160 Water Street

160 Water Street is a Privately Owned Public Space in the Financial District, one of the larger POPS along the Water Street corridor in Lower Manhattan. The space includes a notable elevated plaza that provides views over the surrounding streetscape.

The Water Street POPS corridor is one of the most extensive linear collections of publicly accessible private space in New York City. The plazas along this street were created during the intensive office development of the 1960s through 1980s.

160 Water Street's elevated plaza provides a raised vantage point in a part of Manhattan where the street-level experience is dominated by tall buildings and narrow sidewalks. The elevation creates a sense of openness unusual in the Financial District.

The Water Street corridor has been the focus of recent improvement efforts, with building owners and the city collaborating to upgrade the aging plazas with better seating, plantings, lighting, and programming.

This POPS represents the potential of Financial District plazas to serve as genuine public amenities when properly designed and maintained, providing outdoor gathering space that elevates the daily experience of working in Lower Manhattan.