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PHOTOS: Marble Underground Walkway Opens at World Trade Center

By Irene Plagianos | October 24, 2013 1:13pm
  The impressive-looking passageway links the WTC PATH station with Brookfield Place.
WTC Pedestrian Corridor Opens
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LOWER MANHATTAN — A 600-foot underground walkway linking the World Trade Center with Brookfield Place opened to the public Thursday.

The WTC west concourse offers the first glimpse of the highly anticipated Santiago Calatrava-designed World Trade Center PATH transit hub, which will fully open in two years.

The marble, white-arched passageway connects the temporary WTC PATH station, which has an entrance at West Broadway and Vesey Street, with the glass-enclosed Brookfield Place Pavilion across West Street in Battery Park City. The pavilion also opened for the first time Thursday.

“The World Trade Center will be more than a place to work or visit,” said Port Authority Executive Director Pat Foye, before the official ribbon-cutting for the bright, white passage.

“This will also be an unparalleled destination in a premier business location in the heart of a world-class city," Foye continued. "This vital connection is another major step toward fulfilling our vision of creating a vibrant, dynamic and transit-oriented World Trade Center site.”

The 8,000-square-foot Brookfield pavilion, supported by two massive steel lattice towers, has six escalators leading to the underground corridor, along with revolving doors opening to West Street.

The pavilion and passageway will eventually lead to the rest of the $3.9 billion WTC transportation hub and the nearby Fulton Transit Center, which are both still under construction.

The pavilion is also part of Brookfield Place's $250 million revamp of the former World Financial Center buildings, which will include high-end retail shops and dining, opening in 2015.