On Thursday, for only the fourth time in its century-long existence, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) — an independent, not-for-profit confederation of urban visionaries — issued a call to action for guiding development over the next two decades in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut.
The Fourth Regional Plan contains dozens of recommendations about sustainability, affordability, and transportation infrastructure. In the last category, the RPA proposes an entirely new commuter rail line to be called, “the Manhattan Spine.” This assemblage of new tracks and tunnels would run along Third Avenue for most of the length of Manhattan, following a path under the Bowery south of Greenwich Village, and then tracing beneath Pearl Street. It would also extend further north, south, and east via new tunnels — under the Harlem River to the Westchester border (and thence to the Metro-North Railroad), as well as beneath the East River, to connect with the Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) in downtown Brooklyn.
As a commuter railway, rather than a rapid transit line, the Manhattan Spine’s stations would be separated by half a mile or more. In Manhattan, these stops would be limited to 125th Street, 86th Street, 63rd Street, 42nd Street, 31st Street, 14th Street, Canal Street, and Fulton Street. The last of these, in the Financial District, could be connected to the existing Fulton Center transit hub by an underground concourse.
Establishing a direct connection to Lower Manhattan for commuters based in the suburbs of Westchester and Long Island has been a dream of urban planners for generations. As early as the 1950s, it was seen as a key element in revitalizing Downtown. Linking to the LIRR would also give Lower Manhattan a direct connection to Kennedy Airport, because that railway’s hub in Jamaica, Queens, is also the terminal for the AirTrain JFK monorail. (This would pair neatly with the planned PATH connection from the World Trade Center to Newark Airport, which has been funded, and for which preliminary design work is now underway.) A commuter connection between Lower Manhattan and the LIRR’s Brooklyn branch was last seriously considered by Governor George Pataki, but these plans were shelved when he left office in 2006. In the years since, competing infrastructure projects, such as the new Tappan Zee Bridge have eclipsed discussions of reviving the proposal.
Such a project could be expected to cut commuting time to Kennedy Airport almost by half, while also easing overcrowding on nearby subway lines, and fueling economic growth in Lower Manhattan, as well as elsewhere along the Manhattan Spine. It could also supplement, or replace entirely, the planned Phase Four of the Second Avenue subway, which is slated eventually to reach Lower Manhattan at Hanover Square. No funding has yet been allocated for this phase of the Second Avenue subway, and no start date for construction has been announced. It is, in the most optimistic reckoning, many decades away from completion.
By contrast, the RPA projects that the Manhattan Spine could be operational by 2040, and that it could be funded in part with allocations originally earmarked for the Downtown portion of the Second Avenue subway.
Lower Manhattan elected officials and community leaders have greeted the RPA’s Manhattan Spine proposal with varying degrees of enthusiasm. Brian Kavanagh, who was recently elected to the State Senate seat vacated by Daniel Squadron last summer, said, “even as we are focusing much-needed attention on the immediate, critical funding needs of our existing subway and bus systems, and addressing emergencies like the impending L Train shutdown, the RPA is right to remind us that we also must think expansively about longer-term investments that could make our city more sustainable and livable. While a lot of questions would need to be answered about the feasibility and cost of the proposed new rail service that would include Lower Manhattan and Downtown Brooklyn, it seems worthy of serious consideration.”
State Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou observed that, “any proposal to improve mobility and transportation in Lower Manhattan and across our region is positive, and I look forward to reviewing the RPA plans. However, we must continue to work on improving our existing MTA subway and bus networks. I look forward to pushing for MTA fixes in Albany, as well as working with advocates to find creative ways to move our transportation system forward.”
State Assembly member Deborah Glick said, “I believe mass transit funding should focus on providing more transit options for underserved communities on Manhattan’s East Side, rather than disrupting local businesses along Third Avenue for the convenience of suburbanites.”
Community Board 1 chair Anthony Notaro reflected that, “further study of costs and benefits needs to take place. Conceptually, a one-seat ride from Lower Manhattan to either Kennedy or Newark Liberty airport makes sense, but there has been a long history of such proposals. Driving economic development is desirable, but all the associated impact must be considered. The plan is bold and helps New York City citizens and businesses think about our future.”
The Downtown Alliance, which operates the business improvement district, or BID, covering the area south of Chambers Street, is tasked with enhancing Lower Manhattan for businesses, residents and visitors. Alliance president Jessica Lappin said, “Lower Manhattan is already one of the most accessible neighborhoods in the region and a driving force for its economic growth. The prospect of adding easier access to Kennedy Airport, the surrounding suburbs and other neighborhoods in the City is very exciting. Such a ‘spine’ would draw more businesses to relocate here, drive employment and attract new visitors to our shops and attractions.
Although the RPA has no funds or legal authority to implement proposals such as the Manhattan Spine plan, it has a long history of shaping and influencing the dialogue about development in a way that often leads to its ideas being adopted as government policy, and eventually taking tangible form as bricks-and-mortar reality. Since the RPA began advocating for planning initiatives in the 1920s, its various campaigns have resulted in the building of the George Washington Bridge, as well as the Henry Hudson and Palisades parkways. It also spurred the creation NJ Transit and (more recently) the Hudson-Bergen light rail system. In the early 1960s, the RPA contributed indirectly to the founding of Battery Park City (a decade later) by creating a policy roadmap for the transition of New York’s economy away from the traditional model in which major port operations were located on the Manhattan waterfront. And most recently, the RPA played a major role in catalyzing the redevelopment of Governors Island into a new park.