One Police Plaza Security Plan EIS CHAPTER 5: URBAN DESIGN AND VISUAL RESOURCES A. INTRODUCTION This chapter provides an assessment of the potential effects on urban design and visual resources that could result from the action. Together, the urban design components and visual resources of an area define the distinctive physical identity of a neighborhood. As described in Chapter 1, “Project Description,” the action being analyzed is a security plan currently in place at One Police Plaza and surrounding roadways. The security plan was implemented by the NYC Police Department (NYPD) through the installation of attended security checkpoint booths, planters, bollards and hydraulically-operated delta barriers to restrict vehicular access to roadways adjacent to One Police Plaza and adjacent civic buildings. Given the above conditions and the guidelines set forth in the CEQR Technical Manual, an analysis of urban design and visual resources is warranted. The analysis of urban design, as stipulated by CEQR, will assess the effects of the action on those attributes that constitute the physical appearance of buildings and streets in the study area. These attributes include building bulk, use, and type; building arrangement; block form and street pattern; streetscape elements; street hierarchy; and natural features. Bulk is created by the size of a building and its massing on a site. Height, length, and width define a building’s size, while volume, shape, setbacks, lot coverage, and density define its mass. As the security plan being analyzed in the With-Action scenario includes streetscape elements that restrict pedestrian and vehicular access to certain blocks and streets, the analysis of visual resources provided in this chapter will focus on the security plan’s effects on the ability of the public to view and enjoy significant view corridors and vistas, natural resources, historic resources, and the waterfront from publicly accessible locations. Given the small physical scale and confined setting of the security plan, a general overview of visual resources, such as local waterfront views, public parks, and landmarked structures and districts in the study area will be provided along with an assessment of the effects of the security plan on those resources within its vicinity. For analysis purposes, the urban design and visual resources study area is coterminous with the study area used for analysis in Chapter 2, “Land Use, Zoning and Public Policy,” and is defined by a quarter-mile radius around the security zone (see Figure 5-1). The analysis year for baseline conditions is 2001, which is prior to the establishment of the post-September 11th, 2001 security plan. The analysis year for the security plan itself (also referred to as the With-Action scenario) is 2006. 5-1 Figure 5-1 GRA ST GRAND T S H T T Y S S R IE O T F S Y R H C ER ST HEST C ER ST Urban Design and Visual ResourcesHES T Study Area T T S HESTER S E T T T Y S E R Y H E T A T T S W F E S O A B Y T L B R A R S E Z R I T T T L E AL S T X AN E B C A O L B U M M CA NAL S T T CANAL S FO RS YT H ST T P Y S IK R E E H S T W T T E T O S B S B A Y T Z R I T L R T O E E S Y M B E R L L E WHITE ST U L T M A X A T L Y B D P T A N D ST N S YAR I A W A B L L H D T K M C A N R A R O R A O U R K R C H B E F T C S T FRANKLIN ST T S E L ST T L T PE T S E E Y R A L T F P N A N L E O C S N One Police Plaza Security Plan EIS E Columbus B Park T LEONARD ST HOGAN PL S O SC O M Q S M C CATHERINE L A A A H TH T E A R H IN C E S T WORTH ST WORTH ST WORTH ST . HARLAN WAY WORTH ST JUSTICE J. M O L IV E R S T US Chatham T Towers S TH E OMAS ST New York State L P T S M A L E A T Courthouse P Supreme Court O R S R K E T N E L O T S J M B PEAR A S E L ST M L M Q I T E IP T S S R E S T Y T Y E L A L P F O A S F DUANE ST L US E Chatham M A J L Green . T P T T S S S S Y N E Y R O Courthouse A Houses R S S W E T H H D . L O P C U A A R E A H N IN K D R R R D L R A E P S T W A C T S ADE ST S C R RE A E P T T L H A Z E R W T IN S E K S L L T Z IP S E L P TH U E One O T C S I S L E CHAMBERS ST O R P Police T T Municipal S N L E Plaza R C Building T S A N E O IS P D A A M V OF TH E Murray FI NE WARREN ST ST BergtraumH.S. Alfred E. Smith Houses Tweed CityCourthouse Hall City Hall Park MURRAY ST B R O Z O L K P L E Y N C B A NYU P FRAN R KFO I D RT G ST E A SP Downtown C PARK PL RU C Y CE E A S T T Hospital S S S W DOV D R H ER S A A T C M O R P R U S B H C T S Pace H W T O T LAY ST BE U BARC R E S K K MA O N L R ST S A Y R P E University A L E I L T P A S E T D R L S T O A U G E A H S T S A N ANN ST T S M A I L P L B E I E C E K S W K L MA IP N T S S LZ T FUL URY P R TON ST DEL E T A T W S T N O L T R A S F S H R C E T D U Y 0 250 500 750 1,000 Feet D R JO HN ST T S F FU IF LT L ON C ST T S R E T A W P JO L LA H TT ST N S P T Y T R E B I L LIBE T RT S Y ST D LE L GIO O N M G FLETCHER ST EM . SQ M AIDE FLET N LA CHE R ST C EDAR ST T S M PINE S A T I L L I T S W T N O R F H A N O V E T S R S L T R A E P Legend Security Zone (Closed to Public Vehicular Traffic after 09/11/2001) Urban Design and Visual Resources Study Area (Quarter-Mile Radius) One Police Plaza Security Plan EIS Chapter 5: Urban Design & Visual Resources B. BASELINE CONDITIONS The September 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center resulted in a security plan which included the closure of streets situated adjacent to the civic facilities located near One Police Plaza (see Figure 5-1 for security zone area). Prior to the attacks, the streets that had been closed were open to all vehicles, with the exception of the streets that closed in 1999 for security purposes (see Chapter 1, Figure 1-3). In addition, the security features associated with the post- September 11, 2001 street closures such as delta barriers, security booths, jersey barriers, and bollards were not in place. A description of the conditions that existed in the surrounding area prior to September 11, 2001 will provide context for the analysis which follows. These baseline urban design and visual resources conditions are discussed in this section. Urban Design Security Zone The security zone is comprised of an approximately 7-block area in Manhattan and its surrounding streets, bounded roughly by Pearl Street to the east, Centre Street to the west, Pearl Street and Park Row to the north, and the Brooklyn Bridge to the south (see Figure 5-1). This area is unique in that it lies at the border between predominantly residential and retail uses to the north and City and Federal institutional uses to the south. Almost all of the buildings in the security zone are tall, high-rise institutional, commercial, and residential structures, generally above 15 stories in height. Specifically, these buildings are the 16- story One Police Plaza building, the 39-story Municipal Building, a 31-story United States Courthouse, and accompanying buildings ranging from 2 to 13 stories, a 25-story United States District Courthouse, the 25-story Chatham Towers residential building, the 21-story Chatham Green Houses, the 7-story Murray Bergtraum High School, and the 32-story Verizon tower to the south of the school.