For those who long for the good ole days, when the underside of the three bridges of the Port Authority Bus Terminal was a skeezy section of Ninth Avenue, don't read this: they actually renovated it! The project started in 1995 with a little help from the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Association; architects PKSB and Leni Schwendinger Light Projects were the team selected for the upgrade shortly after. Now, a mere 12 years later, it's finally complete.
As of late last fall, both sides of the avenue are now clad in stainless steel shinyness, and the underside of the bridges are painted in a multicolored pattern that would make Le Corbusier proud. Because the project was designed in the 1990's, the lighting system is fluorescent (not awesome LED's) and the power consumption causes a lot of the underside to be turned off during the week. But at night, up and down Ninth Avenue, it's a glowing lime-streaked beacon.
