Friday, June 18, 2010

Lower East Side, Allen Street Between Broome and Delancey


Mary Sargent © 2010 ………………….…………… ………………….. click to enlarge

So this is the renovation that demonstrates "what could and might be done in the future with the Allen and Pike Street Malls."  I must say, I'm underwhelmed.  After pondering this for a while, I realized it is the walkway that's the problem.  It's not integrated into the natural setting.  It looks like a strip of linoleum laid down on top of an asphalt walkway.  Do you agree?

2 comments:

Luka said...

Well, it's not just the walkway. I pondered this too
by going to investigate my favorite little made-over park, Straus Park at 106th and Broadway. It used to be the place you could go if you wanted to cop drugs or sleep on a bench in a dirty heap all night. Now it is a little jewel of the neighborhood, where you bring your coffee and muffins and little kiddies and feed the birds and feel good. BECAUSE, the ground is covered in a cobblestone pattern of tiles and the vegetation on each side is lush and extensive and interesting and deep green with flowers popping up here and there. And then there is a fountain with a statue of a reclining lady overlooking a miniature garden of flowers that some elves seem to change from season to season. Even mid-season,it seems. It can be done right. I recommend a visit to Straus Park by every city garden planner. Your photo really shows what's wrong. When we were walking on it, we knew it wasn't right, but it was hard to know why.

Mary Sargent said...

Right you are, Luka. Of course we should acknowledge that this park has a built in disadvantage, being long and narrow. Makes it harder to work with, but not impossible.