ISLAND:
A triangular stretch of land engulfed by Broadway and Nicholas Avenues, a field of parked vehicles and three prominent buildings of the Columbia Presbyterian Medical Center is Mitchell Square. This island is born out of the convergence of two avenues, 168 Street, five subway lines( A,B,C,1,9 ) and three scales of development( local, metropolitan and regional ). On the surface all is quiet, retail activity ceases between 168 and 166 Streets, traffic thins down along Nicholas Avenue and the subway is served by eight exits and only two points of entry. The square only serves in transition, a fragment of its potential as a 'place to be', like other intersections along Broadway namely, Washington Square, Herald Square, Lincoln Square and Times Square.
ENCLOSURE:
The edges enclosing Mitchell Square are ill defined because the structures constituting these boundaries do not participate in this central space nor do they limit its spatial content. The first step in defining an enclosure would be to resurface and limit its spread. A new rectangular surface is set out whose edges terminate at 168 St. and 166 St. in the north and south, and whose east and west boundaries are Audobon Avenue and Broadway respectively. Nicholas Avenue between 168 St. and 166 St., and 167 St. between Nicholas and Audobon avenues become part of this new space as they are closed to vehicle access. To mask the dominant medical facility and its hold over the immediate vicinity would be to make the new square an integral part of the public realm. Programming the new edges of Mitchell Square to serve the neighborhood as well as Columbia Presbyterian would include a new school, nurses residences, community center, restaurants and a cineplex. 167 St. becomes a pedestrian link between the neighborhood and the Medical Center as well as a connector between four schools, residences and the Metropolitan Transit systems.
SUB TERRAIN:
Contained within the new square lies the subway station served by the A, B and C trains which is directly connected to the station( 1,9 ) along Broadway via an underutilized concourse level. To enhance commercial activity at Mitchell Square this level shall be opened up to the sky engaging retail in the form of individual shops as well as a market space . As part of the strategy, Mitchell Square will become the new twenty-four hour subway entry/exit for the node at 168 Street. Three levels of parking below grade level relocate and double the parking requirements of the Medical Center also connecting back into the subway encouraging one to park and ride the subway. At the northern edge of the concourse a new Media Center adds a new front to the already existing public school which becomes retail at grade and below, connecting it into the subway.