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NYC's Lowline underground park proposal goes dormant

2020-02-26T16:37:00-05:00

It's been billed as the underground High Line: a park, not above the street but below ground, in an abandoned trolley terminal on the Lower East Side. But after more than a decade of planning, one of the founders of the proposed Lowline says the project is now on hold because there isn't enough money to build it.

It's been a while since we've heard from the ambitious — and in 2016 even city-approved — Lowline underground park proposal inside an abandoned trolley terminal on Manhattan's Lower East Side.

The Lowline Lab served as a prototype for the greater initiative from October 2015 through March 2017. Image: The Lowline.

But as one of the Lowline co-founders, Dan Barasch, recently told Spectrum News NY1, the project had fallen behind specific fundraising targets set by the city and remains on hold for now. "The Lowline is not dead," Barasch said in the interview. "The Lowline is simply waiting for the support that it needs to make it happen."

Getting down with the LED grow lights to be used in NYC's Lowline

2017-03-02T19:51:00-05:00

Although still just a mock-up in the Lowline Lab, the LED grow lights designed by Lighting Science for use in the real Lowline are a promising iteration.

Combining everything that's great about glowing hexagons with three different settings ("soft-white light, one that mimics daylight, and one that includes Lighting Science’s patented VividGroTM LED indoor grow light spectrum technology") the grow lights are about 2 feet in diameter each, and will be coupled with solar installations designed to direct sunlight into the depths of the pioneering subterranean park.

NYC's Lowline is approved by city officials, becoming world's first underground park

2016-07-14T14:25:00-04:00

What do you do with a sad, funky, abandoned trolley terminus? Well, if it's the former Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal under Delancey Street in New York City, you make the world's first underground park by virtue of adding some mirrors, skylights, and vegetation. One acre in size, the freshly city-approved park (which took nearly a decade to go from its initial concept to getting the green light from the city) makes use of solar technology to pour sunlight into the former terminal, which has remained unused since 1948.

"Every designer dreams of doing civic work that contributes to society and to the profession," said James Ramsey, Lowline Co-Founder and Creator. "Over the last 8 years, we just stuck to what we thought was a great idea that could make our city and our community better. We're thrilled to move ahead on designing and building a space that people will enjoy for generations to come."

For more on innovative design news in NYC:

How Will the Lowline Make the Leap From Idea to Reality?

2013-01-23T20:01:00-05:00

... calling the Lowline a "park" isn't totally accurate. It would be a culture park that hosts art shows, performances, and events, and it would be tied to the neighborhood gallery scene. Preliminary designs call for a densely planted "ramble," but this would be accompanied by a gallery, plaza, and connecting grassy common. The whole site is currently dotted with support columns, and the design would remove ten of these to created a 5,000-square-foot column-free plaza.

Philadelphia dreams of a low-line too

2012-11-19T12:26:00-05:00

The idea of creating a low-line companion to Philadelphia's planned high line has so gripped imaginations that a team of top designers has volunteered to sketch ideas for a belowground trail on the west side of Broad St. Tours are now practically weekly events conducted by Paul van Meter, who first proposed a low-line park. There's one hitch: A new city plan just earmarked the low-line trench for a high-speed bus route that would connect a string of cultural venues to the heart of downtown.

High Line Inspires Plans for Park Under Delancey Street

2011-11-21T23:46:04-05:00

... the proposed park would be underground, in a dank former trolley terminal under Delancey Street that is controlled by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Though its promoters call it the “Delancey Underground,” another nickname has already been coined: the Low Line.