MAYOR GIULIANI, SENATOR MOYNIHAN AND PARKS COMMISSIONER STERN BREAK GROUND FOR $18 MILLION FOLEY SQUARE RECONSTRUCTION
-- Project Creates New Five-Acre Park In Lower Manhattan --
Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani was joined today by U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan and Parks Commissioner Henry Stern to break ground for the $18 million reconstruction of Foley Square which is located between Centre, Lafayette, Pearl and Worth Streets in Lower Manhattan. The project will combine six individual traffic squares to create one unified five-acre park.
"It's wonderful to join you here today for the groundbreaking of the new Foley Square in the heart of Manhattan's historic downtown," said Mayor Giuliani. "For years plans existed to improve Foley Square, but no realistic steps were taken to do anything about it. On behalf of the City of New York, I would like to thank Senator Moynihan for the leadership and years of commitment he has shown in seeing this project through.
"I also want to thank Consolidated Edison, the New York City Department of Transportation, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority and everyone who has come together to make the revitalization of Foley Square a reality. Years from now, when New Yorkers come and gather in Foley Square they will appreciate the beautiful legacy we have left behind," the Mayor concluded.
"Today we stand ready to break ground on what I once termed a 'great and wonderful surprise just waiting to happen' -- Foley Square," said U.S. Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. "From the outset of the entire Foley Square project in the 1980s, we contemplated the creation of a true urban park, a small mall of our own, defining the assemblage of some of the fine public buildings that face upon it."
The Foley Square reconstruction is the largest groundbreaking this year for the New York City Parks and Recreation Department. Funding for the project includes over $10 million from the City Capital Appropriation, $5 million of Federal funds from the 1991 Intermodal Transportation Act (ISTEA), and $2 million from Consolidated Edison. The City Department of Transportation and the Metropolitan Transit Authority will also provide assistance in the reconstruction of Foley Square.
Originally named in 1926 for "Big Tom" Foley, a Tammany Hall district leader and local saloon owner, the new Foley Square will include the creation of a two-tiered plaza, a black granite amphitheater with a center fountain, hundreds of feet of World's Fair style benches and beautiful landscaping.
The focale point of the park will be a fifty-foot high black granite sculpture created by award-winning artist Lorenzo Pace entitled "Triumph of the Human Spirit." The artwork will stand as a tribute to the enduring legacy of Native Americans, African slaves and European immigrants -- all of whom have made invaluable contributions to New York City. In addition, five bronze sidewalk medallions will be placed around the park to tell their story.
"For many years Foley Square, the great City center, has been a vision. Today we will be taking an important step to making it a reality," said Parks Commissioner Henry J. Stern.
Foley Square is set amidst by many of New York City's most important civic institutions including Federal Plaza, the State Office Building, the U.S. Court House and City Hall. At one time much of the land here lay beneath the waters of the Collect, a pond that was drained and then completely covered over. The land later became prime real estate with America's first subway, the IRT, crossing under the site in 1904. The area including both present-day Thomas Paine Park and Foley Square became a City park in 1930.
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