[Renderings courtesy Perkins Eastman and William Fellows Architects]
You're looking at the rendering of the new Stairway to Nowhere soon to sit in the center of Times Square, on the spit of land known as Father Duffy Square. "I think it's going to be New York's Spanish Steps," says one jury member who chose the design way back in 1999. (Per Newsday, "Panels under the laminated glass steps will supply heat to melt snow. The steps will be two feet deep, and they will rise 16 feet above the sidewalk.") Groundbreaking on the project is today, with completion scheduled for sometime before New Year's Eve. Rockin'. (N.B. as previously noted, the construction is temporarily moving the TKTS booth into the Marriott Marquis.)
After the jump, another view of the future Father Duffy Square.
UPDATE: Blogger Manhattan Offender cannily observes, "Perhaps the most notable feature of the architectural renderings though is the complete lack of a queue leading to the TKTS booth. Eliminating the eyesore of a line is a work of pure genius!"
· Times Square Renvoations Call for Stairway to Nowhere [Newsday]
· Opening on Broadway Soon: A New Look for Duffy Square [NYTimes]