Platinum Marsh Corridor Plan
The plan will transform barren parking lots behind the Staten Island Mall into mixed use, medium-density housing and shops. By beautifying the streets, residents may opt to leave their cars at home to use the already high concentration of walkable shops within the site. Sidewalk curbs will be installed, trees will be planted and a pleasant place to walk will be created.
The Platinum Avenue & Marsh Avenue area is filled with shops including two large supermarkets, family-owned & chain restaurants, department stores and the entire Staten Island Mall. Surrounding the area are townhouse and apartment building developments. Adjacent to this area are single family homes and duplexes, also in walking distance to the site.
BAD vs. GOOD
An unflattering intersection of Platinum Avenue and Marsh Avenue in the New Springville neighborhood of Staten Island, NY
Conceptual image from Crystal City, MD. Credit to the original artist in reference.
Reference: link
Driving down a solemn Platinum Avenue.
An image of Las Olas Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, FL.
Reference: link
A view of the rear of The Commons at the Staten Island Mall along Marsh Avenue at the intersection of Platinum Avenue.
Colorful shophouses in Singapore. Borrowed from a Google Image Search.
SITE PLAN
The new plan calls for converting some parking and grassy knolls into mixed use housing and shops. The Platinum Avenue corridor would be filled with trees. Underutilized parking in the shopping centers surrounding the buildings could be used by residents too, but hopefully the folks that move here would not want to own a car.
The site area is zoned for C4-1 which has parking lot requirements. We really want this area to be rezoned to allowed for mixed-use development.
ABOUT THE AREA
Centrally located on Staten Island with access to local and express bus service to Manhattan. Envisioned in the late 1970s as a new shopping hub for Staten Island, the urban planning reflects the mores of the era including vast parking lots and missing curbs.
Here we are, right smack in the middle.
Platinum Avenue intersecting with Marsh Avenue highlighted in red. Major shopping destinations also highlighted by Google Maps. Note that the Staten Island Mall has 250 stores.
Lots of bus stops in the site area. Bus lines include 2 express bus lines to the city (SIM4 to Downtown, SIM8 to Midtown). A trip to Manhattan can take anywhere from 35 minutes to one hour, depending on traffic and level of abuse of the HOV lane.
Changing Demographics
As the ethnic makeup of the borough continues to diversify, opportunities arise for entrepreneurship within these new communities. In the Mid-Island, there are no Asian groceries, markets or bakeries even though the area has seen a significant increase in the Asian-American population.
From 2010 to 2020, Staten Island residents identifying as Asian jumped from about 34,000 to nearly 59,000 in 2020, a 74% increase, census data showed.
Reference: link
A Successful Mall
While malls across America are suffering, the Staten Island Mall recently completed a significant expansion. The mall itself is an unofficial transportation hub, including a park & ride lot on the corner of Marsh Ave and Westport Avenue. A subsequent phase of this plan would certainly include making better use of the park & ride facility and incorporating the mall itself into a Mid-Island transportation hub.
UNDERUTILIZED SPACE
Tons of parking surrounded by odd grassy knolls.
Parking lots highlighted in yellow.
Grassy knolls highlighted in lime green. With the reduction of a slight amount of parking or freight loading space, the grassy knolls could then be incorporated into usable land for development.
INACCESSIBLE SPACE
Missing curbs, non-compliance with ADA.
There’s no real sidewalk on this part of Platinum Avenue so residents just walk on the side of the street, except for the area before the guardrail where this no “side”. We just walk in the street over there or hop over the guard rail and walk on the grassy knoll.
The east-west crossing of Platinum Avenue at Marsh Triangle is unfriendly to pedestrians.
Due to the lack of ADA-compliance, residents with assistive devices just use the street rather than this poor excuse for a sidewalk.
There is no crossing of Platinum Avenue as there is no sidewalk on the other side of the avenue. Cars do not need to yield for pedestrians at this crossing either, there’s no signage.
THIS AIN’t REALLY My IDEA, FOLKS
Don’t take it from me, take it from the original architect of the surrounding neighborhood, Norman Jaffe! This area was one of the first experiments in New Urbanism in America and the intention was for the entire area to be walkable, but then the 80s happened. The Norman Jaffe collection is available at the Columbia University Library.
Look at the incredible stuff I uncovered at the New York Public Library:
The Clubhouse at Elmwood Park, designed by architect Norman Jaffe. Jaffe was known for his exaggerated sloping roof lines in his luxury Hamptons houses. He repurposed his Hamptons inspiration here in the middle of Staten Island.