- Lower Manhattan Expressway
The Lower Manhattan Expressway (also known as the Canal Street Expressway or LOMEX) was a controversial plan for an
expressway through lowerManhattan conceptualized by master builderRobert Moses in the early 1960s. It was to be an eight-lane elevatedhighway , stretching from theEast River to theHudson River , connecting theHolland Tunnel on the west side to the Williamsburg andManhattan Bridge s to the east. By 1961, Moses had set in motion two immense federal initiatives, which would have leveled fourteen blocks along Broome Street inSoHo . The highway would have required many historic structures to be condemned, and would have displaced an estimated 1,972 families and 804 businesses.Members of the affected communities, led by community activist
Jane Jacobs , banded together to fight the expressway. They held rallies, staged demonstrations and attended hearings to block the expressway at every step of the process. OnDecember 11 ,1962 , there was a "stormy" six-hour long special executive session of theNew York City Board of Estimate on the second floor ofNew York City Hall , where city officials voted unanimously to block the planned expressway. AssemblymanLouis DeSalvio said in a speech::"Except for one old man, I’ve been unable to find anyone of technical competence who is for this so-called expressway. And this old man is a cantankerous, stubborn old man who has done many things which may have, in their time, been good for New York City. But I think it is time for this stubborn old man to realize that too many of his dreams turn out to be nightmares for the city. And this board must realize that if it does not kill this stupid example of bad city planning, that the stench of it will haunt them and this great city for many years to come."Hunt, Richard P. [http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00712FA3959137B93C5A91789D95F468685F9&scp=1&sq="DeSalvio" cantankerous&st=cse "EXPRESSWAY VOTE DELAYED BY CITY; Final Decision Is Postponed After 6-Hour Hearing"] , "
The New York Times ",December 7 ,1962 . AccessedAugust 25 ,2008 . "Mr. DeSalvio caused a stir early in the hearing by saying that 'only one old man,' whom he described as 'stubborn and cantankerous,' was in favor of the expressway. He did not mention any name."]The final plan, approved by the Board of Estimate on
September 15 ,1960 , would have cost over $80,000,000, later rising to $100,000,000. 1962 estimates in "The New York Times " showed that the $100 million cost would have been covered by $90 million from the Federal Government, $10 from the State of New York and $220,000 in city funds. It would be mostly elevated, with the spur to theWilliamsburg Bridge mostly depressed, passing under Chrystie Street and theChrystie Street Connection of theNew York City Subway . The short section directly under Chrystie Street, with its south edge aligned with the north edge of Broome Street, was actually built; the low bid of $1,017,585 was accepted onJanuary 26 ,1961 for this 156-foot (48-meter) section, and the road was completed in January 1964.The route from the Holland Tunnel to the Williamsburg Bridge was planned as part of
Interstate 78 , and the main line from the split to the Manhattan Bridge was to beInterstate 478 (later assigned to theBrooklyn-Battery Tunnel andWest Side Highway ).Robert Moses planned to build other expressways through Manhattan, most of which were never constructed as planned. The
Mid-Manhattan Expressway would have been an elevated highway running above 30th Street. TheCross Harlem Expressway would have run at ground level at 125th Street. TheTrans-Manhattan Expressway , the only one of Moses's planned Manhattan expressways ever constructed, connecting theGeorge Washington Bridge with theCross-Bronx Expressway , was completed in 1962.ee also
*
Freeway and expressway revolts
*Interstate 78
*Nassau Expressway References
ources
*State Presses City on Starting Lower Manhattan Expressway, "
The New York Times ",December 26 ,1960 , page 1.
*City Link Gets Start, "The New York Times ",January 27 ,1961 , page 13.
*Verrazano Link Will Open on S.I., "The New York Times ",January 27 ,1964 , page 25.External links
* [http://www.nycroads.com/roads/lower-manhattan/ NYCroads.com - Lower Manhattan Expressway]
* [http://www.oldnyc.com/lomex/contents/lomex.html Lower Manhattan Expressway Virtual Tour]
Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.