Water Street Mobile Use Corridor
New York, NY
The Mobile Use Corridor reimagines Water Street by transforming underutilized parking spaces adjacent to public arcades into flexible Mobile Use Zones, reclaiming large portions of the roadbed for public and commercial activity while preserving the street’s spatial character. By activating these edge conditions, the corridor creates a dynamic interface between arcades and the street, offering new opportunities for both everyday use and special events.
Small, strategic interventions are introduced to strengthen the programmatic relationship between mobile uses and adjacent arcades. These interventions support a wide range of possibilities, food trucks, bar trucks, mobile DJs, street vendors, health clinics, or even children’s daycare, ensuring the corridor remains adaptable to evolving community needs.
Because it relies on lightweight, movable infrastructure, the Mobile Use Corridor requires minimal capital investment. Permanent changes to the street are limited to traffic calming and pedestrian improvements, providing immediate benefits to safety and accessibility. The mobile, flexible nature of the design also makes it inherently resilient to storm surge and flooding, as program elements can be relocated or adapted as conditions demand.
By turning parking lanes into active civic spaces, the Water Street Mobile Use Corridor demonstrates how simple, low-cost interventions can catalyze a more vibrant, resilient, and people-centered streetscape in Lower Manhattan.