The Metropolitan Transportation Authority designed this raised subway grate to protect the 1,2,3 subway from flooding. Tribeca residents got a first look at Grimshaw Billings Jackson’s prototype, topped with benches and a bike rack, on W. Broadway between Worth and Thomas Sts. this week.
Community Board 1 strongly objected to the design, saying it was obtrusively out of place in a historic district. But the M.T.A. had to raise the grates for safety reasons, and then they had to put something on top of the grates to keep people from tripping over them. The alternative to the benches and bike rack would be to put a fence around the grates, the M.T.A. said.
Cyclists starting using the bike racks this week, but the benches appeared to have few takers. The backless, L-shaped benches are designed to discourage people from sitting for a long time or sleeping.
Based on community feedback, the M.T.A. may tweak the design before installing 15 similar raised grates along W. Broadway and a block of Varick St. by next summer.
