Project by Cooper Whalen
Sara D. Roosevelt Park in the Lower East Side of New York City has historically been a landing spot for immigrants, and still hosts a plethora of rich cultural influences today. Due to the large influx of citizens moving to New York, and specifically the LES, in the 19th century, tenement housing became the new mode of shelter, but were often cramped, unsanitary, and dilapidated. Due to the various spatial and social constraints placed upon tenement residents, auxiliary spaces slowly became inhabited and appropriated. Namely, the roof, the fire escape, the stoop, and the sidewalk. Fast forward to the current day, these building typologies are still being co-opted by residents and the public alike. The Sara D. Roosevelt Walkway seeks to legitimize the historical appropriation of these spatial typologies while providing a connecting space of socialization for both locals and visitors. The intervention is a series of ramps and paths that spans half a block of park between Hester and Grand Street, and traverses many rooftops on the adjacent block of buildings, creating various niches and new spaces of consequence that can be occupied. On the intervention there exist spaces that mimic the usage of the four original appropriated typologies, calling back, and giving voice to, the rich tenement history of the site.
