How This New NYC Plaza Was Built on Top of a Huge Train Platform
It's one of the busiest railroad corridors in the US.
Almost like century-old European cities, you never know what's below your feet in NYC—whether you're standing on the ground above a subway line or above a hidden club is hard to tell.
If you're strolling through the plaza right in front of One Manhattan West in Midtown Manhattan, though, you're definitely walking on a big train platform. In fact, the train platform is what allows you to stand on the plaza in the first place.
As the New York Times reports, the public plaza was built through a platform sitting on top of over 15 train tracks. Brookfield Properties, which is the developer behind the endeavor, invested $280 million in the process, which took two years to complete.
The underground tracks constitute one of the busiest railroad corridors in the US. Henry Caso, senior V.P. of construction for Brookfield, told the New York Times that if the plaza had a glass bottom, people would be able to see trains moving below their feet.
Considering the large number of people enjoying the space each week (estimated at around 40,000), the glass floor would surely be one of the many attractions the plaza and surrounding buildings (One Manhattan West, Two Manhattan West, and Citizens New York) have to offer. Refined dining options as well as stores attract visitors every day, from the recently-opened and LA-famous Katsuya Sushi to a Whole Foods outpost and even the NHL Shop. Starbucks Coffee and Bluestone Lane are also part of the list, and hungry guests can enter the Citizens building for a slew of dining options to choose from.
Take a look at this animated video about the making of the plaza: