Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza

Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza is a public park in the Financial District of Manhattan, New York City. Formed by the triangular junction of Trinity Place, Greenwich Street, and Edgar Street. It faces the Manhattan exit ramp from the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel. Formerly known as the Edgar Street Greenstreet, this park honors civic advocate Elizabeth H. Berger (1960–2013). In her role as president of the Downtown Alliance, she advocated for the fusion of two traffic triangles at this location into an expanded park. The park is located on the site of a former neighborhood known as Little Syria, a bustling immigrant community displaced by the construction of the tunnel in 1953.

1. Shoreline

At the north side of this park is Edgar Street, reputedly the shortest street in Manhattan. Its gentle downward slope, also visible in the surrounding east/west streets, is the vestige of a ridge or bluff that ran parallel with the shoreline and crested at about Broadway, where Trinity Church is sited. It was a narrow street in its early days, no more than eighteen feet wide, called 'Tuyn Paat' or 'Garden Alley' in the Dutch period (1624–1664). When the British took control of the colony in 1664, the street name was changed with characteristic indifference to Tin Pot Alley. The city government acquired the street in 1795, at which time its current name was affixed. Edgar likely refers to the family of William Edgar (1736–1820), a merchant from Detroit who came to New York circa 1780 and established a successful shipping business, with links to India and China. For a time, the street served as a thoroughfare or driveway leading to the Edgar family household located nearby. Until the western shoreline was filled in, this street ran to or very near the water's edge. The Robert and Anne Dickey House, located across Edgar Street from Elizabeth H. Berger Plaza, is the only structure remaining on Edgar Street. The line of Greenwich Street was the approximate original coastline of Manhattan Island. In 1787, the Common Council acted on a pre-war proposal to expand the shoreline sixty feet into the Hudson River. Then began the construction of Greenwich Street, which soon hosted a row of Federal-style townhouses. Washington Street followed in approximately 1808 and West Street by 1830. The drop in grade from Broadway to Greenwich Street abruptly evens out where the landfill begins.

1. Renaming and renovation

In October 2013, members of the Washington Street Historical Society, including Americans of Lebanese and Syrian descent, dedicated bench plaques inscribed with the names and quotes of individuals and groups that represent Arab-American culture. Edgar Street Plaza was renamed after Berger on December 16, 2013. With sculptural junipers along the benches, a small piazza surrounds a central planting area with oak leaf hydrangeas, viburnums and river birch trees, shielding park goers from traffic in an expanded green space. In 2017, it was announced that the plaza would be combined with Trinity Plaza to the south and rebuilt into a 20,000-square-foot (1,900 m2) park with tributes to Little Syria. The direct off-ramp from the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel to Greenwich Street would be eliminated. As of April 2019, however, the park was delayed by several months due to the construction of a new school at 77 Greenwich Street, inside the former Dickey House. Construction is set to be complete by 2021.

1. References

Nearby Places View Menu

Robert and Anne Dickey House

The Robert and Anne Dickey House, also referred to as the Robert Dickey House or by its address 67 Greenwich Street, is a Federal-style building in the Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. The site is bounded by Edgar Street to the south, Greenwich Street to the west, and Trinity Place to the east. It is named after Robert Dickey, a 19th-century New York merchant, and his wife Anne, who both resided in the house. Erected circa 1810, it is one of the few remaining Federal-style buildings in the city, and became a New York City designated landmark in 2005. Having stood for over 200 years, surviving the construction of several subway lines and the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, as well as the September 11 attacks, the building has been labeled as a "Robert Moses survivor" and "The Indestructible Townhouse". At the time of its landmarking, the building stood vacant and in disrepair. Beginning in the late 2010s, the Dickey House was restored as part of the construction of the adjacent 77 Greenwich Street apartment tower, to be used as part of Public School 150.

Historic Site Landmark

Empire Building (Manhattan)

The Empire Building is an office building and early skyscraper at 71 Broadway, on the corner of Rector Street, in the Financial District of Manhattan in New York City. It was designed by Kimball & Thompson in the Classical Revival style and built by Marc Eidlitz & Son from 1897 to 1898. The building consists of 21 stories above a full basement story facing Trinity Place at the back of the building and is 293 feet (89 m) tall. The Empire Building is a New York City designated landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It is also a contributing property to the Wall Street Historic District, NRHP district created in 2007. The Empire Building's articulation consists of three horizontal sections similar to the components of a column—namely a base, shaft, and capital—and has a facade of gray granite at its base and white granite on the upper stories. It is one of the earliest skyscrapers built on pneumatic caissons and one of the oldest such buildings that remain standing. The building contains an interior steel frame structure with a curtain-walled facade. The top stories contain a loggia on the facade as well as a large metal cornice above the 20th floor. There are numerous band courses, balconies, and arched windows along the facade. The original Empire Building was a brownstone structure constructed in 1859. Though the politician and real estate developer Orlando B. Potter had acquired the brownstone in 1884, he died prior to the current building's construction. The present Empire Building was ultimately developed by his children as a 20-story structure. The Empire Building was the home of United States Steel Corporation from the company's 1901 founding to 1976, and U.S. Steel owned the building between 1919 and 1973. The Empire Building's 21st floor was constructed between 1928 and 1930 to designs by John C. Westervelt. The building was converted to apartments in 1997.

Historic Site Landmark

China Chalet

China Chalet was a Chinese restaurant located in the Financial District of New York City. Opened in 1975, the restaurant operated as a luxury dim sum banquet hall catering to a business clientele. Beginning in the 2000s, China Chalet contemporaneously operated as a rental space for nightlife events, alternately serving as an event space, nightclub, and concert venue. China Chalet permanently closed in 2020.

Nightlife Restaurant

Alexander Macomb House

The Alexander Macomb House at 39–41 Broadway in Lower Manhattan, New York City, served as the second U.S. Presidential Mansion. President George Washington occupied it from February 23 to August 30, 1790, during New York City's two-year term as national capital. The house was the last surviving former U.S. presidential mansion, until it was demolished in 1940.

Historic Site Landmark