BY DUSICA SUE MALESEVIC | ORIGNALLY PUBLISHED NOV. 10, 2014 | Thirteen years after Sept. 11, the long-awaited $1.4 billion Fulton Center officially opened on Mon., Nov. 10 — the paper has been torn off, the doors flung open, and natural light pours in from the center’s massive glass dome.
The transit hub connects nine subway lines, the A,C to the 4,5 to the J,Z to the 2,3, which were all built between 1905 and 1932 by three different companies that did not want them linked.
Also open is the Dey St. Concourse, a 350-foot pedestrian tunnel that links to the R train. Eventually, the 1, E and PATH will also be connected to the Fulton Center.
At the top of the center, which will also eventually have retail, kiosks and restaurants, is the 53-foot in diameter glass oculus, which has 952 diamond-shaped reflective panels that draws sunlight two flights below street level.Officials hope the retail will begin opening early next year.
Fifty screens populate the center and will feature service advisories, advertisements and digital art, presented by the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Arts & Design. Some screens line the station’s circle center, with Burberry and T-Mobile already taking turns flashing on the displays.
The first digital art exhibition is called “New York Minute” by Gabriel Barcia-Colombo, which portrays New Yorkers in slow motion. For example, a woman offers bright yellow sunflowers.
If an emergency were to arise, the M.T.A. is able to override all the displays to provide information and instruction.
Huge screens line one side of the new Dey St. Concourse, which felt a little reminiscent of the scene in the 2002 film “The Minority Report,” where several advertisements greet Tom Cruise’s character. The other side of the concourse will eventually be lined with kiosks.
Monday morning, many people were gazing down from the tiered levels while several took photos. Exclamations of “Wow,” and “It’s beautiful” were heard.
“I’m glad it’s done,” said Kirk Siee, who works for the M.T.A. creating way-finding signs. “It’s nice to see the added accessibility.”
“I find it amazing,” said Juliet Payabyab, “I’ve worked Downtown for many years and struggled with my commute.”
Payabyab, who lives in Queens, remembers when Sept. 11 happened and was working Downtown at the time. She has read a lot about the Fulton Center and came on Monday to take pictures. “To see is to believe,” she said.
“It’s beautiful. It’s modern. It seems to be a work of art,” said Jim Graham, who is from Michigan, but comes to New York City every year and taught a college course called “N.Y.C. Close Up.”
Graham said he remembered the old Fulton Station and said, “This is a beautiful replacement.”
Hailing from Columbus, Ohio, but also frequent visitors to New York City, Connie McGreevy and Pat Hadler had heard on the news about the Fulton Center opening and came on Monday to check it out, using the words “amazing” and “stunning” to describe the new station.
McGreevy had been to New York City two weeks after Sept. 11 and Hadler remarked that she felt the pain of New York after the attacks. “This must be very uplifting,” Hadler said of the opening.
On Sun., Nov. 9, officials held a preview ribbon-cutting ceremony full of fanfare, starting with the national anthem.
“Welcome to New York’s great public space,” said M.T.A. Chairperson Thomas Prendergast. “The center is an important symbol for New York in so many ways.”
“It’s also going to provide a piece of connectivity for Lower Manhattan that did not exist before,” said Prendergast.
The new center was touted as the next great icon for New York akin to the New York Public Library lions and the Grand Central Terminal clock.
“Forget the Grand Central clock, we’re going to come here,” said Borough President Gale Brewer.
“We made it,” said Michael Horodniceanu, the M.T.A.’s capital construction president. “This is an extremely exciting day for us.”
Horodniceanu talked about the preservation of the Corbin Building, which was built in 1889, and how it was restored and its foundation extended with picks, shovels and buckets. The building’s inverted arch was retained and is visible for riders taking certain escalators to the street.
The Fulton Center took over a decade to complete and was originally slated to open on June 26 of this year.
The stations in the center were not significantly damaged in 2001, but officials were able to use post-9/11 transit funds to pay for the redesign, whose costs eventually doubled to $1.4 billion.
Horodniceanu said that the center is climate-controlled and has WiFi. In addition to the screens, there are also help point intercoms.
“After a decade of planning and hard work, we can finally say, let the sun shine in on Fulton Station,” said U.S. Senator Charles Schumer.
Schumer said he remembered the old Fulton Center, which he called a “dank rabbit warren,” and it has been transformed into a “glorious and efficient nucleus of travel.”
“We’ve certainly come a long way from the old Fulton Street Subway Station Complex,” agreed N.Y.C. Transit President Carmen Bianco.
The new center’s thoughtful design, said Bianco, improves passenger flow throughout the station, minimizes congestion and makes transferring easier. It is also A.D.A. complaint, meaning that it is accessible for those with disabilities.
Superstorm Sandy and Sept. 11 were also touched upon.
“By contrast, we remember a darker time, when New York suffered a terrible emotional and physical blow on 9/11,” said Schumer. “And I remember the talk after that, no would live Downtown, there would be nothing below Canal St. … This station is a metaphor for a revitalized Downtown.”
“This [center] represents an act of faith, an act of faith in Downtown and in Downtown’s recovery, an act of faith in New York,” said U.S. Rep. Jerrold Nadler.
“Who would have thought in those dark days after 9/11 when we were breathing poisons, when the place was covered in white dust and debris that Downtown [would have] recovered as it has,” Nadler said.
“It’s been a long and, at times, difficult road,” said Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver. “With the completion of the Fulton Transit Center, there can be no doubt in anyone’s mind that Lower Manhattan has indeed come roaring back.”
Young families are moving here in droves, said Silver, who noted, “Here in Lower Manhattan today, you see the unmistakable signs of progress all around.”
Community Board 1 Chairperson Catherine McVay Hughes said that mass transit is the key ingredient that makes Lower Manhattan vibrant.
“For those of us living here and for those of who lived through Superstorm Sandy and the terrorist attack of Sept. 11, the new Fulton Center and the Dey St. Concourse are the keeping of a promise made a decade ago that the city, state and federal governments would all invest together to make our neighborhood a world class place to live, work and visit,” said Hughes.
“So much has been said this afternoon about the revival and the resurgence of Lower Manhattan and this is yet another major event that upends outdated notions about what it’s like in Lower Manhattan,” said Jessica Lappin, president of the Downtown Alliance.
FROM OUR ARCHIVES:
The reaction when the Fulton Center design was unveiled in 2004.
City Council frustrated as M.T.A. admits the 2009 opening is impossible.
Federal stimulus money puts the project back on track.
Construction progress report in 2009, when the opening target date was indeed 2014.
A 2010 peek at construction under the Corbin Building.
