Lincoln Square Construction Continues Alongside Fashion Week

The Lincoln Square area of Manhattan will see several construction projects over the next few months. Lincoln Square for the Performing Arts, Fordham University and the New York City Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) will perform expansions and maintenence work amid upcoming events like the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week.

Lincoln Center's renovations are as follows:

• Construction of a new pedestrian bridge across West 65th Street will begin later this month. Known as the Presidents Bridge, this slender pedestrian footbridge is scheduled to be open to the public in the fall and will restore the plaza level connection between Lincoln Center facilities on the north and south sides of 65th Street. The new bridge is designed by Diller, Scofidio + Renfro, working with Dewhurst Macfarlane and Partners, who last collaborated on the glass and steel canopies on Columbus Avenue that flank the new Grand Stair. There will only be limited impact on vehicular and pedestrian circulation during this project.

• Lincoln Center Theater's rooftop expansion continues on 65th Street as well as on Amsterdam Avenue with minimal impact on traffic. Designed by H3, the new addition will include the Claire Tow Theater, rehearsal space and administrative offices. It is scheduled to open in 2012.

• The Film Society of Lincoln Center's new screening expansion on 65th Street, the Elinor Bunin Munroe Film Center, continues its construction plans and is scheduled to open in early summer 2011.

Construction of the new Law School and Residence Hall at Fordham University is planned to begin this month. The total project is expected to take approximately 36 months and be ready for occupancy in fall 2014. The pedestrian stairs from the Plaza to 62nd Street will be closed and a portion of the Plaza itself enclosed with plywood fencing. A new stairway and Plaza extension will be constructed toward the end of the project. The Plaza itself will remain open throughout construction with access through 60th Street and Columbus Avenue. When this safety work is completed, site clearance will begin, followed by some demolition of existing structures and excavation/foundations for the new building. We expect this phase of work to last through late summer 2011. Baseline readings for noise and air quality already have been established and these readings will be closely monitored to minimize the impact of construction on the University community and its West Side neighbors.

The current phase of DEP's work on City Water Tunnel Number 3 will continue at the corner of West 60th Street and Amsterdam Avenue through January 2012. The final phase of work will start in February 2012 and will culminate in the activation of City Tunnel Number 3 in Manhattan in 2013. All work at the site will be completed in early 2014. This new tunnel will allow DEP to shut down City Tunnel Number 1 and repair it for the first time since it was put into service in 1917.

Traffic patterns have been modified to accomodate the construction and are listed here by date:

• January 10th, the traffic direction on 60th Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues has been changed to westbound only
• January 20th to March 1st, 62nd Street between Amsterdam and Columbus Avenues will become eastbound only
• March 1st, 62nd Street will be returned to two-way traffic
• The bus stop on the south east corner of Amsterdam Avenue at 62nd Street will remain in the same location