Say So Long to the Lowline: Underground Park Proposal Goes Dormant

Lowline rendering; courtesy of Raad Studio/James Ramsey.

The Lowline, an audacious plan to create an underground park on the Lower East Side, made a big splash when it was first proposed in 2011. But it faded during the past couple of years without so much as a whimper. This week, a prominent Lowline board member publicly acknowledged what had become obvious: the dream of transforming the old Delancey Street trolley terminal is dead, at least for now.

The board member, Signe Nielsen of Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, told Crain’s that the Lowline had “gone into dormancy” after failing to meet fundraising benchmarks set by the city. When the NYC Economic Development Corporation gave conditional approval for the project in mid-2016, it required the Lowline team to raise $10 million within a year. The full price tag was expected to exceed $80 million.

Crain’s reported that the nonprofit foundation set up by the Lowline brought in $3.7 million, but had come close to running out of money by 2017. In its proposal, the Lowline pledged to undertake a substantial private fundraising campaign, but also wanted $22 million in city funding. In an interview with Untapped Cities last year, Lowline co-founder Dan Barasch said:

The Lowline had this incredible arc of the last decade. In 2016, we received conditional designation from the City of New York. Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen signaled a lot of support from City Hall for the project. And then from there, we entered into conversations with the city around whether they would be willing and able to contribute financially to the capital construction costs. And for a while that seemed like that was going to be possible. But for a variety of reasons, including the political zeitgeist, and also the inclinations of this administration, the funding has not been forthcoming.

The Lowline has had its detractors. Some community activists argued that a city struggling with an affordable housing crisis could ill afford a subterranean green space in a neighborhood reeling from the impacts of gentrification. But the bold idea enjoyed widespread support in the community and among elected officials. The Lowline helped focus the attention of urban planners worldwide on the possibility of transforming abandoned spaces below urban centers. And then there’s the innovative technology, developed by Lowline co-creator James Ramsey, to channel sunlight underground. It’s a concept that may very well have staying power.

Here’s a look back at The Lo-Down’s coverage of the Lowline over the years:

–Sept. 19, 2011: The Lowline’s co-creators unveil their plan to create the world’s first underground park on the Lower East Side