Okay, so I'm walking along in Central Park. It's a beautiful day. Freshly fallen leaves, people strolling, children laughing, blue sky, bright sun — you get the picture.
And then.... Wham!
Hey, wait a minute, where'd that sunshine go? (No, still blue — no clouds in the sky.) And hey.... HEY! Just wait a minute now. WHAT THE HECK IS THAT?
...What?
That big black thing swallowing Heckscher Field?
Ohhh, that. That's the dreaded shadow. The one that ate Central Park.
Yes, if you were paying attention, you read about it the NY Times. No, you can't fully imagine it. You've really got to see this thing in person to truly experience the heft of its dark presence, to feel its great nothingness.
Okay, so maybe you didn't read about it in the Times? Then let me tell you, this shadow is real, and that building that casts it is really really really TALL. So tall, in fact, that One57 — as the developer has named it — blocks the cool-season sunshine from large swaths of southern Central Park. When I experienced it, the winter solstice was still five weeks off, and yet, the shadow had already stretched clear across Heckscher Field to 65th Street — that's an 8 block long shadow! And its still growing.
Did I mention that it shades our beloved Central Park? The playground too?
That's right, Heckscher Playground, just south of Heckscher Field, is now cloaked in mid-day shade. Not the kind of shade children and their parents seek under a fierce summer sun, but a steal-your-warmth kind of shade that sucks the life out of a marginally-warm, (but oh-so-welcome), late November afternoon giving kids one last chance to take their coats off and frolic before the snow flies.
Without that winter sun however.... Well, there you have it — an empty playground.
"But maybe children don't want to play outside today?," you might ask if you were a mega-millionaire who bought one of those spectacular views. But no, that wouldn't be the case, not today. Today, children WANT to play outside. In fact, children ARE playing outside, just not in the shade.
You see, Heckscher Playground is divided into two play areas, one that was in shade when I saw it, and one that remained sunlit. What a difference — all the parents and children and their coats and strollers were basking on the sun-drenched side, while the shady side went almost unused; I counted 6 children on the play equipment there.
Has rising inequality really come to this — a city where the elite can buy even the precious sunshine off our children's public play spaces?
If the mega-rich don't have the good sense to shun this sort of un-neighborly development, the city should have the good sense to zone against it. If we must have a Central Park that is walled by tall buildings — as the developers who prey upon our status- and view-obsessed elite seem to think — at least relegate those sun-stealing heights to the northern end of the park where the shadows will fall on concrete and asphalt, not turf and trees and playgrounds.
And a little common sense on the part of architects would go a long way too. New York City has a long history of mandated set-backs to mitigate the effect of light-stealing skyscrapers. Yet this building turns the historic set-back on its head. When seen in profile from afar (as I see it in Long Island CIty), it's clear that the very upper floors slant towards the park, not away from it as a traditional setback would. At that great height, Is a penthouse that's 50 feet closer to Central Park really going to offer that much better view?
If we cannot convince the luxury real estate community to think of their fellow citizens, perhaps we can get them to think of themselves? One of the biggest challenges I face greening up urban landscapes is getting plants to grow in the shade of buildings, which is not at all like the dappled shade of evergreens, or the seasonal shade of deciduous trees. Building shade is different. It's complete shade, zero direct solar radiation. Very few plants will survive in zero direct sunlight, let alone thrive, and most of those that can are non-native species. If the residents of luxury skyscrapers want so badly to be close to Central Park and admire its expansive verdure through their living room window, why condemn the park's landscape to horticultural poverty? Why restrict its plant palette to a handful of shade-tolerant exotic species that might struggle to survive in a high-traffic environment. That's not something I would pay top dollar to look down upon.
Granted, one tall building does not complete shade make. But we all know what's coming. Once there is one successful development that blocks the sun for an half an hour, there will soon be an half dozen blocking the sun for 3 hours. And then a dozen for 6 hours, and so on.
Now is the time to avoid that obvious progression towards a sun-challenged park. New York City should zone park perimeters to preserve sunlight penetration as quickly as possible. Or pretty soon, there won't be much park perimeter to save, just a shady dirt-patch.
Heckscher Playground — the sunny side (note shadow's edge at right)
Heckscher Playground — the shady side (note shadow's edge at left, and sunlit rocks beyond empty play equipment)