Downtown Wyandanch and Straight Path Corridor

The Town Board of the Town of Babylon, NY undertook a public outreach process which helped the Wyandanch community define and envision its future.  What emerged is a community generated “vision” plan, known as the “Wyandanch Rising Hamlet Plan,” that is based upon a New Urbanist paradigm, characterized by a pedestrian-friendly, transit oriented development, with a mix of uses, networked thoroughfares and opportunities for civic buildings and spaces; in short, a recipe for a sustainable and joyful public realm at a mass transit station.

Torti Gallas + Partners was commissioned by the Town of Babylon and the New York Department of  State  to lead a team of landscape architects, economists, civil engineers, cost estimators, zoning attorney, public outreach specialist, and transportation planners to create a highly sustainable and implementable TOD plan that also included a corridor study, and creation of a new form-based zoning ordinance.  The Town of Babylon has a strong commitment to environmental sustainability and is pursuing LEED ND certification of this brownfield revitalization effort that will be the new heart of the hamlet of Wyandanch.

Situated at the intersection of Straight Path and the Long Island Railroad, the Core Area will become the civic and commercial heart of Wyandanch.  Downtown Wyandanch has been designed to create a distinct “sense of place.” To achieve this goal, the design is influenced by regional traditional Long Island villages.  This transit-oriented development has been designed with equal attention to the public spaces (the streets, the parks, the squares and the like), and to the private realm.  Using smart growth design principles, the design features a mix of uses and housing types, a connected network of streets, a variety of civic spaces and parks, and a streetscape designed as much for a pedestrian amenity as for vehicular movement.