Lincoln Center to get massive $335 million redesign. Here's a look at the new plans.
New renderings have been released showing the massive $335 million redesign coming to Lincoln Center in New York City.
The new plans for the crown jewel of Lincoln Square open up the west side on Amsterdam Avenue, increasing accessibility.
"This project has been, in some sense, a few years in the making. And, in another sense, it's been in the making since the birth of Lincoln Center," Lincoln Center president and CEO Mariko Silver said.
What is now Damrosch Park, and a massive wall that symbolically blocks out those who live across Amsterdam Avenue, will soon be a new, inviting and vibrant space to welcome all members of Lincoln Square, the city and what stood before: A neighborhood known as San Juan Hill.
Giving new life to San Juan Hill
During Black History Month in February, CBS News New York unveiled the history of San Juan Hill, a predominately Black and Puerto Rican community that was destroyed in the late 1950s to make room for Lincoln Center.
"The politicians called it urban renewal. But in the African American community, we called it urban removal," said T.S. Monk, the son of legendary jazz pianist and San Juan Hill legend Thelonious Monk.
Monk and Stanley Nelson, the director of the film "San Juan Hill: Manhattan's Lost Neighborhood," both agreed the next step for Lincoln Center was to remove the wall facing one of the last tangible structures of San Juan Hill - the Amsterdam Houses. Now that's becoming a reality.
Along the west side, there will be new trees, parks, venues, water features and the wall - now a door for all to Lincoln Center.
"We want to bring that spirit forward," Silver said.
The project will begin in the spring of 2026 and conclude in 2028, giving new life to a legacy that was almost forgotten.
"We want people to be proud of this neighborhood, we want them to feel like they belong in this neighborhood," Silver said. "The neighborhood actually belongs to them."
