closure for the duration of the tournament, we can offer a sustained look at a future where this thoroughfare no longer exists. It is an excellent opportunity to initiate a step toward highway removal and test how the city reacts as we prioritize people over highways.<\/p>\n
The 1.25-mile-long Promenade would be anchored by three distinct activation zones: Gotham Park to the north, Bowling Green to the south, and a central mainstage at Seaport\/Pier 16. Each of these three nodes would offer a unique experience and would benefit long-term from World Cup activations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The scale of an event as monumental as the World Cup lends itself to bold rethinking of our…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":189591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[262,76049,65541,36434,76048,891,14692,9083,6367,9,24,55,54,56,24259,76051,76050,33335,76047,1068],"class_list":{"0":"post-189590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-city","8":"tag-city","9":"tag-create","10":"tag-final","11":"tag-global","12":"tag-influx","13":"tag-legacy","14":"tag-match","15":"tag-metlife","16":"tag-million","17":"tag-new-york","18":"tag-new-york-city","19":"tag-new-york-city-headlines","20":"tag-new-york-city-news","21":"tag-ny","22":"tag-opportunity","23":"tag-prepares","24":"tag-transformative","25":"tag-visitors","26":"tag-welcome","27":"tag-york"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189590","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=189590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/189590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/189591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=189590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=189590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ny\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=189590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}