A three-year campaign by Charles J. Urstadt, the founder of Battery Park City, to name the new pedestrian bridge, now being constructed over West Street, in the memory of Downtown leader Robert Douglass, appears to have come to a successful conclusion.
Mr. Urstadt, the founding president and chairman of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), who was appointed at Mr. Douglass’s suggestion in the late-1960s by then-Governor Nelson Rockefeller to preside over (among other things) the creation of new landfill in the Hudson River, began proposing that the West Thames pedestrian span be named for Mr. Douglass in January, 2015.
Speaking at an awards dinner that marked the twentieth anniversary of the Downtown Alliance (which Mr. Douglass founded), Mr. Urstadt said, “my friend has one character trait that makes him ill-suited for public life: modesty. For that reason, I fear he will disagree with a proposal that I am going to ask all of you to consider. The transilience of Lower Manhattan is creating buildings, streets, and infrastructure projects that cry out for a name worthy of a transformed landscape. Among them is the pedestrian bridge that will soon be erected over West Street, near the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. One of these should bear the name of the man without whom none of this would have been possible: Robert R. Douglass.”
Afterward, Mr. Urstadt explained, “Bobby Douglass has spent 40 years advocating for the cause of Lower Manhattan, and contributing to its future. Battery Park City would not be here if he had not, as chief of staff to Governor Nelson Rockefeller, backed me 100 percent in preparing and fighting for the 12 years it took to create the most successful undertaking in the State’s history.” As the BPCA’s originator, Mr. Urstadt not only oversaw the creation of 92 acres of landfill along the Hudson River waterfront, but also the development and planning of the first building projects in the new neighborhood. “And after Governor Rockefeller left office,” Mr. Urstadt continued, “Bobby moved to the Downtown-Lower Manhattan Association, and the Downtown Alliance, where he worked for decades to encourage the renaissance that we now see taking place in Lower Manhattan.”
Charles Urstadt, the founder of Battery Park City, Jessica Lappin, president of the Downtown Alliance, and Robert Douglass, who founded the Alliance and championed Lower Manhattan for decades, are shown at the 2015 awards dinner at which Mr. Urstadt first publicly proposed the idea of naming the West Thames pedestrian bridge in honor of Mr. Douglass
But Mr. Urstadt’s proposal needed official backing, which began to come together three months later, when the board of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC) — which is funding most of the cost of the bridge’s construction — formally endorsed the idea. At a meeting of that agency’s board, City Planning Commissioner Carl Weisbrod said, “Bob Douglass really worked his entire life for Lower Manhattan, to knit together the rest of Lower Manhattan to Battery Park City and make it one community.” At that meeting, the LMDC board enacted a resolution that endorsed, “the naming of the soon-to-be-constructed pedestrian bridge at West Thames Street after our esteemed Board Member and community leader Robert R. Douglass.”
For almost two years, there was little visible movement on the proposal. But during this period, Mr. Urstadt continued to lobby behind the scenes to advance the idea of naming the bridge in honor of his longtime friend, whom he had known since 1950.
Then, on December 6, 2016, Mr. Douglass died from complications associated with Parkinson’s Disease. He was 85 years old. Less than 24 hours later, the board of the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) — which is managing the construction of the bridge, and partially funding it — adopted a resolution urging that the West Thames pedestrian bridge be named in Mr. Douglass’s honor.
On June 1, a memorial service was held for Mr. Douglass at Trinity Church. At this service, which hosted a capacity crowd of elected officials and corporate statesmen, part of Mr. Urstadt’s eulogy for Mr. Douglass reflected that, “it was part of Bobby’s genius that he would never waste an opportunity to put in a word for what he felt was an important cause. And so I’ll take a cue from my friend and say to this audience of leaders: please celebrate Bobby’s memory by using what influence you have to support the campaign to name the new pedestrian bridge in his honor. The Downtown Alliance, the Battery Park City Authority, and the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation have all gone on record in favor on this proposal, but we have not succeeded quite yet. We need your support to make this happen. Please let the Mayor and the Governor know how important you believe this is.”
As if on cue, Mr. Urstadt was followed at the lectern by Mr. Weisbrod, who departed from his prepared text to announce that he had just received informal confirmation from City Hall that the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio had signed onto the proposal to name the bridge for Mr. Douglass.
Afterward, Melissa Grace, a spokesman for Mr. de Blasio, confirmed that, “City Hall recognizes the long public service of the late Robert Douglass, particularly his contributions to Lower Manhattan, and we support the naming of the new West Thames pedestrian bridge to honor his work and legacy.”
This appears to be the last piece of the puzzle in terms of official support necessary to translate Mr. Urstadt’s proposal into a reality. All that remains to be finalized is a date for a ceremony at which the bridge will be officially named, which is likely to be announced as the structure approaches completion in mid-2018.
Reacting to the de Blasio administration’s support for the proposal, Mr. Urstadt said, “I can think of no person who deserved this recognition by the Downtown community more than Bobby Douglass. He did more, over a period of 40 years, than anybody else to foster the success and rebirth of Lower Manhattan. And naming this bridge in his honor was just the right thing to do.”
Jessica Lappin, president of the Downtown Alliance, added, “Bob was a driving force behind creating the Lower Manhattan we know today and we couldn’t be happier to hear about the dedication of the bridge. It’s the perfect tribute to honor Bob’s legacy as he spent decades working to connect people, businesses and various agencies to make his vision for Lower Manhattan a reality.”