While the end is not in sight for construction at the World Trade Center site, a significant portion of the redevelopment is set to open to the public after years of delays and setbacks. Most notably, Santiago Calatrava's Oculus hub (well, a small part of it) is going to open in June, the Times reports. The hub has been decried by architecture critics as a "kitsch stegosaurus" and "a magnificent boondoggle" (in fact, no on can resist taking a swipe—David Dunlap, in this most recent article, describes it as looking "like a turkey skeleton after it's been stripped clean at Thanksgiving") but soon the public will be able to judge for itself, from the inside. A north-south passageway that connects the PATH platforms to new entrances at Vesey and Liberty Streets is set to open next month.
Meanwhile, a 4,000-square-foot walkway off Church Street opened yesterday, allowing pedestrians to from Church Street to West Street, past the National Sept. 11 Memorial and Museum. And the Port Authority announced today that it will open Platform B at the PATH station tomorrow.
According to Crain's, about two-thirds of the 16-acre World Trade Center site is now open to pedestrians.
· As Oculus at World Trade Center Opens, So Does a Neighborhood [NYT]
· New sidewalk expands public access to World Trade Center [Crain's]
· All World Trade Center Transportation Hub coverage [Curbed]
· All Santiago Calatrava coverage [Curbed]
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