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    UNDERSTANDING
    THE PROBLEM        


  • New York City has over 700 miles of unused space under bridges, highways, and elevated subway tracks. The diagrams presented here highlight the complexity and scale of these spaces, and how their structural design informs their potential for reuse.









Elevated transit infrastructure in 
New York City

(Highways are shown in blue, railways in red) Rendering courtesy of the Design Trust for Public Space

While 700 miles of unused space might seem like a lot, this diagram displays just how big the problem is.

Cross sections of elevated highways and bridges in New York City


Drawing by Robert Cabral, Rucha Mandlik, and Zoë Piccolo, courtesy of the Design Trust for Public Space

Throughout the city, each elevated structure is designed and occupies space differently.  This means that the design of certain a certain bridge dictates how they can be transformered. The question then arises; what negative space do they create? What could it be used for?

  •   Cross-­sectional view of Van Wyck Expressway at the Kew Gardens Interchange showing overlapping agency jurisdictions


  •             Drawing by Susannah C. Drake, courtesy of the Design Trust for Public Space

  •             This layered governance framework reflects the complexity of transforming critical transit infrastructure in New York City, where difficult agency relationships can lead to inefficiencies in both the planning and execution of changing these spaces.



  
      
  

 View a list of all Bridges, Highway Overpasses, and
 Railway Overpasses in NYC

  
Booklyn Bridge
Connects Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Manhattan Bridge
Connects Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Williamsburg Bridge
Connects Manhattan and Brooklyn.
Queensboro Bridge (59th Street Bridge)
Connects Manhattan and Queens.
George Washington Bridge
Connects Manhattan and New Jersey.
Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge
Connects Staten Island and Brooklyn.
Triborough Bridge (RFK Bridge)
Connects Manhattan, Queens, and the Bronx.
Bronx-Whitestone Bridge
Connects the Bronx and Queens.
Throgs Neck Bridge
Connects the Bronx and Queens.
Kosciuszko Bridge
Connects Brooklyn and Queens.
Goethals Bridge
Connects Staten Island and New Jersey.
Bayonne Bridge
Connects Staten Island and New Jersey.
Henry Hudson Bridge
Connects Manhattan and the Bronx.
Marine Parkway–Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge
Connects Brooklyn and the Rockaways in Queens.
Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge
Connects Howard Beach in Queens to the Rockaways.
Pulaski Bridge
Connects Brooklyn and Queens.
FDR Drive Overpass
Runs along the East Side of Manhattan, with various overpasses along the river.
Bruckner Expressway Overpass
In the Bronx, connecting major highways.
Cross Bronx Expressway Overpasses
Runs through the Bronx, with numerous overpasses.
Gowanus Expressway Overpass
In Brooklyn, connecting to the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge.
West Side Highway Overpasses
Runs along the west side of Manhattan.
Harlem River Drive Overpass
On the east side of Manhattan, connecting the FDR to the Bronx.
Van Wyck Expressway Overpass
In Queens, connecting major highways and JFK Airport.
Long Island Expressway Overpasses
Runs through Queens, with several overpasses.
Grand Central Parkway Overpasses
Runs through Queens, with several overpasses.
Metro-North Railroad Overpasses
Includes overpasses through the Bronx and into Westchester.
Amtrak Overpasses
Runs from Penn Station through the Bronx on elevated tracks.
LIRR Overpasses
Long Island Rail Road has numerous overpasses, especially in Queens.
New York City Subway Overpasses
Elevated sections of subway lines like the J/M/Z (in Brooklyn and Queens), 1 (in the Bronx), and 7 (in Queens) .        That’s  (29)  groupings of routes with elevated infrustructure.           That’s a lot of space...