World's first underground park planned for Manhattan

NEW YORK (FOX5NY) - A plan to build the world's first underground park in Manhattan is moving forward.

A city development group has agreed to allow a group to build the Lowline on the Lower East Side and use solar technology to light the underground gardens inside an old trolley terminal.

The city’s first underground park is planned for the former Williamsburg Bridge Trolley Terminal below  Delancey Street.  The site was opened in 1908 but was last used in 1948.

The project's vision is to provide a beautiful respite and a cultural attraction in one of the world's most dense urban environments.

The proposed solar technology involves the creation of a “remote skylight.” Sunlight would pass through a glass shield above a parabolic collector, and then  reflected and gathered at one focal point, and directed underground.

The Economic Development Corporation has signed off, but the project still needs to raise $10 million along with getting city council approval.  They hope to have the park built and opened in 2021.