Push for Park Row in Lower Manhattan to be removed from 'frozen zone,' 23 years later
CHINATOWN, Manhattan (WABC) -- Community members have continued their call to reopen a major thoroughfare between Lower Manhattan and Chinatown, 23 years after the September 11th attacks turned many streets into a "frozen zone," and cut it off to traffic.
NYPD Headquarters, known as 1 Police Plaza, is a 14-story fortress in a residential area. Access is tightly controlled by multiple checkpoints with gates and guard houses and bomb sniffing dogs. Much of it was put in place after 9/11.
"I'm a resident of Chatham Green, and I've been living in a police state for over 23 years inside of their frozen zone," said Chinatown resident Triple Edwards.
Edwards lives in a building just inside the main checkpoint on Park Row, a vital artery that feeds Chinatown, which has been closed to vehicles for 23 years.
"This was supposed to be a temporary issue and yet all the other neighborhoods have gone back to normal except Chinatown," Edwards said.
Park Row is open to foot traffic, but you wouldn't know it.
"If you're a tourist and you see all of this stuff, you think you shouldn't belong here," Edwards said. "It looks like you don't belong here. It looks like you're going to get arrested, right?"
Neighbors and shopkeepers are determined to reclaim their neighborhood, where businesses are still suffering years after 9/11. Jan Lee is a third-generation resident of Chinatown.
"That checkpoint says to tourists, 'back up, don't come here, you're not welcome here.' And you know the checkpoint is visible hundreds of yards away," Lee said. "Without these checkpoints, this looks much more residential and much more normal."
They say what's more, ambulances routinely avoid Park Row in favor of congested side streets.
The security concern seems focused on an overpass over Park Row, adjacent to Police Plaza, but critics don't buy it.
"This is a frozen zone. Why? There's no need for it anymore," Edwards said.
The Office of Mayor Eric Adams released a statement in response to the Park Row "frozen zone."
"The safety of New Yorkers and visitors alike is our top priority, and we constantly review security measures in place on Park Row based on perceived threats and other considerations," Deputy Press Secretary Liz Garcia said in the statement. "While we are proud that New York is the safest big city in the world, we cannot rest on our laurels, and we must always remain prepared, particularly in an area with a high concentration of government facilities."
The NYPD also responded in statement.
"The NYPD continuously evaluates security measures in place around the city based on the overall threat environment as well as infrastructure-related considerations specific to a particular location," a DCPI spokesperson said.
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