West Street pedestrian bridges

The West Street pedestrian bridges are a series of pedestrian bridges that cross West Street to connect the neighborhoods of Tribeca and the Financial District with Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan, New York City.

It connects Stuyvesant High School inside Battery Park City and the property of the Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Although an exit to the street level exists on the Battery Park City side, the bridge connects directly into Stuyvesant High School.

The grand marble staircase inside the Winter Garden pavilion provided access to the lower levels of the building and to the adjacent waterfront.

[16] Since then, the bridge has been revamped and rerouted, due to its location near the World Trade Center site and the construction activity for the Vehicle Security Center and the demolition of the Deutsche Bank Building at 130 Liberty Street.

A pre-fabricated segment was attached to the existing bridge, for use while construction proceeds on both sides along Liberty Street.

[18] With the destruction of the North Bridge and the closure of the South Bridge due to the terrorist attacks, Battery Park City residents sought for safe passage across West Street in the immediate months following September 11, 2001.

[21] In 2006, the New York State Department of Transportation released its proposal to reconstruct West Street into a promenade.

However, during its immediate opening on October 9, 2009,[23] the elevators were unusable, drawing some outrage from Battery Park City residents.

[28] Designs for the new, permanent West Thames Street Bridge, near the entrance of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, were created in 2009 by SHoP Architects.

Funding for the bridge includes $33 million from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (with funding reduced towards “New York City Parks and Open Space"), and $8.25 million from the Battery Park City Authority.

[33][30] Work on the West Thames Street Bridge was initially scheduled to be completed by fall 2018.

[36] Douglass, who died 2016, was an early advocate for lower Manhattan as a senior advisor to Governor Nelson A. Rockefeller from 1965 to 1972 and later as a founding member and chairman of the Downtown Alliance and board member of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation.

[36] The idea of naming the bridge in Douglass’ honor came from Charles J. Urstadt, the first chairman of the Battery Park City Authority.