The Elevated Acre: a park suspended thirty feet above New York's Financial District

In the heart of Manhattan's Financial District, tucked between the skyscrapers of 55 Water Street, there is an acre of lawn suspended some thirty feet above the sidewalk. It's called The Elevated Acre, and from the street it's easy to miss: the entrance is a bank of escalators (plus a staircase) set into the middle of the Water Street facade, between the building's two wings. No conspicuous signs, and many passers-by mistake it for a private courtyard on the upper floors. There's also a second access point, a narrow stairway rising from South Street, on the river side.

The space

Once up there, the contrast with the traffic below is stark: a rectangular lawn ringed by an amphitheatre with seven tiers of seating, and a long walkway of Brazilian hardwood running along the edge facing the East River. From there the view takes in the Brooklyn Bridge, the Manhattan Bridge, and the Brooklyn waterfront. At the far end stands a beacon tower, lit in the evening with programmable LED lights, meant to catch the eye of anyone passing along the FDR Drive or from the harbour. It's one of the few spots in the financial district where you can lie on the grass with a sandwich and watch the barges make their way up the river.

Origins

Its existence is a direct consequence of New York zoning. A 1961 zoning ordinance allowed developers to add floor area in exchange for creating public spaces: 55 Water Street, a brutalist tower completed in 1972 and at the time the largest office building in the world, gained several extra floors and in return hosted this terrace. It is the only public space in New York built expressly under the provision for "elevated plazas." For decades, however, it was a bare concrete platform. The present park grew out of a 2002 international competition, launched by the owners together with the Municipal Art Society and won by the joint venture of Ken Smith and the firm Rogers Marvel Architects; the new design was completed in 2005.

A hidden space

It remains little visited by tourists for practical reasons rather than secrecy: it is a "privately owned public space" (POPS), and from the street it doesn't look public at all. Its main users are workers from the nearby offices, at lunchtime or the end of the day. Worth knowing before you go: the space can be closed up to a dozen times a year for private or community events, and now and then it's off-limits for escalator maintenance. For those with mobility difficulties there's a real limitation: you can only get up by four flights of stairs or two escalators, and not all of them are always running.

Hours and access

Hours change with the season: roughly 7 a.m. to 10 p.m. from May 1 to September 30, and 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. from October 1 to April 30, events permitting. The address is 55 Water Street, NY 10041, at the very southern tip of Manhattan: the handiest subway stops are Whitehall St (R/W lines), Bowling Green (4/5), Wall St (2/3), and Broad St (J/Z), all a few minutes' walk away. It's best to come on a clear day in late spring or early autumn, when the hours are longer and the light on the river at sunset is at its best. A natural stop after a stroll along the waterfront or a visit to Wall Street, just steps away and almost always overlooked.

Getting there

The Elevated Acre is at 55 Water Street, in the Financial District, at the southern tip of Manhattan: you reach it via escalators and stairs that rise from the street up to park level, suspended several metres above the pavement. The nearest subway stations are those of the Financial District, including Whitehall Street, Wall Street, and Broad Street, served by several lines; it's also convenient to arrive from the Staten Island Ferry terminal at South Ferry. The relevant airports are JFK, LaGuardia, and Newark.

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