The George Washington Bridge is perhaps the most important regional crossing on the east cost, connecting New York City to New Jersey and points beyond. This major crossing, although quite necessary, has violently asserted itself onto the area of New York City known as Washington Heights. As a result, this economically depressed area suffers from all of the ill effects that one would expect to see if a major highway was built in their backyard. The bridge and the resulting on and off ramps have destroyed parks and literally left holes in the city fabric. Considering the amount of people who take advantage of this crossing daily, how can this regional crossing be used to the advantage of the people who live in Washington Heights?
This project seeks to exploit the regional aspects and connections of this very dense and important site in order to give back to the community that which has been stolen from it. The site is located between 178 and 179 streets extending from Fort Washington Park to Highbridge Park. This area is directly above the highway. The area above the highway including the existing Port Authority Bus Terminal, Bus turn around structure, and the existing 32 story residential towers, will be used to form a new mixed use regional center.
The center will include a regional shopping mall, school, and office tower built atop the existing Bus turn around structure that will include training facilities and incubator office space for the neighborhood (green image). The base of the existing residential towers will be reconfigured in order to provide retail and commercial spaces along the street edge, and community facilities in the form of day care centers, health services, and employment offices (yellow images). Community market spaces will also be inserted into the base of the residential towers to form valuable street based markets (orange). Finally, the entire city block exposed to the highway on Amsterdam Avenue will be developed as a Hotel and Imax Theater (purple).
By exploiting the regional aspects of the site and developing commercial, community, and entertainment spaces along its length, it is the hope of this project to bring jobs, money, and most of all education to this economically depressed area in order to move the inhabitants into the 21st century