Rendering of the inside of a typical Manhattan block after new zoning regulation is enacted. Image courtesy of ODA

ODA has released a new video advertising Beyond the Street, which promises to hack New York’s infamously rigid gridiron to unlock hidden courtyards New Yorkers never knew they were missing. The proposal, which has no official client, aims to create new privately owned public space by opening the interior of city blocks to pedestrians and street-level retail. 

The speculative project by the New York-based firm is being promoted through a glossy animation depicting the potential change to Manhattan’s Flower District, where the architects keep an office space. 

According to Founding Principal Eran Chen, AIA, “New York has an imbalance between density and public realm.” Chen says the city does not have enough public space to support the number of people on the street. 

Anyone who has walked through Midtown Manhattan knows the narrow sidewalks of areas like the Flower District. Early in the pandemic, the compressed nature of public space in this area of New York felt even more arresting, which led to ad-hoc changes to New York’s streets, like Open Streets and Open Restaurants. 

Also, business has been faltering in this traditional wholesale district. Like much of Manhattan, commercial rent is increasingly unaffordable.

Chen says that “the city needs help” and the project imagines how “clear and clean regulations for incentives programs” could encourage developers to use undervalued ground-level space located deep within Manhattan’s typical 100-foot lots. He believes that simple changes to New York’s zoning regulation could encourage new building typologies that provide gateways to the interior of city blocks, greatly increasing the amount of ground-level retail space and plazas.

Because New York City is almost entirely devoid of alleyways, and the vast majority of buildings occupy the entire width of their lots, any existing, unused space at the rear of the lot is off-limits to pedestrians.

Furthermore, when this space is occupied, whether zoned for commercial or manufacturing, it is far from the pedestrian activity and sunlight of the street. Therefore, seen on an individual basis, the deeper portions of Manhattan’s ground floors are not very useful to developers when built, as they are far from valuable street frontage; when the rear of the lot is an unbuilt yard, they are inaccessible to the general public.

Because New York City is almost entirely devoid of alleyways, and the vast majority of buildings occupy the entire width of their lots, any existing, unused space at the rear of the lot is off-limits to pedestrians.

Beyond the Street proposes granting additional height to new construction in exchange for providing access to the interiors of the typical New York City block. The additional height would give developers what they want: the most coveted and valuable rentable floors—hence the numerous supertall towers sprouting throughout Manhattan’s skyline.

Public passageways to the new interior street could be created by new buildings that do not occupy the full width of their lots, thus leaving a sliver of space for pedestrian access into the interior of the block. Nevertheless, given the value of Manhattan real estate, landlords would be unlikely to forgo rents of wider upper floors. Therefore, access would likely come through an open passageway or portal on the ground floor. This could even be an interior space that is open to the public for their passage into the interior of the block. 

Chen says that greater incentives, or more FAR (Floor Area Ratio), would be provided for new buildings that do not occupy the full width of the block.

ODA imagines that Manhattan blocks could be transformed on a lot-by-lot basis and that landlords would come to see the advantage of the new scheme. According to Chen, while each block would only require that “one to two buildings open the gate” to the block’s interior, any landlord on the block could receive incentives for limiting their ground-floor retail to 50 feet, giving up the other 50 feet to an ever-expanding interior courtyard, which could be as wide as 100 feet, should property owners on both sides of the block sign up. In theory, the courtyard could grow to 800 by 100 feet, should all properties become involved. 

Reconfigured in this way, each property would have two street frontages to rent, one abutting the traditional street and the other along a new alley.

Pedestrians would no longer be limited to avenues and side streets: they could jog into the interior of city blocks without walking the full 900 feet between avenues, fulfilling a later-day Jane Jacobs recommendation that city blocks be short to provide multiple routes through varied, intermixed activities.

As is typical with most architectural proposals, ODA’s video is bright and sunny. New gateways to the block’s interior appear when buildings shift as if commanded by a benevolent zoning god. Glittery, illuminated lanes sprout trees and seating for clumps of anonymous, digital amblers. 

Is this the future of New York? 

If the POPS (Privately Owned Public Spaces) program is any indication, the proof will be in the enforcement, as the quality of these spaces, their accessibility, and who feels welcomed, is currently beyond the reach of local authorities.

If the POPS (Privately Owned Public Spaces) program is any indication, the proof will be in the enforcement, as the quality of these spaces, their accessibility, and who feels welcomed, is currently beyond the reach of local authorities.

Indeed, many developers who received additional height in exchange for providing “public space” inside or adjacent to their projects employed a range of tactics to discourage use. This runs the gamut from private security at Trump Tower, to changes in the pavement, low walls, and unusable seating that give the POPs the appearance of privacy (revealed in a 2017 NYC report), thus rendering this kind of (privately owned) public space what it legally remains: private property.

Chen says Beyond the Street would require new ground floor spaces include a portion of “commercial rent control” to ensure local “mom and pop stores” are not displaced. “Regulations” would also be required to ensure that landlords maintain access for everyone.

In terms of use, Chen says neighborhoods like Midtown’s Flower District have historically suffered from a kind of commercial monoculture. Would his proposal allow a return to the idyllic mix of small shops, restaurants, cafés, and affordable retail that Jacobs lauded in her 1960s Greenwich Village? Likely not. Beyond the Street, like many architectural proposals, is a colorful package of good intentions. What it will mean for New York’s actual streets will depend on the broader political and economic structures that have lately failed to do anything to challenge the primacy of the real estate interests that shape our built environment.