Fox lends support to 42nd St. light rail as plan inches forward

Real Estate Weekly, March 14, 2007 by Danielle Wolffe

Progress on the proposal for vision42, a low-level light rail system that would close a landscaped 42nd street to other vehicular traffic and stretch from the Hudson to East rivers, sometimes seems as snail-like as the cross-town buses on which architect, Roxanne Warren, first dreamed the idea.

Yet the proposal is moving, albeit at a congested New York pace. Most recently, architect Robert Fox, principal of Cook Plus Fox architects, added his name to a list of industry-wide supporters, including such high profile developers as Douglas Durst, who can see the potential benefits of a light rail on the real estate market.

"As with other cities, when important streets become designated exclusively for pedestrians the real estate for many blocks becomes much more viable," Fox said.

Warren--who together with civil engineer, George Haikalis, founder of the Institute for Urban Rationality, a non-profit based in Manhattan, began drafting proposals for vision42 in 1999--said the plan has also garnered some support from representatives of the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, and has found a receptive audience among the forums that sprung up around Mayor Bloomberg's 2030 sustainability agenda. The organizers have been invited to speak at the city council's Transportation Committee meeting on April 19, during Earth Week.

Yet neither this support, nor the 300-plus presentations they have given to the community, the bulk of which occurred between October and March, have given organizers enough leverage to bring the proposal to the city council.

Members of the DOT still have reservations about the proposal, primarily because they are afraid it will threaten the $2.1 billion extension of the number 7 subway line. "The city's current transit priority in the area is extending the Number 7 train," said a DOT spokesperson.

The DOT also questions the complete closure of the streets to vehicles. "The proposals we have seen in the past include the complete closure of 42nd street, and this would raise some serious issues, not the least of which is how deliveries would reach the businesses along this important commercial corridor,' the spokesman said.

Organizers claim above-ground transportation is not attempting to compete with subterranean forms of travel. The proposal is more financially feasible than a separate $135 million proposal for above ground transportation the City Council brought to the floor that was ultimately killed in 1994 after then mayor, Rudolph Gulliani, abruptly withdrew his support for the plan. Studies completed by economist, Regina Armstrong, a consultant with Urbanomics of New York and New Jersey, claims vision42 would cost between $360 million and $510 million to build, but could provide a $3.5 billon boost to nearby real estate values, could generate 35% profit for restaurants, hotels and shops; and provide the city with an annual economic and fiscal benefit of over $1 billion.

"The project would pay for itself in just a few months," Warren said.

Furthermore, infrastructure beyond the number seven train extension is necessary now, and will become more necessary into the future, she said.

"We have to do something. We currently have five times as many pedestrians as motorists on 42nd street, and yet 60% of the street space is designated for motorists. That space is generally clogged up with bumper to bumper traffic," Warren said.

"Add to that the gain of one million people the mayor is expecting by 2030, and we begin to realize we really have to do something to create more space to get people out of their cars and onto their feet and into public transit. If that transit is poor quality it is going to turn people away. We ought to be treating people better than we are now in terms of public transportation," she said.