page_title: West Street pedestrian bridges
section_title: Vesey Street Bridge
hierarchical_section_title: West Street pedestrian bridges / Vesey Street Bridge
caption_attribution_description: Looking west in the Vesey Street bridge, Manhattan, New York City
context_page_description: The West Street pedestrian bridges are pedestrian bridges that cross West Street to connect the neighborhoods of Tribeca and the Financial District with Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan, New York City. The bridges were built to provide alternatives to crossing the busy street. Prior to the September 11 attacks, there were three bridges at Chambers Street, Vesey Street and Liberty Street. The Vesey Street and Liberty Street bridges connected the former World Trade Center complex with the World Financial Center.
  The collapse of the Twin Towers destroyed the Vesey Street bridge and heavily damaged the Liberty Street bridge. To improve pedestrian flow, a temporary bridge was built at Rector Street; a permanent bridge was built West Thames Street, one block south, in 2019, after which the Rector Street bridge was demolished. A temporary bridge at Vesey Street opened in November 2003 near the site of its predecessor, and was demolished by 2013 once a pedestrian tunnel was built under West Street. All bridges have elevators and ramps for disabled pedestrians, as per the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990.
context_section_description: The first Vesey Street Bridge (40°42′49″N 74°0′49″W), or North Bridge, connected the above-ground concourse of the former World Trade Center complex with the World Financial Center, paralleling nearby Vesey Street. It began at a point between 1 WTC and 6 WTC linking the upper levels of the Winter Garden Atrium. The grand marble staircase inside the Winter Garden pavilion provided access to the lower levels of the building and to the adjacent waterfront. The bridge was destroyed in the collapse of 1 WTC during the September 11 attacks in 2001.
  Because the intersection of Vesey Street and West Street was closed to pedestrians due to the September 11 attacks, ground for a temporary Vesey Street Bridge was broken in August 2003 by then-Governor George E. Pataki. The bridge opened on November 2003 in time for the return of the PATH train to the temporary terminal by the WTC site and connected the southwest corner of Vesey Street and West Street, next to 3 WFC, with the northeast corner, next to 140 West Street (Verizon Building).
  The Vesey Street bridge was designed with ADA accessibility in mind, and escalators were installed to allow pedestrians access the bridge without using stairs. The escalator by the World Financial Center, at the western end, opened on April 16, 2004. They were followed by the escalator on the eastern side in June 2004. The elevators at either end opened in the same summer. The elevators and escalators were prone to problems, and an escalator was closed for six months due to a failure. The bridge was met criticism for the breakdowns and also bridge closures due to construction activity at the 1 WTC construction site. Thus residents from the Battery Park City area clamored for the reopening of the Vesey Street walkways across West Street, as an alternative to the bridge. (The elevator and escalator on the east side of the Vesey Street bridge were inoperable for an extended period of time forcing individuals who are unable to climb stairs to cross at Murray Street, which is north of Vesey Street.)
  The bridge was finally closed and taken apart on October 7, 2013. At the same time, the crosswalk on the north side of Vesey Street was reopened, The bridge was replaced by the West Concourse of the World Trade Center Transportation Hub, an underground passageway connecting the World Financial Center with the World Trade Center PATH station and to the Fulton Center via the Dey Street Passageway. The temporary bridge was demolished and replaced by a pedestrian crosswalk.
caption: North Bridge, built 2003
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