A far-fetched proposal for Seaport City - a new landfill neighborhood on the East Side of lower Manhattan - is one step closer to reality with New York City's release of a request for proposals to study the idea.
"Despite concerns about the feasibility of building a new community on the East River to protect lower Manhattan from future storms and rising sea levels, the Bloomberg administration is forging ahead with the idea," reports Matt Chaban. "Wednesday the mayor announced a request for proposals from architects, planners and developers to come up with schemes to shield 1.5 miles of downtown's waterfront, which remains vulnerable to future disasters."
The idea for Seaport City is reminiscent of the LoLo concept proposed by Columbia University's Center for Urban Real Estate in 2011 and is inspired by the creation of Battery Park City.
"The request for proposals is a feasibility exercise more than a planning or development one, asking respondents to tackle questions of how to build a massive levee along this 1.5-mile stretch of waterfront, upon which development could someday rise," notes Chaban. "Issues of environmental impact, technical specifications, legal jurisdictions and, above all, financial costs are among the myriad topics to be outlined."
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