Greenways and Waterfront Development [Archive]

ZippyTheChimp

July 22nd, 2003, 09:08 AM

Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/waterfront/20030721/18/469

The Manhattan Waterfront Greenway -- A Thin Green Line

by Carter Craft
July 07, 2003

When the Manhattan waterfront greenway opens in just a few weeks Mayor Michael Bloomberg will have achieved what 25 years of planners and policymakers could not: a nearly continuous waterfront esplanade (http://www.ci.nyc.ny.us/html/dcp/pdf/bike/greensys.pdf) (in pdf format) for walkers, cyclists, joggers, skaters, birdwatchers and many others in the world's most famous borough.

With this esplanade the mayor will have wiped away more than two decades of attention deficit disorder that plagued previous administrations, but the key to harnessing the waterfront to benefit the long-term growth of the city lies well beyond this thin green line. Here’s why:

Popular visions for the waterfront of the future generally swing between two extremes. The first is the sweeping green ring around the water’s edge in places like Little Neck Bay, East River Park, or along the Shore Parkway. The second vision of the waterfront is the “Gold Coast” model, where the remnants of industry are replaced with glistening towers in glass and steel.

Each of these models falls short in certain respects. One, the ribbons of green were in reality little more than decorative trim, a green lace edge alongside the massive investment of waterfront highways and parkways which themselves really cut communities off from the waterfront. The development of Hudson River Park is the most recent version of this thin green edge. The “Gold Coast” model similarly falls short as a community development tool because it generally only accommodates the high-end of the income spectrum. Herein lies the Catch-22 for post-industrial waterfront revitalization: can new life be brought to the waterfront in ways that accommodate all city-dwellers as residents and users, or will this new investment physically and economically exclude most people in favor or higher income brackets?

The city’s rezoning proposal for the waterfront of Greenpoint and Williamsburg will test this limit, and largely determine whether those casually referred to in the popular media as “inner-city” dwellers will in fact be relegated to literally inner city districts laden with asphalt and stricken with highways, or whether the city's emerging vision of a new waterfront will serve poor folks too.

One of the problems with a continuous ribbon of green is that it defies the reality that we are a city of islands. As such, we should be embracing modes of transportation that harness the waterways. In Manhattan, the city is making great efforts to expand ferry transit, with a slew of new or upgraded terminals ring the island from East 90th Street south around the Battery and north to West 38th Street (all connected by the greenway). There are efforts afoot to improve or expand landing facilities further north along the west side even as far north as Dyckman Street. But in addition to the city’s need to create new options for white collar commuters, there is a tremendous need to improve the movement of goods in and through Manhattan, home to two of the three largest central business districts in the city.

When the trend toward containerization carried the port to New Jersey nearly a half century ago, it inevitably took a lot of manufacturing and distribution facilities with it. All of these activities continued the seemingly irreversible trend towards highway and truck transport. Since that time, as traffic has increased exponentially, no new freight connections have been created. Getting a truckload of computers or foodstuffs from New Jersey to Brooklyn relies wholly on the same bridges and tunnels that existed back in the Great Depression more than 70 years ago. And Canal Street sure shows it! *

While the Manhattan waterfront greenway celebrates the fact that we are an island, it doesn’t help us address the fact that in the grand scheme of highway-dependent economics Manhattan is nothing more than a congested through route to I-95, the Cross Bronx, or the Long Island Expressway. Yes, pedestrians, cyclists, and birdwatchers vote, but it’s the tens of thousands of trucks passing through Manhattan each day that are literally and figuratively paying the freight. Just as the first layer of asphalt on this new path is being laid, neighborhoods such as Washington Heights and Chinatown are still suffering the effects of noise, vibration, and air pollution of this perpetual truck dependency.

One of the greatest benefits of the greenway plan is that it will connect activity and opportunity that already exist at the water’s edge. Fort Washington, the Battery, Stuyvesant Cove and Harlem River Park will be linked to Riverbank and Hudson River State Park as well as dozens of other attractions. Surely every waterfront neighborhood needs such green destinations at the blue water’s edge, but the city also needs places for less-appreciated activities such as the transport of garbage or generation of energy. The pending sale of the Waterside Generating Station by Con Ed, for instance, has already placed pressure on the Lower East Side by causing the expansion of the East River Generating Station. The development of Hudson River and Riverside South parks on the West Side are only creating added pressure to relocate facilities such as the 59th Street marine transfer station which moves thousands of tons of recyclable paper every day. These facilities shouldn’t be closed, they should just be engineered to perform better. In reality, Lower Manhattan probably needs a state of the art marine transfer station far more than it needs more luxury housing.

Perhaps the greatest legacy of the Manhattan waterfront greenway will not be the greenway itself, but the chain reaction of land-use pressures that heat up on the waterfronts of the Bronx, Queens and Brooklyn. Now that Mayor Bloomberg has vanquished twenty five years of inaction for Manhattan, let’s hope he puts forth ambitious and positive plans for waterfronts of the opposite shores that have been abused or ignored for even longer.

Carter Craft, an urban planner, is program director of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance.

Kris

August 18th, 2003, 01:49 AM

August 18, 2003

Renovation Efforts Reclaim the City's Forbidden Shoreline

By COREY KILGANNON

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2003/08/18/nyregion/18wate.xl.jpg
Runners at Stuyvesant Cove Park, a renovated waterfront on East 20th Street and the East River. Many stretches of New York City's shoreline are being revitalized.

One morning last week, Zoe Klein, a 24-year-old circus performer from Brooklyn, stood practicing her act, which involved swinging a pair of tethered balls, and stared out to the Hudson River.

"Growing up in New York, I always felt boxed in," she said. "I always knew we were surrounded by water, but it always felt dirty or inaccessible."

Actually it was not too long ago that the stretch of waterfront where she was standing was dirty and inaccessible. But it has been recently reclaimed as part of the Hudson River Park project, a lengthy effort to upgrade the West Side riverfront and install miles of landscaped public space and freshly paved pathways for runners, bikers and skaters.

Although traffic was heavy on the nearby West Side Highway, Ms. Klein said she considered the spot on the western fringe of Greenwich Village an oasis of serenity. "I come here all the time, to counteract the stress of living in the city," she said.

Things are changing along New York's waterways and waterfront, and Ms. Klein is not the only one noticing. City residents are now zealously embracing the waterfront.

Yoga groups convene on a Hudson River promenade just south of West 72nd Street on what was once a fallow railyard. Fishermen are casting for schools of striped bass off the Battery. And the Downtown Boathouse offers free kayaking programs.

"New York is a water city — we're the Venice of the East Coast — but for a good part of the 1900's, the city turned its back on the waterfront," said John Waldman, the senior scientist with the Hudson River Foundation. "Now we're turning around and discovering it."

Cleaner waters have encouraged many revitalization projects along the city's 578 miles of shoreline. Despite economic hard times, waterfront development projects are proliferating from Staten Island to the Bronx.

"The development of the waterfront is one of the Bloomberg administration's most critical economic and neighborhood priorities," said Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding. "With maritime industry uses gone or fading, we can reclaim parts of the shoreline. We have a once-in-a-century opportunity to reclaim New York City's waterfront, so we're seeing a lot of things beginning to come together."

In Manhattan, progress is being made on the $400 million Hudson River Park park project to reclaim five miles of ramshackle waterfront from Battery Park City to 59th Street. There are also plans to revitalize the Harlem Piers, renovate Fulton Street and create a "Champs-Élysées"-style promenade on West Street.

In Queens, the Queens West project has two residential towers up and another planned, and there are proposals to create new access to Jamaica Bay and the Flushing River waterfront. The city hopes to create a waterfront Olympic Village for 2012 in Long Island City.

In Brooklyn, plans to develop 1.3 miles around the Manhattan and Brooklyn Bridges into commercial and recreation space are on tap, as is a revitalization project for a 1.6-mile stretch of industrial waterfront in Greenpoint and Williamsburg.

In the Bronx, there are plans to redevelop the waterfront near Yankee Stadium and the Bronx River. In Staten Island, city officials hope to redevelop the former Homeport Navy site, and a new pier at South Beach is almost complete.

Four of New York City's five boroughs are part of an urban archipelago. This was one of the big draws for the Dutch, who built wharves in southern Manhattan in the 1600's. As commercialism began to grow, waterfront structures began blocking views and access. And the less-than-savory sailors and dock hands made the waterfront synonymous with mob activity, prostitution and crime.

So New Yorkers avoided the water, wrote Luc Sante in "Low Life," his book on New York's underbelly. Mr. Sante noted that Fifth Avenue became the most desirable residential address because it was farthest away from the Hudson and the East River.

Early in the 20th century, highways were built blocking the shoreline, which was thick with freighters and ocean liners. The fishing industry declined as the waters became more polluted. Foul water also meant the end of Whitehall rowboats off the Battery and grand boathouses and swim clubs with staircases descending into the water.

"For generations, the river was considered an unpleasant place to go," said the city's parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe. "It was where you put slaughterhouses and where poor kids went to swim."

By midcentury, manufacturing began to decline and many piers became inactive. Still, the city's nautical life was reduced to tiny pockets, like Broad Channel and City Island.

But the federal 1972 Clean Water Act and better sewage treatment practices improved water quality. Starting in the 1980's, industrial waterfront stretches began to be redeveloped into residential or recreational areas, including Battery Park City and Chelsea Piers.

The once dying ferry industry has recently been revived. Developers and city officials continue to see new opportunity in the old wharfs and dilapidated shoreline buildings.

So New York is finally shaking off a legacy of the padlocked waterfront, and undergoing a "mindset change," said Raymond Gastil, author of "Beyond the Edge: New York's New Waterfront" (Princeton Architectural Press, 2002).

"The idea that you can go kayaking off a pier in downtown Manhattan is a pretty bold expectation," he said, "but one that is being realized."

Carter Craft, program director of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, a division of the Municipal Art Society that advocates for more public access to the shoreline and more water transit, said that the "change in New Yorkers' consciousness" certainly helps economic revitalization. But he said that waterfront parks should do more than just lead people to the water. "There are still relatively few ways for Manhattan Islanders to actually interact with the water," he said. "The current park designs are not as boater-friendly as they should be. The waterfront should not be an edge, but rather a gateway."

Even as a work in progress, the transformation of the waterfront is something the city is pretty proud of. The Parks Department is planning an opening ceremony later this month for an interim bike path around the perimeter of Manhattan.

"Opening the waterfront for recreational use in the 21st Century is as important at the creation of Central Park, Prospect Park and Riverside Park in the 19th Century," said Mr. Benepe of the Parks Department.

Last week, Jose Gerald, 65, a retired merchant seaman from Carroll Gardens, was fishing off the Valentino Pier in Red Hook

Mr. Gerald, who moved here from Puerto Rico, has been fishing at this spot for 45 years, looking for blackfish, blues, porgies and striped bass.

"Forty years ago, the water was filthy," he said. "Now it's beautiful. Before nobody wanted to eat the fish. Now everybody wants to eat the fish. Now you even see some kids swimming over here some times. I don't know the name, but the fishing ducks are back."

The same day, a man sat on the waterfront in upper Manhattan with no fishing pole, but rather a bottle of beer in his hand.

The man, a pay phone repairman named Robert K. Morton, sat at a table set outside at the Tubby Hook Cafe at Dyckman Street and the Hudson River. The cafe offers spectacular views of the river, of the George Washington Bridge and the Palisade cliffs.

"When you sit out here, you don't think you're in Washington Heights," Mr. Morton said, squeezing a lime into his beer. "I work for the phone company and I get to go all over. It doesn't get any better than this."

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

Kris

August 21st, 2003, 04:59 PM

Venice in New York

At a time when everyone is looking how to fix the electrical grid because of the ’03 blackout, we shouldn’t confine ourselves to thinking of repairing the past without looking at some truly magnificent opportunities for the future. New Yorkers live surrounded by one of the world’s greatest natural wonders, and most never give it a single thought. We’re talking, of course, about the waterfront, those extraordinary 578 miles of shoreline which range throughout the city and have the potential to become an urban attraction to rival Central Park. Given the city’s abundance of waterways, New York is indeed "the Venice of the East Coast," as John Waldman, the senior scientist at the Hudson River Foundation, recently told The New York Times. But instead of drawing the millions of tourists who flock to that Italian city by the sea, New York’s shoreline has been underused for decades, more of an embarrassment than a world-class tourist destination. The city’s waterfront policy has been characterized by neglect and abandonment, a place where pathology and crime have been allowed to flourish despite much rhetoric.

Fortunately, Mayor Michael Bloomberg—who announced in his first State of the City address that he intended to bring new life to the waterfront—is committed to taking action. Already under his watch, the city has proposed rezoning the Brooklyn shore area for housing, completed a bike path around Manhattan and developed new links to the lower Manhattan waterfront. Many New Yorkers have seen the progress on the $400 million Hudson River Park project between Battery Park City and 59th Street. And as The Times noted, there are plans to redevelop the area around the Brooklyn and Manhattan bridges, the waterfront near Yankee Stadium and the Harlem Piers. The city’s parks commissioner, Adrian Benepe, deserves praise for making the shorefront a priority of his department.

But the city and the state should put far more money into the waterfront, and secure federal funding as well. To take just one example of an untapped natural resource, look at the Harlem River. A sizable public investment along with private donations could reface that entire shoreline, spruce up the bridges, build condos, boating facilities and restaurants, and transform the area into something resembling the Grand Canal. Tourists and residents would be drawn there, all of Harlem would benefit economically, and what is now totally wasted space would become a showcase attraction.

And it’s not just the area around Manhattan which is ripe for development. Look at the remarkable number of bays and canals in every borough, such as the Rockaway Inlet, Sheepshead Bay, Gravesend Bay, the Gowanus Canal, Little Neck Bay, the Bronx River—not to mention the shorefront of Staten Island. Any Governor or Mayor with real vision could put the most extraordinary development in the 21st century into play. And if the Bush administration were wise, it would invest heavily in such a history-making project. If the federal government were to take the money from the space program and invest it in New York’s waterways, they’d see huge, bankable returns. Indeed, while the government of Italy spends billions on Venice, Florence and Rome, and the government of France spends billions on Paris, the U.S. government spends zero on New York. This is not only shortsighted from a cultural point of view, it’s also a lost opportunity to create a permanent source of tax revenue.

To put it simply, a full-scale investment in New York’s waterfront would benefit everyone. Imagine going for a candle-lit dinner and a gondola ride on the Harlem River.

COPYRIGHT © 2003
THE NEW YORK OBSERVER

Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/waterfront/20030821/18/500

Will The Bountiful Triangle Return?

by Carter Craft
August 08, 2003

New York started with a single island. That first island was not Manhattan, but "Nut" Island, now called Governors Island. But the colonists soon expanded to Manhattan and then to Brooklyn. For more than three centuries, the focal point of life in New York City was the bountiful triangle of water, bounded by Brooklyn, Governors Island, and Manhattan. What was once the heart of the city now offers an extraordinary opportunity once again - if we take it.

Governors Island

The first European colonists in our area only took Manhattan after they had a secure foothold on Governors Island. Now, the roles are reversed. Earlier this year the state and city announced the formation of the Governors Island Preservation and Education Corporation. As part of the deal with the federal government which allowed the return of the island to state control, some type of educational facility is planned. A family entertainment center and artisan workspaces also seem to be on the list. Just last month, the new preservation corporation opened the gate to the island for public tours which are available to both individuals and groups. Wildly popular, (with long waiting lists each week) the collaboration between the preservation corporation, the National Park Service, and the handful of civics involved in organizing the tours (now extended through October) bodes well for the creative problem solving that the island demands. But will the novelty wear off?

Redevelopment of the island is hamstrung by two factors. The first is that nobody uses it now; it is not part of modern New York. Then, the island is accessible only by a ferry from Lower Manhattan and the price of this centuries-old disconnect grows higher. One way to cultivate visitation might be to link with other harbor attractions now. If art and craftsmanship is part of the future of the island then perhaps links to the gallery districts in Chelsea or DUMBO could be created. If tourism is anticipated to become a driving force then the 3+ million annual visitors to the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island may want to come learn about New York's colonial history as well.

Brooklyn

Brooklyn is close by, with a silent fleet of barges, lighters and container ships passing through Buttermilk Channel daily. Just last year, the state, city, and Port Authority took an important step in creating Brooklyn Bridge Park by consolidating Fulton Ferry Park with a patchwork of city and Port Authority controlled piers (numbered one to five) and other properties between the Manhattan Bridge and south almost to Atlantic Avenue. Now a second phase of planning has been initiated to the south along Piers six to 12 extending down around Atlantic Basin and into Red Hook.

Before any new structures have been built, concerns about commercial development versus open space are growing loud. The Church of Latter Day Saints, for example, has expressed its intent to sell its building on Furman Street, and this prime waterfront property could tie together two currently separated areas of the waterfront (Piers one to five, and Piers six to 12).

South of Atlantic Avenue along Buttermilk Channel, the wave of waterfront redevelopment seems to be crashing up against the bulkhead of Brooklyn maritime activity on Piers six to 12. At this confluence of the Channel, the East River, and the harbor the ecology within the water is almost as complicated as the political ecology on the land. The crux of the issue seems to be whether maritime and port land use still makes sense in this area (a report is expected in late September). Divergent visions for this area defined by Atlantic Avenue to the north and Atlantic Basin to the south range from a new Carnival Cruise Terminal, a beverage distribution center, or a southward extension of Brooklyn Bridge Park. A recent planning exercise by the New Amsterdam Development Corporation showed how low-scale housing might look where containers are now stacked four and six high.

The undeniable physical reality is that on an island home to more than seven million people, maritime trade and transit has to make sense somewhere. In a city where traffic congestion approaches lunacy levels on a near-daily basis, we have to cultivate and stabilize water- based alternatives not just for people but for goods as well.

East River Piers

Across from the Brooklyn Piers are the East River Piers of Manhattan. The canal on Broad Street that brought trade right to the door of today's Stock Exchange has long been filled in, and the river segregated from the prime office district of Lower Manhattan by a highway that is simply too big for its place in the city. Recently the Bloomberg administration convened an advisory committee to ponder new plans for the area that emphasize housing. A consultant is being sought to help think through the challenge of appending this waterfront to the body of Lower Manhattan. While housing needs are pressing, we can't forget what brought us to this spot on the island nearly 400 years ago: transportation.

Yes, Lower Manhattan is important for the commercial, cultural and corporate identities that are all embedded in the words "New York City." But this stretch of Lower Manhattan is even more significant because it's the one place in the city where the water and land transportation systems come together -- where the subway comes right to the water's edge.

Between the Staten Island Ferry Terminal and the Pier 11/ Wall Street Ferry pier lie probably the most underutilized stretch of waterfront in any part of New York City. This area was the commercial and transportation heart of New Amsterdam, largely because it was where the East, the Hudson, and the Harbor converged. Today, the Staten Island Ferry, the Battery Maritime Building (terminal for the Governors Island Ferry), the Port Authority heliport, and the Pier 11 Ferry Terminal at Wall Street make for a linear transit district that could be the basis for tremendous growth if they can be better connected, and possibly bolstered with new transportation uses.

What the Dutch knew and we seem to have forgotten, is that the value of waterfront lies not just in the return on investment, but how the water itself is used. From the founding of New Amsterdam on Governors Island to the creation of the first regularly scheduled ferry service between the shores of Brooklyn and Manhattan in 1642, the connections that were made between these areas over a just a quarter century fueled the growth and enabled a prosperity that lasted over 300 years. We have an opportunity to bring this area to prominence once again.

Carter Craft, an urban planner, is program director of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (http://www.waterwire.net).

Gulcrapek

August 21st, 2003, 05:13 PM

Just don't take money from the space program. They're hypocrites if they do; it's far more important in the long run than the waterfront.

Kris

September 30th, 2003, 08:29 PM

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 271-03
September 30, 2003

MAYOR MICHAEL R. BLOOMBERG ANNOUNCES THE FIRST PHASE TOWARDS THE COMPLETION OF THE MANHATTAN WATERFRONT GREENWAY

Mayor Fulfills State of the City Pledge To Create 32-Mile Continuous Loop Around Manhattan And Increase Access To The Waterfront

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced that the first phase of the project to complete the Manhattan Greenway has been achieved at the historic Harlem Speedway, the newest portion of the trail in Northern Manhattan. During his 2002 State of the City Address, the Mayor pledged to create an interim, continuous 32-mile pathway all the way around Manhattan, and today’s announcement marks the completion of the City/State effort towards realizing that goal. Over the last ten years, various City and State agencies have built portions of the Manhattan Greenway but not until this year had they worked together to connect the existing portions. This phase of the plan uses $6 million in City and State funds to connect existing waterfront esplanades, create new waterfront pathways and, where necessary, establishes on-street routes that will serve as interim links between the waterfront paths. The 32-mile trail around the island of Manhattan provides cyclists, joggers and pedestrians with a continuous route that includes over 23 miles of waterfront pathways and facilitates access to over 1,500 acres of parkland throughout the borough.

NYS Department of Transportation Commissioner Joseph Boardman representing the Governor, Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields, NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Iris Weinshall, Parks & Recreation Commissioner Adrian Benepe, Sports Commissioner Ken Podziba, and Olympic cyclists Deirdre Murphy and Oscar Pineda joined the Mayor at the Harlem River Speedway for the announcement.

“Today’s announcement is the fruit of our collective labor, and is indicative of this administration’s commitment as outlined in my State of the City address, to restore access to our great waterfront and improve the quality of life for all New Yorkers,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “Too much of our 578 miles of riverbank and coastline had been inaccessible and neglected for too long. This phase of the Manhattan Greenway builds on the amazing work of the past ten years to complete a 32-mile continuous trail and I will continue to work with Governor Pataki to improve this path and reclaim more of our Manhattan waterfront.”

“The creation of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway continues our commitment to providing pedestrian-friendly options for commuters and recreational cyclists, in-line skaters, runners, and others, while simultaneously giving New Yorkers access to their majestic waterfront,” said Governor Pataki. “Together with Mayor Bloomberg and the people of this great City, we will continue to work to improve the quality of life of all New Yorkers for generations to come.”

“This is an important day in Manhattan as we open a key stretch of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway,” said Manhattan Borough President Fields. “We must continue to find new ways to increase access to the waterfront so we can enjoy the great features of this borough by bike and by foot, up close and naturally.”

In 1993, the Department of City Planning issued a Greenway Plan for the City, which called for the development of a 350-mile network of greenways through all five boroughs including a continuous waterfront greenway around the island of Manhattan. At that time, only six miles of the waterfront were accessible to cyclists and pedestrians. Since that time, City and State agencies have built portions of the greenway but until 2003, had not worked together to connect the existing portions of the pathways. With $4.5 million in City funds and $1.5 million in State funds, first phase of the plan to connect the entire Manhattan Waterfront Greenway has been completed.

To coordinate construction of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, the Mayor’s Office under the direction of Deputy Mayor for Economic Development & Rebuilding Dan Doctoroff, forged a working group including NYC’s Parks & Recreation, Department of Transportation, Economic Development Corporation and Department of City Planning. To complete the path, the team worked in conjunction to:

Pave over three miles of path in city parks
Make improvements to over 6.8 miles of on-street routes
Build 14 new pedestrian ramps
Create six new crosswalks
Manufacture and install over 750 Greenway signs
The working group also partnered with the State Department of Transportation, which, in addition to constructing the Harlem River Speedway on-ramp, created a new safety fencing system along the FDR Drive between 13th and 15th Streets.
The announcement occurred at the Harlem River Speedway, a two-mile stretch of waterfront open space that runs adjacent to the Harlem River between 163rd and Dyckman Streets. As part of that effort, Parks & Recreation built a bike and pedestrian path along the Speedway, the NYC Economic Development Corporation reinforced Greenway infrastructure and the NYS Department of Transportation built an exclusive bike and pedestrian ramp at the southern end of the Speedway. Built in 1898 as a racing ground for the carriages of the City’s elite, the Speedway had fallen in to disrepair and, since the mid-1960’s offered severely limited access to the general public.

In addition to the Harlem River Speedway, City and State agencies collaborated on uniform signage for the entire length of the Manhattan Greenway to safely guide users, particularly bikers, along the path with recognizable trailblazers. For example, the entire route is marked with the Greenway logo, a round, green medallion, and includes directional signage and indicates areas where the Greenway widens to provide two paths – one for pedestrians and one for cyclists. In addition, where necessary, on-street signage exists to provide links between Greenway portions.

“I commend the Mayor and Governor’s commitment to creating the Manhattan Greenway system throughout the City of New York,” said Parks Commissioner Benepe. “This phase of the Greenway will not only link New Yorkers to their waterfront, but to expanded recreational opportunities for walking, jogging, biking, and in-line skating, improving the health and well being of New Yorkers of all ages. While New Yorkers travel along the Greenway, they can enjoy over 1,500 acres of City and State parklands. We ask that bicyclists and skaters go cautiously and yield to pedestrians.”

“At DOT, we have enjoyed working cooperatively with the Mayor, with other City agencies and State agencies on this exciting project,” said DOT Commissioner Iris Weinshall. “We were involved on many levels, most notably, in implementing street markings and signs. New York City is a great walking City and it is a great City for people for bicycles. We are creating a tremendous opportunity here for the bicycling community, and we are proud to be a part of it.”

The next phase of the completion of the Greenway includes The Battery, now an interim route, which will have a world-class bikeway around its perimeter connecting the East and Hudson Rivers. The Battery project will advance as soon as plans for the MTA’s 1/9 South Ferry Station project and the State DOT reconstruction of Battery Place are finalized. Secondly, the City is working with State DOT to improve the connection from 25th to 41st Streets. Parks and the Economic Development Corporation are working with the United Nations on a proposal to create an esplanade and greenway connection from East 41st to 51st Streets should the UN’s consolidation plan advance. Thirdly, plans for creating a waterfront connection through Riverside Park between 83rd and 91st Streets are in the design phase and the City is working to secure remaining capital dollars needed to construct this segment of the path. Fourth, the fully funded West Harlem Piers is expected to be complete in spring 2005. Lastly, the City will build the second phase of Harlem River Park from East 139th to 142nd Street path in next two years, thereby extending the newly completed first phase of the park from 135th to 139th Streets.

To obtain a hardcopy of the Manhattan Greenway map, New Yorkers can call 311 or download it from the City’s website at www.nyc.gov .

CONTACT:

Ed Skyler / Jennifer Falk (212) 788-2958

Mollie Fullington (Governor) (212) 681-4640

Megan Sheekey (Parks)
(212) 360-1311

Tom Cocola (DOT)
(212) 442-7033

Greenway Map (http://www.nyc.gov/html/edc/pdf/greenway_mapside.pdf)

Greenway Brochure (http://www.nyc.gov/html/edc/pdf/greenway_broside.pdf)

Guide Book To Walking Manhattan's Rim (http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=218)

Biking in New York City (http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=323)

BrooklynRider

October 1st, 2003, 10:51 AM

This is a major accomplishment and one of the finer, higher-minded visions this city has undertaken. Too bad it gets lost in the news.

Kris

December 17th, 2003, 09:18 PM

Innovative Designs Along the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway (http://www.transalt.org/press/magazine/034Fall/05greenway.html)

Ninjahedge

December 18th, 2003, 10:51 AM

This was one thing that surprised me about Brooklyn Heights. With such an affluent area, to have a wide unobstructed view of the DPW buildings and the salt storage was a bit of a surprise...

billyblancoNYC

December 18th, 2003, 12:06 PM

It will be a great park soon...

http://www.bbpdc.org/

Clarknt67

December 27th, 2003, 06:06 PM

It will be a great park soon...

http://www.bbpdc.org/

That link gives you a good (but outdated) view of the park. There's more news here:

http://www.brooklynbridgepark.com/

It seems like it's been a LONG time since they released the original master plan (found at the first site). I've read about a lot of changes to it including:

• The cove will no longer be converted to a marsh, in response to local environmentalists convincing architects that they existing eco-system is precious.

• Pier 6 now appears to be almost certain to be included in the park plan.

•*Conflicting reports of what to do with the art deco building under the Brooklyn Bridge. It wil either be razed, truncated (to allow unobstructed views down the shoreline of the park) or remain as is. (9/11 created an additional hurdle/complication as City's FEMA office, formerly housed in the Twin Towers was moved there).

I wish they'd release a revised Master Plan. Maybe they will soon.

Next Public Meeting: January 8, 2004 The Coalition's Neighborhood Advisory Committee will meet at 6:30 p.m. in the Brooklyn Bridge Park Coalition Offices, 334 Furman Street at the corner of Joralemon.*

The committee meets regularly on the first Thursday of the month to discuss issues regarding the development of the Park.* Open to the public.*
RSVP to info@bbpc.net by e-mail, or by calling (718) 802-0603.

Kris

January 23rd, 2004, 06:16 AM

Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/waterfront/20040123/18/849

Eight Ways To A Better Future Now

by Carter Craft
January 01, 2004

With talk of a new stadium for the Jets, new buildings for the site of the World Trade Center, and the possibility that the Olympics will come to the city in 2012, New Yorkers seem to be focusing lately on the future, and hoping for a glorious one.

This has happened before – in the World’s Fairs of 1939 and 1964, for example – and, just as with those ambitious projects, the advocates envisioning an Olympics 2012 in New York City promise investments in preparation for the games that will result in permanent improvements in the city’s waterfront and waterfront communities. But those who remember past promises of future glory know that many of the shining new pools and shimmering lakes have turned into decrepit pools and silted-in lakes.

In any case, we shouldn't have to stay in a holding pattern until July 2005 (when the 2012 Olympics host city will be announced) in order to make improvements. There is much to improve right now.

A. Embrace the Water

1) In the city's rush to revitalize the waterfront, we are overlooking the most important physical asset: the water itself. We should make water usage and water dependency a priority for waterfront land use policy. In 2002, the city conducted their first ever inventory of publicly owned waterfront. Now we need to take the next step and identify those inlets, bays, creeks and reaches of rivers where in-water opportunities exist.
2) The city has nearly a dozen marinas, stretching from Throgs Neck to Jamaica Bay. Too many of these places are viewed as physical blights rather than community assets. The city parks department should conduct a review of all municipal marinas and explore new partnerships with community-based organizations, particularly the variety of young and upstart rowing and boating programs.

3) Many great waterfront cities have a dock master, someone who understands the physical characteristics of the water (and the submerged lands, pile fields, and ship wrecks underneath) and can advise other agencies, communities, and waterway users on how that area can be used and maintained. New York should consider this as well.

B. Face up to End-of-Pipe and Bottom-of-Pail Problems

4) The greatest threat to water quality is our waste. One type of waste is the oily, polluted runoff from streets, highway and roofs that comes with every Nor'easter or summer downpour. In such a heavily paved environment as New York, every serious rain event makes our beaches unswimmable and our fish and crabs inedible. Our current municipal strategy for dealing with storm water is to build giant containment tanks that can capture and hold the "storm surges," as they are called. This end-of-pipe "solution," however, is perpetuating the dangerous trend of creating a whole new infrastructure that future generations will have to pay to maintain. To look at it another way, our gas taxes are being used to build new transportation facilities, which create more runoff. Then our water rates are raised to help pay for the new infrastructure needed to capture this runoff. It's a vicious cycle that is also costing us billions.

Rather than have tax- and rate payers perpetuating the problem of endemic over-paving, the city should institute a "Zero Tolerance for Polluted Runoff." This comprehensive greening program would include new wetland buffers at the water's edge, a giant green grid of new street and sidewalk trees throughout the city, and green roofs on buildings.

5) With two of the city's largest central business districts located on the island of Manhattan, we need more marine transfer facilities in midtown and downtown.

C. Invest In Better Mobility

6) Air quality is threatened with the growth of marine transit for goods, for people, and for trash. On the water, so-called "marine engines" are not regulated by the EPA as are land-based engines. New York City, home of the most famous ferry service in the nation, should invest in clean fuel technology to help our fleet get to the forefront of marine transit. The Staten Island Ferry will be 100 years old next year. We should make a more substantive investment in its long-term success that lasts long after the inevitable blue and orange balloons have gone flat.
7) Truck traffic exacts a tremendous toll on the physical infrastructure of the city, from the cobblestone streets of Soho to the structural steel and deck plates of the river crossings. The movement of goods is critical to keeping New York a center of world trade and business.

The city should look at truck ferries as a way to reduce truck traffic and increase the reliability with which goods are delivered. New freight ferries from the Greenville Yards in Jersey City to Brooklyn Army Terminal on Atlantic Avenue could help reduce truck traffic along other congested routes such as the Verrazzano Bridge or Gowanus Expressway.

8) And last, with long-range planning back in vogue for the first time in over a decade, the city should put stock into other long-range planning efforts now ongoing. City University's Gotham Center is looking ahead to "NY2050," and a "Comprehensive Port Improvement Plan" is looking ahead as far as 2063.

Carter Craft, an urban planner, is program director of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (http://www.waterwire.net).

billyblancoNYC

February 4th, 2004, 01:45 PM

http://www.nycedc.com/Library/Newsletters/WestHarlem/hw_winter04.pdf

TLOZ Link5

February 4th, 2004, 02:31 PM

Maybe a fast ferry to Albany? Rochester will soon have such a link to Toronto, and a similar route between the City and the Capital would improve links between downstate and upstate, as well as help out the economy up there.

ZippyTheChimp

February 7th, 2004, 02:27 AM

Downtown Express (http://www.downtownexpress.com/)

Ball fields near completion; East R. walkway plan to begin

By Albert Amateau

The $50-million reconstruction of the East River Park promenade, stretching from Jackson St. on the Lower East Side to E. 12th St. and closed for more than two years, is scheduled to begin this autumn.

The 1.25-mile park project, outlined at a Jan. 27 Community Board 3 meeting and eagerly awaited by East Village and Lower East Side residents, is scheduled to open in stages, the first 2,000 sq. feet in the summer of 2005.

The entire promenade along the East River is to be completed by the summer of 2006, according to Lawrence Mauro, project manager for the Department of Parks and Recreation, who made the presentation with Elaine Crowley, administrator of city parks in District 3, and John Williams, of MKW Associates, landscape architect for the project.

“After the promenade is finished, we’ll begin work on the bikeway that runs on the western side of the park along the F.D.R. Drive’” Mauro said.

The new promenade will include two “embayments” or inlets, one just south and the other just north of Houston St. “They will bring some East River water into the park,” said Williams. Plans call for bridges across the openings of the bays in addition to the broader walkways curving around them.

A new entrance to the park will be built south of Jackson St. and the reconstructed promenade will have new benches and lighting.

Four new ball fields near Houston St., currently being built as a separate project with funding from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. are expected to open this spring. Two of the fields will be natural grass and two will be artificial turf.

The amphitheater at Grand St., renovated two years ago, will get a new paint job and a new handicap access ramp. The project will include new bathrooms and a reconstruction fireboat station at Grand St. But there is no funding yet to refurbish any other buildings in the park, Mauro said.

The width of the promenade will vary from 18 to 32 feet with plazas carved out in the widest areas. Bordering trees, some planted 60 years ago when the promenade was built on pilings in the river, will be saved and replanted if healthy and replaced where necessary.

The promenade was closed in the summer of 2001 when a Department of Parks survey determined that many of the piles that support the deck were being destroyed by a combination of marine borers and dry rot. The plan then was to complete the reconstruction in two years, “barring unforeseen circumstances.” The World Trade Center attack interrupted the plans.

The project will require the removal of two Con Edison electrical feeder cables and an abandoned fuel line that run the length of the promenade. The electrical cables will be relocated to the bike path along the F.D.R. Drive, Mauro said.

The project will go out to bid this spring, contract approval is expected in July and construction will begin in the autumn, Mauro said.

Albert@DowntownExpress.com

Downtown Express is published by
Community Media LLC.

Kris

April 24th, 2004, 10:58 PM

April 25, 2004

EAST SIDE

As the East River Is Transformed, Industrial Nostalgia Takes Hold

By ERIKA KINETZ

http://graphics7.nytimes.com/images/2004/04/25/nyregion/indu184.jpg
Sean Kelly

THE East River has been the city's digestive system. Unlike its sparkling sibling, the Hudson, it has belched with industry for years and unflinchingly done its part in processing the city's solid waste.

Now, as developers are spending $4.25 billion to create more than 2.3 million square feet of office space and 6,000 units of housing along the East River, the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance is working to save what remains of the river's industrial past.

"If we don't save some of this history while it's out there, we're going to end up looking like the Gold Coast of New Jersey," said Carter Craft, the director of the alliance, referring to the many shiny residential buildings that have popped up across the Hudson facing Manhattan.

Last year, the group got a $40,000 state grant in part to create an East River Industrial Heritage Trail, which would offer intrepid boaters and curious citizens guides to long-forgotten spots like the Greenpoint Terminal Market in Brooklyn, the old captain's boathouse in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, and the Fulton Ferry Fireboat House.

The group is also exploring new uses for some old sites. It hopes to transform a sludge tank in Greenpoint into a public swimming pool, and make the old ferry terminal at East 132nd Street in Manhattan - now a mass of decayed gray pilings - into a boat launch.

On a recent Saturday, Mr. Craft led a tour of the 27 industrial sites that the alliance has already identified. The tour boat, a 25-year-old trawler, left from a little marina on 23rd Street and spent three hours crisscrossing the East River.

The water itself was a flat gray that day. Outside the Brooklyn Navy Yard, a barge called Matilde was loaded with cement, and a yellow Caterpillar made small progress scooping large piles of sand. The chemical-sweet smell of industry hung in the air.

Just ahead was the old captain's boathouse, a humble steel shed. Mr. Craft envisions it as a water taxi station.

Farther north, an old man stood in the parking lot of the Costco in Long Island City, Queens, and fished. At Hunts Point in the Bronx, the wind picked up. The abandoned South Bronx Marine Transfer Station, which sits near the mouth of the Bronx River, is a weary-looking gray-green shed punched with holes. The waterfront alliance would like to see the structure converted into a transportation hub, in part for goods headed for Hunts Point and the new Fulton Fish Market.

All in all, the East River remains a largely ruined landscape, lined with wild marsh grass, the back ends of school buses, humps of dry dirt, razor wire, railroad tracks vanquished by rust, 11 power stations that spin fine ribbons of steam and four waste-treatment plants.

That's what Mr. Craft likes about it. "The East River has been the kidneys, liver, spleen and urethra of New York City," he said. "That has sort of stigmatized the river over our modern history. The reality is there is nothing we should be ashamed of. We eat, we drink, we throw things away, we go to the bathroom. We manufacture things."

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

www.waterwire.net

krulltime

May 11th, 2004, 05:58 PM

Waterfront designers named

May 11, 2004

The city has hired Richard Rogers Partnership and Sharples Holden and Pasquarelli Architects to be lead consultants for a design team that will produce a master plan for redeveloping the East River waterfront.

Economic Development Corp. President Andrew Alper and Director of City Planning Amanda Burden also announced Tuesday that there will be a series of public meetings in June to present preliminary concepts for the waterfront area, which stretches from Battery Park to the Lower East Side.

The master plan, which is expected to be completed in early 2005, will focus attention on the Wall Street, South Street Seaport, Chinatown and Lower East Side communities, and "finally connect them to the East River waterfront," the city said in a press release.

Tuesday’s announcement comes five months after Mayor Michael Bloomberg unveiled his $10 billion "vision for lower Manhattan." That plan included a tunnel under the East River to create a nonstop ride from Manhattan to John F. Kennedy airport, new housing, a new public market on Fulton Street, theaters, galleries and museums.

Copyright 2004, Crain Communications, Inc

Kris

May 13th, 2004, 03:59 AM

May 13, 2004

BLOCKS

Planners Consider a Riverfront Without the F.D.R. Drive

By DAVID W. DUNLAP

AS Boston dismantles its Central Artery, the elevated roadway that stood forbiddingly between downtown and the waterfront, New York City officials are asking whether it is time to take down the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive, the elevated roadway that stands forbiddingly between downtown and the waterfront.

Demolition of the F.D.R. viaduct will be considered by the city's newly designated planning consultants for the East River waterfront in Lower Manhattan: the Richard Rogers Partnership of London, a leading British architectural firm, and SHoP/Sharples Holden Pasquarelli, a seven-year-old firm whose office is downtown.

It is an article of faith among planners that cities ought to be reunited with their waterfronts. For instance, the colossal structural centipede known as the Central Artery is now being dismantled as part of the Big Dig project, leaving Bostonians to marvel at swaths of sky they have never seen before or to celebrate the return of a more human scale to the downtown cityscape, even if they have no idea what will come next.

Opening up such space along the East River has an innate appeal.

"Certainly, in concept it's something you'd like to do," Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff said yesterday. But much depends on the cost, the potential financing sources and the impact on traffic, he said. "I don't think we go into this with any preconceived notions of what ought to happen."

Gregg Pasquarelli, a principal in SHoP, said, "We're looking at what it means to leave it up and what it means to take it down." They will also look at hybrid ideas, he said, taking as one starting point a conceptual plan prepared in 2002 for the Alliance for Downtown New York and Community Board 1 in Lower Manhattan.

That plan, by Skidmore, Owings & Merrill; Greenberg Consultants; and Ove Arup & Partners, recommended dividing the drive south of the Brooklyn Bridge into a roadway and promenade. The plan said that the viaduct was wider there than it needed to be for traffic and that a promenade on the river side would yield unobstructed views of the harbor.

The underside of the viaduct, the plan said, could be transformed from a parking lot into a sheltered colonnade, dotted with retail and food pavilions and seating areas.

Marilyn Jordan Taylor, a partner at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, said yesterday that the planning team had looked at keeping the F.D.R. Drive as it is or moving it to street level, where it would become a wide boulevard like West Street.

"It seemed a little ironic," Ms. Taylor said, "to take it down, put the traffic at grade and create a bigger barrier for pedestrians to have to cross."

Skidmore, Owings & Merrill applied for the East River planning contract under a request for proposals issued by the city's Economic Development Corporation, in consultation with the City Planning Department. So did Diller + Scofidio, which offered a wildly imaginative East River megastructure, with a floating forest and a sandy beach, as part of Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg's "Vision for Lower Manhattan" in 2002.

"Either the city felt that this was exactly what they don't want," Ricardo Scofidio said yesterday, "or there were legitimate proposals that were stronger than ours."

Acknowledging that a "lot of very good ideas" were presented in recent years for the East River waterfront, Mr. Doctoroff said: "We wanted to take a fresh look. We also have to be mindful of the financial resources that exist."

BESIDES SHoP and the Rogers firm, the winning team includes the landscape architect Ken Smith and the engineering concern Buro Happold, which worked with SHoP on the Rector Street pedestrian bridge and with Rogers on the Millennium Dome in Greenwich, England. Lord Rogers is already working with Silvercup Studios on a master plan for a mixed-use development on a waterfront site in Long Island City, Queens.

In Manhattan, from Battery Park to East River Park, the city wants the planning consultants to "create a range of development scenarios," including "new and traditional waterfront uses, aesthetic improvements and enhancements of the ecological habitat." After six public meetings and a winnowing process, they are to be finished next February.

Amanda M. Burden, the director of the City Planning Department, said yesterday that a "very important motivation for this initiative was to strengthen the financial district" by improving its connections to the riverfront. She is clearly open to a plan that does not reflexively regard the F.D.R. viaduct as a barrier.

"It has fantastic proportions," she said, "in the sense that it is wide enough and tall enough that there can be great spaces under there." Ms. Burden wants the planning consultants "to really think creatively about how to populate the understructure all year round." She was bold enough to propose dance performances, by way of example.

And after a waterfront tour during yesterday's downpour, she noted another advantage. "I was just walking under it in the rain," Ms. Burden said. "The canopy may be an important element to keep."

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company

billyblancoNYC

May 13th, 2004, 12:22 PM

There are definitely positives and negatives for each, but the main thing is that planning is in the works. it has to start somewhere. Iron out the financiing, etc. later.

It's great to see the city really looking at waterfront development and access. For too many years, it boggles the mind, NYC has had virtually nothing to do with its 500 plus miles of waterfront. What a waste and a disgrace. This city should be number 1 in the world for waterfront access, recreation, etc. (or at least close to the top).

The FDR sucks and is in shambles, but it would cost too much to bury it. I'm all for Battery Park City-like development. Hey, it's pretty much worked before, plus now we can improve on the past.

At any rate, very encouraging news.

billyblancoNYC

May 13th, 2004, 12:31 PM

Sorry, this will be a review or sorts, but I just thought it might be nice to see all the current and proposed waterfront developments in the city (I'm sure I'll miss some, so please add to it if you wish).

Manhattan:
1. Hudson River Park
2. East River Development Plan
3. Harlem River Park Proposal
4. Cruise Lines
5. Trump Place and Park
6. West Harlem Park Development

Queens:
1. Queens West
2. Arverne by the Sea

Brooklyn:
1. Brooklyn Bridge Park
2. Williamsburg/Greenpoint Waterfront Rezoning Proposal
3. DUMBO-area development
4. Coney Island Master Plan Development
5. Oceana Condo complex in Brighton Beach
6. Red Hook Ikea vs. Village Redevelopment Plans
7. Cruise Lines

The Bronx:
1. Various scattered plans throughout the Bronx by Yankee Stadium, development on the South Eastern areas, Harlem River Park.

Staten Island:
1. Homeport Development
2. Continued development of St. George area.

Kris

June 21st, 2004, 12:45 PM

Architect Rogers Aims to Revive New York's East Side Waterfront

June 21 (Bloomberg) -- British architect Richard Rogers is working on a plan to bury part of the highway along New York's East River and create a waterfront from the lower East Side to the southern tip of Manhattan.

Rogers, 70, is known for futuristic-looking buildings such as London's Millennium Dome and Paris's Centre Pompidou, where the utility pipes ride up the outside of the museum. He also designs office towers for companies including British Land Co. and DaimlerChrysler AG. Rogers has a parallel career advising mayors how to revive declining inner-city areas and stop people from moving to the suburbs by offering them apartments, restaurants, green squares and riverfronts.

The architect on May 11 won New York City's competition to design a master plan for the East River waterfront together with Sharples, Holden & Pasquarelli Architects. Mayor Michael Bloomberg, founder and majority owner of Bloomberg News parent Bloomberg LP, aims to revitalize lower Manhattan after the World Trade Center's destruction.

Rogers, silver-haired and lean in belted trousers and a white shirt, works out of a converted oil refinery on the River Thames in west London's Hammersmith area. The glass-fronted studio has white metal supporting beams and columns, a canteen with pink and orange chairs and an exhibition space where people wander in from the river to see models and photographs of his buildings.

Richard Rogers Partnership, including 75 architects who give 20 percent of the firm's profit to charities, averaged annual revenue of 14.7 million pounds ($27 million) in the past three years. The top salary is six times the pay of an employee of two years' standing.

Lloyd's Headquarters

The displays range from the headquarters of Lloyd's of London's insurance market and DaimlerChrysler's building in Berlin to Rogers's planned Terminal 5 at London's Heathrow Airport and an airport project at Madrid Barajas, Europe's biggest construction site.

Rogers's wife Ruth is the chef of the adjacent River Cafe and co-author of the River Cafe Cook Book. Her restaurant opens onto a garden on the river beside a car park where oil vats once stood. The Rogers live in two stucco 19th century row houses overlooking Chelsea Hospital that were gutted to create a two-story high space inside.

Born in Florence, Italy, Rogers, the son of a doctor and a potter, was raised in London with Bauhaus furniture that he said accustomed him to modern-looking shapes. Rogers followed his uncle, an Italian architect, by entering the profession in 1962 after studying at Yale University. A partnership with Italy's Renzo Piano, who helped Rogers to win a competition to design the Centre Pompidou in 1971, dissolved in 1977.

Two of Rogers's designs in the 1980s, for offices under St. Paul's Cathedral and a new wing for London's National Gallery, were derailed by Prince Charles, who campaigned successfully for copies of older buildings.

Rusting in Paris

Some of Rogers's structures may be costly to maintain. The Centre Pompidou needed two years of renovations in 1997, after 150 million visitors and 20 years of exposure to Parisian weather. The silver-piped Lloyd's building gathers dirt and its six exterior staircases may leave it exposed to security risks. The nearby Baltic Exchange was bombed by the Irish Republican Army in 1993.

``There's no way to terrorist-proof a building,'' said Robert Torday, a spokesman for Rogers.

In Queens, a New York borough, Rogers is designing 2 million square feet of offices, studios, housing and stores for Silvercup Studios, where Home Box Office Inc.'s ``Sex and the City'' television series was filmed. Rogers, who was knighted in 1991 and made a peer in the House of Lords in 1996, is an honorary trustee of New York's Museum of Modern Art, where he will show a planned skyscraper for London's financial district at an exhibition of tall buildings next month. He talked to Bloomberg Muse's Linda Sandler in his studio among the models of his buildings.

Manhattan Plan

Bloomberg: You're doing a waterfront plan in Manhattan and a master plan for a new city district in a Lisbon dockyard. What's the key to making developments like that work?

Rogers: In some ways, cities have had the same needs since Mesopotamia. You want to see your neighbor and you want to go to work and come home and sit on the stoop. You want to have security for yourself and your family, and you want ease of communication. It's very much the same today. We love our kids and we make love in the same way. We like to eat well in places we like.

If you can give these things to people, they'll come back to the city.

Bloomberg: What's involved in your Manhattan plan?

Rogers: The area around the East River is run down. There's a high-level highway along it. On the East River Drive, the buildings look away from the river. They should be facing the river. They should have parks and cafes.

We're learning that motorways don't solve transportation problems, they just bring more cars. On the East River we may bring part of the highway underground around the United Nations Building, or we may bury some of it.

Barcelona Model

We can learn lessons from other cities. Los Angeles has lots of highways and it has the worst congestion. In Copenhagen, people go by bus. Barcelona -- I'm chief adviser to Mayor Joan Clos on urban planning -- had the problem of being a dying port. Now it's got industry, it's got parks along the sea. That's a story we're all trying to replicate.

In London, the success story is the South Bank. Fifteen or 20 years ago, no one would go to the South Bank. Today, you can walk from the Docklands practically to Kew Gardens. It's all accessible, and there are lots of cultural buildings. There's Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Design Museum, the National Film Theatre. There are cafes and restaurants.

New York should recognize it's an island and use the water.

Bloomberg: You had your own plans for the South Bank.

Rogers: They didn't go anywhere. Our design was a great glass wave enveloping the Queen Elizabeth Hall, the Hayward Gallery and the Purcell Room. It would have hidden the existing concrete structures and created a lot of new public spaces. We won the competition but the funding proved to be unavailable.

London Tower

Bloomberg: What about the tapering skyscraper you've designed for British Land at Leadenhall Street? What effect were you trying to create, and how will a 48-story tower fit in with the 600 historic buildings in the City?

Rogers: When you're designing a tall building in London there are severe constraints. This one leans back to avoid blocking the view of St. Paul's Cathedral from Fleet Street. That's why it's tapered. After that, the design was about legibility. You can read the structure through the glass, you can see how the building was put together. The northern facade contains the stairs, the lifts and servicing.

The design was also about limiting energy use and pollution. It has triple glazing with blinds inside to minimize the use of electric light and air conditioning. It uses chilled water, not air conditioning for cooling.

Fighting for Modernity

When you're putting an office building among historic buildings it has to be in sympathy in quality and mass. But a new building doesn't have to fit in. Every historic building was new at one time. The Strozzi Palace in the 16th century was considered an outrage. It was five stories. It dwarfed its older neighbors. Modernity has always been a battle.

There always has been a juxtaposition of styles. Renaissance architecture is very different from medieval yet we love seeing them together. You can have harmony through juxtaposition, not just by copying older styles.

Paternoster Square (a cluster of offices under St. Paul's that houses the London Stock Exchange and Goldman Sachs Group Inc.) is a continuous sore. The buildings copy older styles and they were not successful.

Bloomberg: What was your plan for Paternoster Square?

Rogers: I had a plan for genuinely modern buildings. They weren't a pastiche. But the mood of the country at the time, led by Prince Charles, was historicism. Prince Charles described modern architecture as a carbuncle.

The Victorians

It was the Victorians who started copying older styles. They wanted gothic or medieval or classical. The great buildings of the Victorian age were engineering works, stations, and the Crystal Palace. They were genuinely modern. The British Museum is less interesting. It's a nice building, but it's a copy.

Bloomberg: The City may be getting as many as five skyscrapers. How will they change people's lives? Because tall buildings attract a lot of people.

Rogers: The problem we're facing is the vitality of cities -- bringing people back to the center. The City had begun to lose corporations to Canary Wharf. It was competing with Paris and with Frankfurt. It turned toward conserving older buildings and the net result was corporations moved to the Docklands (including Citigroup Inc., Morgan Stanley and HSBC Holdings Plc).

Then the City fell in love with good-quality design. Norman Foster and Kohn Pedersen Fox are building elegant towers. That's the way to bring people back to the center.

There are two outstanding things about the building we designed for Leadenhall Street. It has a seven-story atrium and a piazza as big as the Lutyens building that you can see beyond it. (He points to a tower projecting from a model of buildings on the street.)

Leadenhall Piazza

The piazza will increase the number of public cafes and restaurants, it will bring people into the center where there's good, or relatively good, public transport. It would be the only large public space in the Square Mile. Because it's a glazed space, protected from the weather, there are opportunities to host concerts, lectures, readings, screenings.

Ninety percent of the workers at Leadenhall Street will use public transport because there's no parking and few parking meters. Congestion charging limits the traffic, gives us money for buses. If you're looking for a city where you can encourage walking and bikes, you need a well-designed working city that's compact, with high density.

Bloomberg: What's it like working for British Land?

Rogers: I have an old standing relationship with John Ritblat (chairman of the U.K.'s second-largest real estate developer), but this is our first project for him. He has strong views. You need a good partner when you're designing a building. It's like a game of ping pong.

Partners

We've designed buildings for Elliott Bernerd of Chelsfield Plc at Paddington (a west London development near the station). He was chairman of the South Bank Centre. And for Stuart Lipton of Stanhope Plc we're doing Chiswick Park, (a west London office project that has won four architectural awards). Lipton was head of CABE (the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment, a government-appointed body whose role is to improve buildings and open spaces).

Bloomberg: What work are you doing for London Mayor Ken Livingstone, as his adviser of planning?

Rogers: We're working on a plan to improve the streets in London -- to make pavements where people can walk, and green squares.

We're starting a refurbishment of 100 of London's green squares. One of the success stories has been the pedestrianization of Trafalgar Square.

We're doing a lot of plans for the Thames Gateway (an area of east London from Tower Bridge to Dartford). London will have grown by 23 percent between 1986 and 2016. Livingstone says the growth must all be in the 33 boroughs, there must be no sprawl.

London is going through its greatest vitality ever. It's much better than the 1960s. Then it was inward-looking.

Steel and Glass

Bloomberg: What are your favorite buildings and why do you like them?

Rogers: The Pompidou Center is one of my favorites. 1971 was a different era. Piano and I were the first foreign architects to have our own firms in France since the war. Now it's common. We had a tremendous client in Robert Bordaz, the first president of the center. He was in charge of the French withdrawal from Vietnam, and he made this building possible. It took six years to completion. The client relationship is very important.

It's hard to say which are your favorite buildings. It's like saying, which is your favorite child. But I do like the house I built for my parents in Wimbledon opposite the common. It's steel and glass with a lot of plants and natural light. My mother was a potter and she loved it.

Last Updated: June 20, 2004 19:17 EDT

Rogers to Plan Queens Waterfront Complex (http://forums.wirednewyork.com/viewtopic.php?t=1144)

billyblancoNYC

June 25th, 2004, 07:19 PM

Volume 17 • Issue 5 | June 25 - July 1, 2004

City brainstorms on the E. River

By Elizabeth O’Brien

http://downtownexpress.com/de_59/river.jpg
A rendering of a plan to improve the East River walkway Downtown and add retail under the F.D.R. Drive, by SHoP Architects and Richard Rogers Partnership. The current bike path would be relocated nearby under this scheme.

A beach at the base of the Brooklyn Bridge, 1,000 river birch trees along the esplanade, recreation and retail under the F.D.R. Drive. These are among the possibilities for a revitalized East River waterfront that the city presented to the community this week.

At a June 21 meeting of Community Board 1, the city outlined a vision for the East River waterfront that would transform today’s inaccessible, trash-strewn stretch of land into a recreational paradise worthy of the prime real estate that it occupies. The study area extends from the tip of Lower Manhattan to Montgomery St. on the Lower East Side, where the East River Park ends.

“This could be an incredible gift for future generations,” said Gregg Pasquarelli, an architect with Manhattan-based SHoP Architects, one of several firms the city commissioned to submit designs for the waterfront. Richard Rogers Partnership, the celebrated British architectural firm, created Monday’s presentation with SHoP.

Officials stressed their design was an initial rendering and asked for community input to help it progress. Funding for the project has not been established yet, and it remains unclear how many of the proposed design elements will actually come to pass. Daniel Doctoroff, deputy mayor for economic development and rebuilding, has sought money from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. to fund improvements for the East River waterfront.

Short-term goals of waterfront revitalization included improving access to the river, completing the circle of green ringing Manhattan, and creating a waterfront environment that would sustain growth over time. Monday’s presentation focused on land designs that could be accomplished within three to five years. Future presentations will tackle the more complex and heavily regulated maritime aspects, officials said.

Chain link fences cut people off from the river along at least 14 acres of waterfront, presenters said, and removing the fences and concrete jersey barriers would represent one of the easiest improvements under consideration. The plan would also focus on creating direct access to the waterfront from places like the Vietnam Veterans Memorial at Coenties Slip, possibly by a new pedestrian bridge. Another new pedestrian bridge was proposed to link the renovated Whitehall Ferry terminal to the esplanade.

City planning officials said the Community Board 1-Downtown Alliance waterfront study served as a valuable reference for the designs presented on Monday. Completed in 2002 by the firm Skidmore, Owings & Merrill, the C.B. 1 plan was an “incredibly well-done study,” Amanda Burden, chairperson of City Planning, said at the meeting. Like the city design, it featured a pedestrian walkway under the F.D.R., with shops and cafes.

“I don’t have to tell anyone here that the East River waterfront is one of the most important elements in the revitalization of Lower Manhattan,” Burden said.

Community board members said they appreciated that the city was finally turning its attention to the East Side.

“First of all, I’m ecstatic we’re talking about the East Side waterfront,” said John Fratta, a board member and Southbridge Towers resident. Fratta said he would prefer to see more maritime uses proposed for the Seaport area.

Many sounded a note of concern that the spruced up waterfront would turn into a tourist trap. One plan under consideration for Pier 14 near the South Street Seaport includes a large Ferris wheel by the London firm Tussauds Group, of celebrity wax-figure museum fame.

“It’s something we’re keeping an open mind to, but nothing has been decided yet,” said Robert Balder, the director of Lower Manhattan development for the mayor’s office.

“We do not want it in our community,” said Linda Roche, chairperson of the C.B. 1 waterfront committee.

Some offered practical suggestions about what they would like to see in the area instead. Clara Lipson, a long-time Seaport resident, said she would welcome a Whole Foods-type market.

“It’s a highly residential area and there’s really no place to shop,” Lipson said.

Community members have suggested that Whole Foods would make a good addition to the Seaport after the Fulton Fish Market leaves for the Bronx around the end of this year. The Rouse Company, operator of the Seaport retail, has right of first refusal on the Tin Building and the Fulton Market Stalls, two buildings now occupied by the market.

Michael Piazzola, general manager of the Seaport Marketplace, has said a problem with Whole Foods was that the popular chain required 39,000 square feet and there were few spaces of that size within the Seaport.

Balder was mum on what might be in store for the Seaport once the fish market leaves, saying only that the city had been in discussions with the Rouse Company.

The plan for the East River waterfront will be finalized in about eight months, city officials said. None of the plans proposed would block the surrounding area’s water view, the architects said.

Instead, Pasquarelli said, the design would revive a neglected part of the city: “Why not bring the of life in New York right to the edge?”

Elizabeth@DowntownExpress.com

http://downtownexpress.com/de_59/citybrainstormsonthee.html

TLOZ Link5

June 26th, 2004, 12:46 AM

BPC

June 26th, 2004, 06:43 AM

Retail under the FDR is a wonderful idea. It reminds me of Guastavino's and the Food Emporium in the arches of the 59th Street Bridge viaduct. A big supermarket definitely needs to be built in that neighborhood.

Guastavino's was a spectacular edition to that neighborhood. The difference is that the 59th Street space, if I remember correctlly, was unused before then. The problem here is that the space under the Lower FDR is already being used. Hundreds of buses park there every day. Without that space, they will be circling Lower Manhattan streets belching fumes, or parking illegally on our tiny streets down here. Where else are they going to go? I think that is the first issue which CB1 needs to look at, before wasting its time with pretty renderings from SOM.

TLOZ Link5

June 26th, 2004, 04:49 PM

Hasn't the LMDC addressed that situation? A bus terminal is part of the transportation plan.

ZippyTheChimp

June 26th, 2004, 05:18 PM

No.

The WTC facility will be a bus garage to handle (barely) the expected increase in tour buses.

A bus terminal was needed long before 09/11 to handle commuter buses. The city should have addressed the problem while route 9A was being constructed. I don't see how they can ignore it if the space under the FDR is developed.

Edward

July 7th, 2004, 12:53 AM

Two ferries and an airplane on the East River.

http://www.wirednewyork.com/waterfront/east_river/east_river_5july04.jpg

krulltime

July 7th, 2004, 01:04 AM

:P cool catch there!

ZippyTheChimp

October 8th, 2004, 11:56 PM

http://www.downtownexpress.com/

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_74/city.jpg
Rendering of a plan to convert the Peck Slip parking lot used by Fulton Fish Market trucks into a plaza with a reflecting pool by Richard Rogers Partnership, SHoP Architects and Ken Smith Landscape Architect.

City floats tower-park idea for the East River

By Josh Rogers

After a half century or so of new East Side waterfront plans, city officials think they may have an idea that won’t end up with all of the others – that is, sleeping with the East River fishes. They are now considering building seven apartment towers over the F.D.R. Drive to pay for an additional 12 acres of park space in Lower Manhattan.

The plan also includes creating the “Champs Elysées of the Lower East Side,” building a pedestrian-cycling ramp connecting Battery Park to the East River, building new park spaces on Peck Slip and Pier 15 near the Seaport, and adding pavilion spaces under the F.D.R. for things like cafes, studios, cultural spaces, and community centers. This part of the plan would not require the towers and could be completed in phases over the next three to five years. It is expected to cost at least $100 million and be paid for mostly with federal, post-9/11 money administered by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp.

Amanda Burden, chairperson of the City Planning Commission, told Downtown Express that she was hopeful the L.M.D.C. board would authorize the money by the end of the year.

The tower plan is considered a longer-term project. Up to seven narrow towers, perhaps as tall as 400 feet, would rise from the street through the center of the elevated F.D.R. The apartments could generate several hundred million dollars of revenue needed to build and maintain about 12 acres of new park space over the river. Even though the slips would cover more of the water than the traditional piers in the Hudson River Park, city consultants say they would be designed to be friendly to marine life and the slips would have fewer structures in the river than piers. The State Dept. of Environmental Conservation and the Army Corps of Engineers have long been reluctant to approve projects that involve rebuilding or repairing piers because of the effects to fish.

The buildings would cover a six-block area and be near Old Slip, Gouverneur La., Wall St., Pine St. and Maiden La. They would line up with the streets to create clear access to the river, and protect whatever river view corridors exist in spite of the elevated roadway.

The seven proposed buildings combined, would be a maximum of about 1 million square feet. City officials, who presented the plan to a Community Board 1 committee Wednesday, said they were open to building fewer or smaller buildings, but that would also mean the new park space would be reduced. They believe they can finance two square feet of park space for every three square feet of apartment space, although detailed financial plans with various options are still being studied.

Michael Davies, a director of Richard Rogers Partnership, a British architectural firm working on the project, said the plan would help New York catch up to other cities by making better use of its rivers.

“The waterfront is way below the stature of this great city,” Davies told C.B. 1 members. “[This will] turn it into the front yard for Downtown.”

Some nearby building owners and their representatives are beginning to react negatively to the tower part of the plan, concerned about the loss of river views and the effects to the F.D.R., which would be reduced by one or two lanes.

“To me the drive is an asset,” Harry Bridgwood, who manages the massive office building at 55 Water St., said in a telephone interview. He said prospective commercial tenants typically want to make sure that black car limousines will be able to get to and from the building quickly. Condo owners at 3 Hanover Sq., who opposed a proposal several years ago to build a trading floor office tower on 55 Water St. on an elevated plaza, may also raise objections.

Many people at the meeting reacted favorably to the general park aspects of the plan, while objecting to some of the specifics.

Randy Polumbo, who lives and works in the Seaport, said he has to constantly clean his windows because of car fumes from the highway.

“We don’t really have a view corridor, we have an F.D.R. corridor,” said Polumbo. “The F.D.R. is so ugly. I feel like you are threading this large intestine through this jewel.”

Polumbo, who owns his building, said he thought the roadway should be taken down altogether. He went on to say that if Lower Manhattan had “to sell its soul” to accept more large buildings, it is important to make sure the buildings are architecturally significant and that some of the grit of the historic Seaport neighborhood be preserved when the Fulton Fish Market leaves toward the beginning of next year.

City Planning’s Burden told Polumbo: “I loved what you said.”

As for taking down the F.D.R., consultants did consider it but decided not to do it because it would have required an eight-lane, street-level roadway. The Downtown Alliance and C.B. 1 did a joint study of the area several years ago and concluded that the F.D.R. should not be taken down and the area underneath could be used for pavilions similar to the city’s current plan. The study also considered closing a few lanes of the roadway to create a walkway. Now the reduced lanes may be used to create space for residential building cores.

The apartments would be attached to the core and cantilever over the highway with waterfront views to the east and no western windows facing Lower Manhattan’s skyscrapers. The apartment floor plate would be small, about 5,000 square feet, which could accommodate several apartments per floor.

Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects said the buildings could be built without closing any additional lanes of the F.D.R. The lowest level apartments would be over the roadway and be the equivalent of five stories off of the ground.

The first phase improvements designed by Rogers Partnership, SHoP and landscape architect Ken Smith, include the pedestrian-bicycle ramp connection near the historic Battery Maritime Building, a reflecting pool plaza to replace the Fish Market parking area on Peck Slip, rebuilding open space on Pier 15, a tree-lined boulevard along Allen and Pike Sts. (what Pasquarelli likened to the Champs Elysées), a better southern entrance to East River Park, the F.D.R. pavilions, and could include things like 1,000 birch trees and a small beach area near the Brooklyn Bridge.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_74/city4.jpg
A look at the proposed pavilions to be built under the F.D.R., above and what the area looks like now, below.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_74/city5.jpg

Paul Goldstein, C.B. 1’s district manager, said the short term plans were “under-whelming” because so much of the money is being used for the Maritime ramp. “I think we are deferring everything for 10 or 20 years,” said Goldstein. He said the plans for open space on Pier 15 looked to be geared to accommodate tall ships and not the most pressing park need on the East Side – play space for children.

City Planning officials stressed that it was still early in the process, but seemed much more willing to design something different for Pier 15 than not building the Battery building connection. The city spent $36 million to restore the building’s exterior but the interior still needs a major investment to convert it into a new use. Ferries to Governors Island also leave from the building.

For many years, Burden has been a strong advocate for creating a continuous esplanade around Manhattan and said the ramp was an important piece to the goal.

She said the Maritime Building ramp would be considerably less than $50 million, although precise figures have not been worked out.

Vishaan Chakrabarti, Manhattan office director of City Planning, said the city is still talking with the L.M.D.C. about whether the state-city agency is willing to cover the costs of the ramp.

Like Burden, Chakrabarti said he is confident a large amount of L.M.D.C. money is coming soon for the first phase of the project. “We are optimistic about that,” he told board members. “As we go into the more ambitious schemes, there is no identifiable funding.”

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_74/city3.jpg
The city hopes to build a ramp in this area near the Battery Maritime Building so pedestrians and cyclists near Battery Park can get to the East River esplanade easily. Some residents fear the costs may be too high for a short term project and should be put on the backburner in favor of other park improvements.

That’s why the residential buildings would be needed, he added. The city expects to issue long-term ground leases to developers, similar to the way Battery Park City was constructed. For 30 years, Downtown’s East River waterfront was zoned to be land-filled and create an east side version of B.P.C., but the plan never got close to being approved by the Army Corps and the zoning was changed in the 1990s.

Carl Weisbrod, president of the Downtown Alliance and a L.M.D.C. board member, said he is happy to see the movement to improve the waterfront, but he has reservations about the tower idea.

The first phase would require moving the tour buses and cars that currently park under the F.D.R. Moving the parking lot has long been a goal of C.B. 1, the city and others, but there is still no alternative site.

If the parking lot is moved, it would set up pavilion space for retail near well-traveled streets like Wall and Fulton, and opportunities to bring in cultural and community spaces near other streets, Chakrabarti said.

Goldstein wanted to know what was in the works for the adjacent areas. The L.M.D.C. has been looking to make improvements along Fulton St., but has not yet presented its ideas to the community board and the next use for the Fulton Fish Market buildings remains up in the air.

City officials said a children’s play area is planned for Burling Slip as part of the Fulton St. plan. General Growth Properties is in the process of taking over control of the Seaport mall as part of its recently-announced purchase of the Rouse Corp., said Bob Balder, who works in the mayor’s office. Once the sale of Rouse is complete, General Growth will own Rouse’s right of first refusal to redevelop two of the market buildings. Balder said this provision in the city’s mall lease wouldn’t take effect until the market relocates to the Bronx early next year.

Davies said, “when the Fulton Fish Market leaves, [Peck Slip] becomes a great New York square.”

Community Board 1 is planning to schedule a meeting to discuss the plans further and City Planning officials are expected to present the plan to Community Board 3 on Oct. 13 at 6:30 p.m., 466 Grand St.

Josh@DowntownExpress.com

Downtown Express is published by
Community Media LLC.
Email: news@downtownexpress.com

billyblancoNYC

October 11th, 2004, 01:52 AM

About time. The FDR and West Side H'way = BIG waste of space. Too much to demo or tunnel, build over. I just bitched about this to my wife, again, yesterday. Hopefully it will get done and be superb in design, since it will redefine that postcard downtown skyline.

NYatKNIGHT

October 11th, 2004, 12:13 PM

It's frustrating that the city's oldest, most historically significant stretch of waterfront is still awaiting a definitive development plan, but at the very least there ought to be a walkway/bikepath that connects Brooklyn Bridge to the Battery. Right now it's an obstacle course at best. I thought for sure that at least something temporary would have been part of the work going on around the Battery Maritime Building.

ZippyTheChimp

October 15th, 2004, 11:37 PM

http://www.downtownexpress.com/

Can the waterfront improve much if the F.D.R. stays?

By Kit White

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_75/waterfront.gif
Courtesy of Richard Rogers Partnership/ SHoP Architects/ Ken Smith Landscape Architect
Rendering of the city’s proposal to build cafes under the F.D.R. Drive.

For decades, the East River shoreline between East River Park and Battery Park has languished as a forgotten remnant of a misbegotten vision to encircle Manhattan in a maze of roadways that denied access to its greatest asset. No major city has made so little of so much and taken so long to try to recoup its loss. With a plan unveiled last Wednesday, the city’s Economic Development Corp. and the City Planning Commission have finally turned their attention to creating a master plan to reclaim the south shoreline.

Richard Rogers Partnership of London and SHoP Architects and landscape architect Ken Smith of New York have laid out a long-term scheme to beautify and revitalize the riverfront and connect it with East River Park on the north and on the south at Battery Park. The southern connection to Battery Park is an elaborate, ramped park-scape whose structural and design complexity clearly reflects the teams’ belief that it represents the most critical element of the entire design. Additionally, the design calls for treating the underside of the F.D.R. Drive with lights and glass pavilions to house cultural and community amenities.

Using the existing elevated highway as their leitmotif for the waterfront’s potential, they further proposed the possibility of building slim residential towers above the F.D.R. as a means of raising revenue for the creation of up to 12 acres of park extending over the river. The design, as the three teams presented it, unfolded with a certain ineluctable logic: save money by leaving the elevated highway in place and exploit it for its developable space. As powerful as that logic is, it is the plan’s terrible trap and a fatal flaw that leads this design in the wrong direction.

According to the designers, there are two reasons to leave the F.D.R. in place: cost of removal and a shortage of space beneath the elevated roadway for enough lanes to accommodate traffic. For those who know the area, the rationale seems defective. The F.D.R. is an unsightly physical and visual barrier to the waterfront. If we are serious about reclaiming the waterfront for public access, then half-measures should be rejected. Do we really care about reconnecting to the shoreline, or do we simply wish to spend millions of dollars on what looks like a half-hearted attempt to make do with a bad situation?

The amount of traffic that courses under the F.D.R. down South St. is minimal and the elevated portion of the drive south of the Brooklyn Bridge is grossly underutilized. The claims that an eight-lane South St. would be required to accommodate traffic if the elevated roadway was removed seem exaggerated. Even six lanes would probably be unnecessary between the Brooklyn Bridge and the underpass. Four lanes should be able to handle the traffic in that stretch and if there were drop-off lanes by the Seaport then there would be no problem.

Additionally, if New York is serious about retaining its place as a great city of the world, then it must address the very real possibility of a future with less traffic, not more. The argument for the necessity of more and larger roads sounds suspiciously like the hyperbolic claims used to advance the ill-fated Westway project in the late ’70s. We now have the more humane and less costly solution to that failed argument, and Manhattan is better and more livable for it.

There is also something unsettling about the proposition that in order to have a public amenity as critical as a vital shoreline, private financing through jury-rigged towers atop an aging eyesore is the only way. There was a time when we did not feel that important public amenities had to pay their own way or that they were envisioned as extensions of the private sector. When the architect Richard Morris Hunt proposed that Central Park have elaborate entrance gates solely along Fifth Ave. across from the homes of the City’s wealthiest citizens, the park’s designer, Frederick Law Olmsted, quit in protest. It took years for the city to woo him back and his steadfast belief that the park was a gift to the people from the people is his great legacy to us. We should heed his example.

That the C.P.C. and E.D.C. have undertaken a master plan for the south shore is admirable and long overdue. But it offers little in the short term for the city’s beleaguered Downtown residents who have little parkland to call their own. Even over the life of this plan, there is little nature promised without caveats costly to its integrity as a true public space. Is this a plan for a real shoreline with the promise of parkland, or is it an elaborately masked proposal for more development? This plan seems to offer a vision of the future with very little vision in it.

Kit White is an artist and designer who restored his building in the South St. Seaport and lives in the neighborhood.

Downtown Express is published by
Community Media LLC.

Email: josh@downtownexpress.com

ryan

October 23rd, 2004, 05:55 PM

Jane Jacobs argued this point years ago: fewer roads means less traffic. The westside highway was removed, and it didn't kill that area - look at the real estate boom in the far west side now + all the riverfront parkland... NYC is too car-oriented.

alejo

October 24th, 2004, 06:54 PM

have you been in LA?

Kris

February 1st, 2005, 01:03 AM

February 1, 2005

Long, Green Pathway Planned Along Brooklyn Waterfront

By DIANE CARDWELL

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/dropcap/p.gifedestrians and cyclists, limited only by their own hamstrings and quadriceps, could one day travel 22 miles along a waterfront greenway from North Brooklyn to Coney Island, under a plan to be unveiled today.

The vision of strolling or whizzing past bustling parks and quaint row houses or taking in panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline, Governors Island and the open sea still faces several hurdles. But as government officials, private businesses and community advocates look to remake the city's waterfronts, the greenway plan, like a 24-speed Specialized Sirrus rolling downhill, is gaining momentum.

The plan was developed by Brooklyn Greenway Initiative and the Regional Plan Association. It would use a protected pathway and parkland that city planning officials have incorporated in a proposal to rezone the industrial waterfront in Greenpoint and Williamsburg. It would also pass through Brooklyn Bridge Park a joint city-state project.

The city's Department of Transportation is scheduled to begin construction in the fall of a two-lane bike path running along Columbia and Van Brunt Streets from Cobble Hill into Red Hook.

And tonight, planners are set to present the first conceptual design for seven miles of pathway that would link South Williamsburg to Sunset Park and an existing path on the Shore Parkway, as well as to Manhattan greenways across Brooklyn's three East River bridges.

"We saw this as a once-in-a-century opportunity to get continuous public access to the waterfront," Milton Puryear, co-chairman and director of planning at the Brooklyn Greenway Initiative, said of the planning effort. "It's a window of opportunity that will close pretty quickly once development gets more momentum."

The plan, in the works since the late 1990's, grew out of community efforts to create a waterfront path in Red Hook, Mr. Puryear said. Although the proposal dovetails with the city's plan to create 350 miles of bicycle and pedestrian paths through and around the boroughs, it has been complicated by Brooklyn's industrial and postindustrial landscape.

Property along the waterfront is controlled by several public and private entities, planners said, with property lines frequently running in the midst of the proposed pathway. As a result, planners said, the route at times comes inland, as it does to loop around the Navy Yard, and runs along city streets.

Still, the greenway has captured the imaginations of residents, business owners and elected officials. Borough President Marty Markowitz, for instance, helped the group secure money from a state waterfront revitalization program for the public planning process.

Robert Pirani, director of environmental programs at the Regional Plan Association, which completed the technical aspects of the plan, said that the greenway could serve as a powerful magnet to an area whose future is very much up for grabs.

"All up and down the waterfront, there are proposals for new uses and for maintaining historic maritime uses in a new way," he said. "The harbor as a whole is one of the great region-shaping areas in the metropolitan area." Given the right amenities and access, he said, "The harbor can be a reason that people decide to live and work in New York City instead of the fringes."

Copyright 2005 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

TLOZ Link5

February 1st, 2005, 01:00 PM

Excellent. Some neighborhoods along the way, like Bay Ridge, already have waterfront access. This is a great idea but too long in becoming reality.

ZippyTheChimp

February 1st, 2005, 01:47 PM

The Greenway is excellent from Bay Parkway to Owls Head, completely isolated from traffic. But the Bay Ridge neighborhood has poor access to its own waterfront. In the 2 mile stretch north from the Verrazano, there are only a few pedestrian bridges over the Belt Parkway. Too bad, because the entire length of Bay Ridge along the road is parkland.

http://www.pbase.com/zippythechimp/image/20972881.jpg

NewYorkYankee

February 1st, 2005, 02:56 PM

This is good news. Im glad that Manhattan and Brooklyn are seeing the value of their waterfronts.

billyblancoNYC

February 1st, 2005, 10:50 PM

This is good news. Im glad that Manhattan and Brooklyn are seeing the value of their waterfronts.

There are actually a ton of major and minor waterfront development plans all over the city, with most creating new recreation space and housing. It's a major and long overdue shift for the city, but years from now, it will be pretty amazing...I hope.

Kris

February 10th, 2005, 12:10 AM

Manhattan Waterfront Greenway (http://nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/mwg/mwghome.html)

billyblancoNYC

February 12th, 2005, 11:50 AM

Brooklyn Waterfront Greenway:

http://www.brooklyngreenway.org/

Kris

March 2nd, 2005, 09:24 AM

March 2, 2005

Along the East River, Everything Old Is to Be Made New Again

By DAVID W. DUNLAP (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=DAVID%20W.%20DUNLAP&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=DAVID%20W.%20DUNLAP&inline=nyt-per)

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/dropcap/t.gifhe Bloomberg administration has shown in detail for the first time how it would reconnect Lower Manhattan to the East River waterfront, now a place of skimpy amenities and looming obstacles, chief among them the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive.

"This crucial link is absolutely essential to the revitalization of Lower Manhattan," said Amanda M. Burden, director of the City Planning Department, which is preparing the East River plan. She is also chairwoman of the City Planning Commission, which was shown the proposals on Monday.

A new two-mile esplanade and bicycle path - no less than 40 feet wide in most places - would run along the river, linking Battery Park at the tip of Manhattan Island to the East River Park, between the Manhattan and Williamsburg Bridges. Benches, tables, planters and trellises would line the planked walkway.

More than a dozen small, boxy pavilions for shopping, recreation, cultural programs and community gatherings would be built under the F.D.R. Drive, each with about 10,000 square feet of space. Some might have facades that could be opened in summer. The elevated highway viaduct would remain, but its underside would get new lighting and cladding to improve its appearance and acoustics.

The missing Pier 15, south of Fulton Street, would be rebuilt, using a steel truss to permit far greater distance between pilings. The upper surface of the three-quarter-acre deck would be shaped into hillocks and terraces, covered with landscaped plantings. A clam shack might even complete this naturalistic scene, planners said whimsically.

Public space would be reclaimed in the wide, wedgelike former boat slips along South Street. Now serving as small streets and parking lots, these slips could convey a strong sense of maritime history. Peck Slip, for instance, might have a shallow 4,000-square-foot pool at its center that could be used in winter as a skating rink.

The most ambitious proposal involves moving the mouth of the Battery Park underpass ramp about 350 feet north, just beyond Broad Street. That would create a one-acre plaza in front of the landmark Battery Maritime Building.

"The key win is a great public place here," said Michael J. P. Davies of the Richard Rogers Partnership in London, which has been working on the East River plan for almost a year with Ken Smith of Ken Smith Landscape Architect and Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP/Sharples Holden Pasquarelli.

The latest version of the plan will be shown soon to Community Boards 1 and 3.

The city expects to ask the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation for $150 million to finance the proposals, which Deputy Mayor Daniel L. Doctoroff said in a brief telephone interview were "definitely achievable."

Mr. Doctoroff said, "One of Lower Manhattan's competitive advantages is the fact that it's surrounded on three sides by water." Battery Park City and the renovated Battery Park already offer public access on two sides, he said, adding, "We want to complete that."

Of the city's requested $150 million, $60 million would go to build the esplanade and improve the F.D.R. Drive viaduct, said Raymond Gastil, director of the Manhattan planning office. Rebuilding Pier 15 and renovating Pier 35, Pier 42 and the north side of Pier 17 would cost $40 million. Fourteen pavilions would cost a total of $30 million, and reclaiming the slips would cost $10 million. The city is not seeking the $65 million needed to move the underpass entrance, but will look for $10 million to pay for the engineering studies.

It is unclear how much the city can expect. "There are a vast number of demands on the L.M.D.C.'s limited remaining funds," said Joanna Rose, a spokeswoman for the development corporation, "and the demands being made by the city alone exceed available monies. Our first priority remains the creation of a fitting memorial."

Copyright 2005 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html) The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

ZippyTheChimp

March 12th, 2005, 12:31 AM

East River Waterfront Study (http://www.nyc.gov/html/dcp/html/erw/index.html)

NYatKNIGHT

March 15th, 2005, 02:12 PM

March 11 - 17, 2005
www.downtownexpress.com (http://www.downtownexpress.com/)

Board likes East River plan changes

By Ronda Kaysen
Ronda@downtownexprss.com

After half a century of floating plans for the East River waterfront, it looks like the Bloomberg Administration may have finally sunk anchor with Community Board 1. The Department of City Planning unveiled detailed plans to redevelop the waterfront at a Monday night C.B. 1 meeting, to the delight of many board members.

“It is safe to say that we are very enthusiastic about this plan,” Waterfront Committee chairperson Linda Roche said at the joint Waterfront-Financial District Committee meeting. “Especially the Battery Maritime Building.”

Perhaps the most dramatic — and well-received change — is to the Battery Maritime Building. The plan calls for moving the mouth of the Battery Park underpass ramp about 350 feet north to Broad St. Moving the ramp away from the Maritime Building would create three-quarters of an acre of open plaza space — a scarce resource on Downtown’s East Side.

City Planning has decided to seek separate transportation funding for the Maritime Building component of the project, although Rachaele Raynoff, a spokesperson for the department, declined to site specific funding sources in an interview with Downtown Express.

Roche and other C.B. 1 members had been concerned that too much money in the project’s first phase would be devoted to connecting the bike path with the West Side at the Battery Maritime Building rather than improving the East River esplanade itself.

“This is a crucial plan to strengthen Lower Manhattan,” City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden said at the meeting. “The East River waterfront is one of the most essential waterfronts in the city.”

The design also includes as many as 15 pavilions under the F.D.R. Drive, which would be used for shops, community and cultural programs and recreation centers. In an effort to transform the highway viaduct into something other than an eyesore, the plans would include adding lighting and cladding.

The demolished Pier 15 would be restored using sparsely placed pilings to better protect marine life. The pier would have an upper and lower deck, with a landscaped, sloped terrace above and space for boats to moor below.

“We would like to rethink the way we build piers,” Michael Samuelian, director of Lower Manhattan special projects for City Planning said at the meeting.

In a marked change from the October proposal, the residential towers proposed to sit atop the F.D.R. Drive are now gone from the renderings and the plans. But a reflecting pool on Peck Slip, which could be used as a mini ice-skating rink in the wintertime — and was originally met with skepticism by board members — still remains.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_96/boardeast.gif

Pier 15 near the South Street Seaport would be rebuilt into park space that would also accommodate ships under the city’s plan for the East River waterfront, above and below.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_96/render2a.gif
Rendering of the proposal for the East River esplanade.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_96/render2.gif

Renderings by ShoP/Richard Rogers Partnership/Ken Smith Landscape Architect

NewYorkYankee

March 15th, 2005, 08:15 PM

I didnt see a completion date...anyone?

Edward

September 5th, 2005, 06:42 PM

http://www.newsday.com/news/local/newyork/nyc-rive0905,0,673808.story?coll=ny-top-headlines

JUSTIN DAVIDSON
STAFF WRITER

September 5, 2005

To walk the East River waterfront from the Battery to the Williamsburg Bridge is to pick one's way through a derelict but magical terrain of heart-swelling views, parking lots, red-brick memories of New York City's stevedore past and stretches of cracked asphalt slick with fish slime.

But if Amanda Burden, the persuasively enthusiastic commissioner of city planning, is to be believed, this two-mile strip will soon be transformed into a glimmering, romantic esplanade. Financial barons will sit on benches and do lunchtime deals by cell phone. Residents of Chinatown will hold martial arts classes and painting exhibits in well-lit glass pavilions tucked under the FDR Drive. The waterfront will throb once again, with leisure instead of labor.

"The most important thing is to give people access to the river," said Burden, standing under the elevated highway that cuts between the river and the cliff-like housing projects of the Lower East Side. She surveyed a triple barrier of chain-link fence, parked trucks and a carpeting of litter. "Right now, they can't get there."

And when they can, what will they find? A rarefied team of architects that includes the British Lord Richard Rogers, the New York-based firm SHoP and the landscape designer Ken Smith has furnished the city with some specific, if preliminary, visions. The underside of the FDR Drive will be metal-clad and exuberantly lit, to make it rather more like a gleaming canopy and less like a grimly functional overpass.

The strip of park will extend out onto reconfigured piers, including an undulating, multi-leveled boardwalk veiling the Sanitation Department's truck maintenance facility at Pier 35. The waterfront also will extend its fingers upland into the city with a series of landscaped medians and open plazas.

Lubricating the transition from rosy vision to reality is a $150-million grant from the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., the agency that oversees the efforts to rebuild after 9/11. The waterfront is not part of the World Trade Center site, and its problems did not originate with terrorist attacks.

But the framework of post-9/11 reconstruction provided the project with money, a rationale -- revitalizing lower Manhattan -- and a new sense of urgency. And, compared with the monstrous cost and difficulties of forcing towers, train stations, memorials and museums to bloom out of the bedrock of Ground Zero, beautifying the waterfront seems like a cheap and easy way to increase the area's allure, both for residents and corporate tenants.

"In five or 10 years, lower Manhattan will be not only the emotional part of the city, but it will also be the place that everyone wants to be," says developer Frank Sciame.

Sciame is backing that prediction with his own private projects. He has renovated a collection of 18th century buildings along Front Street and on Peck Slip, a square that is now filled with cars but that Burden and her staff at City Planning envision transforming into a green-fringed plaza around a reflecting pool.

More audaciously, Sciame proposes to build 80 South Street, which is not so much a traditional luxury apartment tower as a concoction of stacked, off-kilter cubes -- vertical townhouses for the very rich. The architect is Santiago Calatrava, who designed the equally flamboyant World Trade Center PATH station now under construction.

"Without the bold moves by the public sector at Ground Zero -- the Calatrava station and all the great buildings that will be there -- I would never have planned a building like 80 South Street," Sciame said.

Recovering from catastrophe may be the latest impetus for rehabilitating the south-facing strip of Manhattan's shore, but the East River Esplanade is only the latest in a 40-year history of grand plans. Earlier proposals ranged from an FDR memorial by Louis Kahn to a housing complex for nearly 10,000 families, a Guggenheim Museum designed by Frank Gehry and a floating mountain bike playland. If the new plan is built, it will be because it is not some mountaintop visionary's idea, but the distillation of dozens of meetings with local community groups.

"This plan shows that you don't necessarily need enormous pieces of architecture to make the East River a totally different place," said Raymond Gastil, director of city planning for Manhattan. "It's real, it's doable and it will change the city's edge."

Two other developments might help nudge the plan toward realization. The first is the closing of the Fulton Fish Market, which will relieve the neighborhood of a good deal of truck traffic and some particularly overripe odors. The second is the takeover last November of the failing South Street Seaport mall on Pier 17 by General Growth.

The Chicago-based real estate company also has the right to lease the empty fish market, and it has hired the architectural firm Beyer Blinder Belle to explore options for extending the mall into other buildings. The company's plans will have to mesh with those of the city.

"Whatever General Growth wants to do, they'll have to come to us [for approvals], so we have a lot of leverage," said Michael Samuelian, who oversees all lower Manhattan projects at the Department of City Planning.

Most large-scale public works projects in Manhattan have to wade through a quicksand of opposition; this one seems to be gliding on an air cushion of optimism. One point in the plan's favor is that its ambitions more or less match its resources. Still, one of its most ardent supporters, Carter Craft, director of the advocacy group Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, warned that the money could easily bleed away in half-measures.

"You can spend $150 million really quick and not have a lot to show for it," he said. "The real challenge is to target that money specifically and strategically. Waterfront construction is second only to building a tunnel in terms of its expense, and when you're building in one of the oldest parts of Manhattan, there will be surprises down there."

Copyright 2005 Newsday Inc.

infoshare

September 18th, 2005, 09:55 PM

From Article in the "Downtown Express"

The Leonardo financial package includes an extremely high offer of annual rent, and Ortenzio said he sees revenue from commercial uses on Pier 57 as vital for maintaining the entire Hudson River Park being built between Chambers and 59th Sts. The Pier 57 developer should be the one that offers the highest annual rent, Ortenzio said.

Located at W. Houston St., Pier 40, which is to be permanently redeveloped with at least 50 percent of its 14 acres for park uses, will also generate revenues for the entire park, but not enough, Ortenzio said. “I’ve always seen Pier 57 as the second source of major revenue for the park. You don’t want to wait and go begging to the city or the state for money, and a park like this requires maintenance,” he said.

ZippyTheChimp

October 5th, 2005, 10:04 AM

Gotham Gazette - http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/waterfront/20051005/18/1607

East River Access From The Lower East Side

by Pat Arnow
05 Oct 2005

After many years of effort a greenway of parks and paths rings most of Manhattan (http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/parks/20031017/14/561) now – with some notable exceptions. One such exception is the Lower East Side.

The Lower East Side used to have spectacular access to the East River, thanks to the East River Park, built by master planner Robert Moses in 1939, and including a walkway built on bulkheads over the river, offering breathtaking views. But repairs and improvements were sporadic and piecemeal, and, in the summer of 2001, divers inspecting it found structural weakness in the retaining wall. Before the July 4 hordes could descend on the river to view fireworks, the city blocked off almost all of the walkway.
http://gothamgazette.com/graphics/waterfront1005.jpg

Three years after the city deemed the path as unsafe, a sturdy eight-foot chain link fence blocking access to the waterfront looked like a permanent fixture. Because of post-9/11 budget constraints and a lack of community advocacy or business interest, it seemed unlikely that fixing the esplanade along the river would happen soon, if ever.

But, in a surprising turn, this long-neglected section of Manhattan’s greenway is slated to come back to life. It will take two more years and a whopping $69 million, but the heavy equipment is already there, working away
.
No great public outcry had greeted the closing of river access. This was not the West Side with high-priced residential and business interests and vocal, connected constituents. On the East Side below 14th Street, the Jacob Riis, Lillian Wald and Baruch public housing projects are adjacent to the park across the FDR. It is interesting to note that most of the gaps in the Manhattan greenway are similarly adjacent to low-income neighborhoods.

Rosie Mendez, who has won the Democratic primary for the City Council district that includes East River Park, worked for the district's Councilmember Margarita Lopez (who is leaving that office because of term limits). Mendez says that former Mayor Rudy Giuliani refused to put money in the budget for infrastructure. When the promenade closed, "the mayor said she [Lopez] should get capital money to do the repairs," says Mendez, even though "infrastructure is what the city has to do, and it was a lot of money." That wasn't the kind of money that Lopez could get. Council members' discretionary funds get stretch thinly among schools, libraries, parks, and nonprofits.

Until recently, the community had other things on its mind, according to Richard Ropiak of Community Board 3. "Several other things the board focused on have been addressed," he says, "Drugs, housing, public safety. Once you solve major, visible things, you can focus on other things, such as parks." And that's the board's "prime focus" now, he says.

The community board has the power of advocacy, not the power of the purse. Now, with the mayor making parks and a greenway around Manhattan a priority, the park has funding as well. Rosie Mendez credits Bloomberg for allocating the money for the work to be done on the promenade. Plans are underway to complete the greenway all around Manhattan.

The infusion of funds for the promenade below 14th St. came two years ago in the mayor's fiscal year '05-'06 budget, says Nancy Barthold, assistant commissioner for capital projects in the parks department. No state or federal money has gone into the project, and it's a big one for the city. "Our typical project is a playground for between $500,000 and $1 million," says Barthold. Planning began in 2004 and the actual work started at the beginning of this year
.
Still, it's going to be 2007 before anyone sees much river up close. It's a process with complicated and expensive steps, says Barthold. Before new pilings could be built, Con Ed had to move an old oil line and move live underground wires. The company bears the cost of such work, says Con Ed spokesperson Joe Petta.

http://gothamgazette.com/graphics/waterfront1005_2.jpg

As they finish 500-foot sections, the contractors building the pilings can move in and rip up the old structure, says Barthold. The barges and heavy equipment just south of 14th St. have made a torn-up landscape, but that's construction. Some $54 million is going to the bulkhead construction. The actual building of the promenade with benches, plantings, and lights will cost $13 to $15 million. That part of the project is currently being sent out for bids. Barthold says it should be done in the summer of 2007, though the Parks Department website says 2008.

That's not the only improvement East River Park has seen. In the past two years, the park has gained refurbished ball fields (funded through the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which was created to rebuild lower Manhattan after 9/11), playgrounds and a rebuilt outdoor amphitheater (which had been the first home of Shakespeare in the Park). There are working public toilets and plans for more.

But much of the park—the largest in lower Manhattan--lives in a state of dishabille. A grassy patch turns brown. Another, greener lawn rarely gets a mowing. A broken water fountain falling into a sinkhole has had a tidy little chain link fence around it for years. Bikers and walkers now traverse a noisy path up against the FDR that is always either dusty or flooded. That's the way it will remain until the promenade reopens.

The shabbiness doesn't stop the streams of people. Runners, dog walkers, parents with strollers, skateboarders, bicyclists, and family gatherings pulse through the paths and picnic areas. Chain link, noisy construction and disrepair don't stop people from crossing over the FDR Drive. The neighborhood doesn't wait for the park that will be. It uses the park that it has.

lofter1

October 5th, 2005, 06:28 PM

^ I can't wait for this stretch of riverfront park to be re-opened. Bike riding along the shoreline there is a pleasure -- far less crowded than along the Hudson.

And I liked the "old-NYC" feel of it. Hoping they don't over-design the new park.

NYatKNIGHT

October 5th, 2005, 06:41 PM

Right. I hope they keep the big shady trees, it's the best place to run when it's hot, and like you siad, far less crowded.

lofter1

October 7th, 2005, 09:38 AM

East River plan’s switch to fast track hits bumps

By Ronda Kaysen
October 07 - 13, 2005
http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_126/eastriverplansswich.html

Two bedraggled piers lining the southern end of the East River and a nearby city owned building might soon be put to temporary use, if only the city can find a way through the red tape.

Last spring, the city unveiled a $150 million overhaul of the East River Waterfront that would transform the forsaken area into a recreational destination rivaling Hudson River Park. But the redevelopment funded by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. is still a long way from a reality with work not expected to begin in earnest for at least two years.

In the meantime, the city hopes to see Pier 35, north of the Manhattan Bridge, the northern portion of Pier 17 at the South Street Seaport and the New Market building at the Fulton Fish Market open for temporary recreation. Any uses would be for the summer season only, beginning next summer and perhaps continuing through summer 2007.

The benefit of doing this is you get people familiar with using the waterfront in different ways,” said Michael Samuelian, director of Lower Manhattan special projects for the Department of City Planning, which is overseeing East River plans. “It’s just a place that people aren’t accustomed to actually going out on a pier and experiencing the waterfront recreationally.”

But there are some major obstacles to the plan. First, the piers are not entirely at the city’s disposal. General Growth, the company that owns the Pier 17 building and the South Street Seaport mall, controls the portion of Pier 17 that the city hopes to transform into a temporary public space.

“We’d entertain anything that supported our retailers and the community for up to a two-year period,” wrote Michael Piazzola, a senior general manager at General Growth and vice president of the Seaport Market Place, in an e-mail to Downtown Express. “One of the benefits of the location is that it may allow us to do many different things during this period and therefore keep it ‘fresh.’”

The northern portion of the pier has piqued the interest of promoters from “extreme bicycle” events, auto dealers wanting to hold car shows on the waterfront, boat shows and restaurateurs eager to transform the jetty into a “rooftop environment,” said Piazzola. The Pier 17 mall currently occupies the southern portion of the berth.

But any plans are a long way off. The Fulton Fish Market currently uses the north side of the pier at night for its market. Until the market leaves, “any interim uses of any magnitude — those that can’t be set up and torn down in one night — will need to wait,” wrote Piazzola.

The market’s move to a new facility in the South Bronx has been delayed five times since the beginning of the year. The move is now stalled indefinitely because of a lawsuit lobbed against the city by the company that unloads the fish, Laro Service Systems. “We have been hampered in our efforts to utilize the north side of 17 due to the need for the Fish Market to use it overnight,” wrote Piazzola.

The New Market building, which is currently occupied by the fish market, is facing a similar plight. Controlled by the city, the building cannot be opened up to outside vendors until the Fish Market lawsuit against the city is resolved.

“We can’t do anything with the building when the Fish Market’s still in it,” said Janel Patterson, a spokesperson for the E.D.C., the agency that oversees the Fish Market.

Pier 35, an 80 ft. by about 400 ft. structure located north of the Manhattan Bridge, is the only site with any immediate possibilities for temporary use. But it has glitches of its own. The relieving platform has fallen into the river, cutting the berth off from the land. It can only be accessed via neighboring Pier 36, which is currently used by the Sanitation Department.

City Planning and the E.D.C. are in discussions with the Sanitation Dept. to create a dedicated pedestrian passageway so visitors can safely access the pier. Until an agreement is reached, the idea is on hold. “If we can come to an agreement with the Sanitation Department — and this is an ‘if’ — we will then be able to initiate a [Request for Proposals],” said Samuelian, referring to the formal request the E.D.C. would release to potential vendors for the site.

Samuelian hopes the discussions will be resolved “in a few weeks.”

lofter1

October 22nd, 2005, 12:33 AM

Nice rendering of the long dormant renovation of Pier A at the edge of Battery Park ...

lofter1

October 22nd, 2005, 12:27 PM

Not necessarily new news, but the Phifer website has some amazing renderings showing the glass structure proposed to rise above Castle Clinton:

http://www.tphifer.com/#Click the Phifer home page screen; this will take to you the "Projects" page.

Click "Castle Clinton" for images.

The Castle: Today

http://www.thebattery.org/images/castle_current.jpg

The Battery Conservancy has taken the first steps toward realizing the rebuilding of Castle Clinton. Thomas Phifer & Partners (http://www.tphifer.com/) and Beyer Blinder Belle (http://www.beyerblinderbelle.com/) won the international competition in 1999 and have completed the conceptual design to take the Castle into the 21st century.

The rebuilt Castle will have three functions. It will act as a transportation hub for the growing heritage tourism and recreational use of New York Harbor and the lower Hudson Valley. It will become a venue for the performing arts, reviving the spirit of Castle Garden (1824-1855). And it will house a new interpretive center that will focus on the myriad layers of history at The Battery, encouraging visitors to explore their individual heritage as well as that of the city and the nation. Like the park that surrounds it, the revitalized Castle will welcome, orient, educate, entertain and nourish visitors.

BrooklynRider

October 23rd, 2005, 12:24 AM

It's a nice looking design, but I prefer restoring the fort and keeping it as a historic monument. The whole glass thing doesn't doesn't appeal to me as an extension of the fort. I was looking forward to seeing the fort return to a tourist destination in its own right - without the Statue of Liberty Ticket Booth inside.

They ought to work on the eastern edge of the park for a new design by that catering hall/grille and the Maritime Center and Offices (?) between the restaurant and Ferry. I think the park should integrate right into the S.I. Ferry Terminal area.

lofter1

November 1st, 2005, 09:39 AM

City Settles Suit Over Use of Piers Intended as Park

By STEVEN KURUTZ (http://query.nytimes.com/search/query?ppds=bylL&v1=STEVEN KURUTZ&fdq=19960101&td=sysdate&sort=newest&ac=STEVEN KURUTZ&inline=nyt-per)
New York Times
November 1, 2005

http://www.nytimes.com/2005/11/01/nyregion/01pier.html

The City of New York has settled a lawsuit involving the Sanitation Department's continued use of two West Side piers, which were to have been turned over to the Hudson River Park Trust in 2003.

As part of the agreement, approved by a judge last week, the city will pay $21.5 million to the trust over the next seven years and set new deadlines to vacate both piers.

The suit, filed earlier this year, was brought by Friends of Hudson River Park, a nonprofit organization, over the city's response to the 1998 Hudson River Park Act.

It required the Sanitation Department to cease operations by the end of 2003 on Pier 97 at 57th Street and at the Gansevoort Peninsula pier, a scruffy facility at West 12th Street used by the department to store rock salt and park trucks.

The two piers are to be remade as part of Hudson River Park, which stretches from 59th Street to Battery Park.

But by last spring, neither pier had been vacated. And instead of showing signs of leaving, the Sanitation Department began erecting a garage at Gansevoort for its trucks.

"There was no impetus for the Sanitation Department to move," said Daniel L. Alterman, a lawyer for the Friends. "They needed a push."

Susan Amron, a lawyer for the city, said that the department had been searching for alternate locations.

She added that "it's very difficult in Manhattan to find vacant space that is acceptable or appropriate for a sanitation garage."

Under the settlement, the Sanitation Department will now leave Pier 97 by 2008 and Gansevoort by 2012, giving it time to move operations on the two piers to a garage being built on West 57th Street and a potential location on Spring Street and the West Side Highway.

The city also pledged to clean up both sites before leaving. At Gansevoort, that means tearing down the buildings and removing the shell of the old marine transfer station.

Copyright 2005 (http://www.nytimes.com/ref/membercenter/help/copyright.html)The New York Times Company (http://www.nytco.com/)

NYatKNIGHT

November 1st, 2005, 11:23 AM

Set new deadlines, meaning, "deadlines" don't mean anything. Seven years is pathetic.

infoshare

November 1st, 2005, 11:42 AM

Set new deadlines, meaning, "deadlines" don't mean anything. Seven years is pathetic.

Thank you for this post. It expains al lot about a recent incedent at the sanitation pier on 59th street. STORY - I walked about 10 yards off the greenway path into the sanitation yard parking lot (which was desolate on an early Sunday Morning) to take photos of the new boathoust in Clinton Cove Park.....So, A man in sanitation department uniform "yelled" at me; THIS IS DEPT. OF SANITATION PROPERTY, YOU DO NOT BELONG HERE, GET OFF!

I guess he was still fuming about being evicted?

Anyway, if you would like to see the photos I took that day - they are on my threads, under kayaking.

And, about "deadling" lets see about when they actually leave - I like the Dept, and all they do for us.......but I would be nice to have more cooperation to make that park (compromise to Westway) happen.

krulltime

November 1st, 2005, 03:13 PM

October 31, 2005

Ground broken on the West Harlem Piers

Government officials, including Mayor Bloomberg and U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, broke ground Monday on construction of the West Harlem Piers, an $18.7 million project that the city says will connect West Harlem to the rest of the Manhattan waterfront greenway. A new bicycle and pedestrian path, a docking pier, a recreational and fishing pier, and landscaped open space along the Hudson River waterfront are scheduled to be part of the project, which is being built on a city-owned parking lot between 125th and 135th streets. Construction, according to the city, is expected to start by the end of the year, and the piers should be completed by the spring of 2007.

Copyright © 2003-2005 The Real Deal.

infoshare

November 1st, 2005, 03:52 PM

[QUOTE=krulltime]October 31, 2005

Government officials, including Mayor Bloomberg and U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel, broke ground Monday on construction of the West Harlem Piers, an $18.7 million project that the city says will connect West Harlem to the rest of the Manhattan waterfront greenway.

This is great to know. This project has been in process of about eight years now. There will be a get-down dock for kayaks here too. Its all coming together on the Hudson River Waterfront.

I go often to the fairway market next to the site: i will take photos of the construction process and post them on this thread.

infoshare

November 4th, 2005, 04:17 PM

October 31, 2005

Ground broken on the West Harlem Piers

From atop the 125th street viaduct, abandonded staricase under viaduct, road leading to the harlem pier, the harlem pier site (which is now a parking lot).

infoshare

November 4th, 2005, 04:43 PM

The two buildings on the water in the background are (1) sanitation dept. waste transfer station and (2)a "solid waste treatment" plant.

Alert to future kayakers launching from the new get-down: be "real quick" about paddling clear of the area!

lofter1

November 7th, 2005, 11:21 AM

New Piers for Tribeca...

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_130/yankeemaygodown.html

Renderings of what Piers 25 and 26 may look like in three years.
Final design drawings are expected to be done by the end of the year.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_130/piers1.gif

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_130/25.gif

infoshare

November 7th, 2005, 06:20 PM

New Piers for Tribeca...

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_130/yankeemaygodown.html

[LEFT]Renderings of what Piers 25 and 26 may look like in three years.

Is there anyone out there that remembers "The Amazon villiage club" that was at the end of pier 26. I remember vaguely (many many years ago) seeing the bungee jumpers.

It would be good to hear about some of the history of that place befor the wrecking ball moves in.

I do remember Pappa Neutrino, and his floating house called "Town Hall".

Any locals out there who have been around long enough to have some info on "Amazon Villiage".

infoshare

November 9th, 2005, 11:33 AM

This is my feelbe attempt at gurilla journalism. Please take a look at the photos taken of the "abandoned parking lot" that has been the "Harlem Piers"
a project that officially began the planning phase some Eight years ago.

The "mayors ground breaking ceremony" last week was a sham. There is no doubt in my mind that the Mayor "staged" the ceremony strictly as a political grandstanding opportunity one (coincedently week befor the Mayoral elections) while this site has been sitting dormant for eight years now. Perhaps also, making the particularly important gesture to the "minority" community of Halem.

This sort of think should be an insult to the inteligence of the people of NYC.
It is so obvious, it is almost funny as a self-parody skit.

Any way, I hope to bring this sort of thing to the attention of - at least- the other members of this community.

So, the "ground breaking" was last week. If this were a true breaking than there would be at least some construction activity. There is none - an I believe (despite last weeks ceremony) that there will not be any construction work done there for yet a long period of time.

I will contine to post photos on this project; as soon as somthing photo worthy happens there.

Cheers -

BPC

November 9th, 2005, 06:20 PM

Groundbreakings are always a sham. There have been about 17 of them at the WTC site since 9/11.

infoshare

December 25th, 2005, 04:09 PM

After the recent opening of the Ferry Terminal, and the "ground breaking" at harlem piers, and now Pier 84 in mid-completion: looks like the greenway is comming along nicely.

lofter1

January 11th, 2006, 01:19 AM

Some in B.P.C. worry about closing pedestrian bridges

By Tonya Garcia
Downtown Express

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_139/someinbpc.html

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_139/pede.jpg
Downtown Express photo by Elisabeth Robert

The state Dept. of Transportation plans to take down the Vesey St.
pedestrian bridge in a few years as part of its plan for improvements
on West St.

The leader of Community Board 1’s Battery Park City committee said she thinks the state’s plan to tear down two pedestrian bridges over West St. will make it unsafe to cross the roadway.

“There’s got to be a way to get people across the street safely,” Linda Belfer said in a telephone interview Jan. 4, the day after the state Dept. of Transportation made a presentation to the C.B. 1 committee. Belfer said safety has always been an issue at the intersection of West and Vesey Sts., and the new Goldman Sachs building under construction will mean an additional 9,000 workers in the neighborhood.

“They did indicate that there would be a pedestrian passageway leading to the Winter Garden from the Fulton Transit Center,” she said, but insists that there must be an alternative since it wouldn’t be used by everyone.

An underground pedestrian walkway connecting the W.T.C. PATH and subway station to the Winter Garden will be built making it easier to get from one side of the street to the other. The PATH station will also have an underground connection to the Fulton Transit Center under construction.

The state plans to demolish the Vesey and Rector St. bridges, temporary structures which were built after 9/11 to make it easier to cross the street, also called Route 9A.

Construction work on the section of West St. opposite the World Trade Center site is scheduled to begin early in 2007. The final phase, scheduled to be completed in mid-2009, includes knocking down the bridges and D.O.T. has not determined when the bridges will be closed.

With traffic volume along this section of road reaching their pre-9/11 numbers, a large part of the project will include shifts in Route 9A alignment. Finished plans also include crosswalks on the following streets: Albany, Liberty, Vesey, Murray, West Thames and Fulton Sts. which will be extended through the W.T.C. site to West St.

By adding crosswalks, plantings and other safety measures, the state hopes to make it easier to cross the street. The state had considered a vehicular tunnel, but the plan was opposed by Goldman Sachs, Community Board 1 and many Battery Park City residents for cost and safety reasons and it was not implemented.

The pedestrian bridges will remain at Chambers and Liberty Sts. There is also a study being conducted about the potential for a bridge on Morris St. to replace the one on Rector.

Officials from the project make assurances that the needs of the community will continue to be met, even throughout the different stages of work. Heather Sporn, deputy director of the Route 9A Project, called the current plans “very preliminary,” and predicts closures based on construction needs.

For example, modifications of the Liberty St. bridge will require closure periods. “We plan to maintain the existing entrances into and out of Battery Park City,” Sporn said.

(C) Community Media LLC

infoshare

January 13th, 2006, 06:57 PM

This is a G base image of the pier in NJ (next to the Lincoln tunnel entrance) that the HIstoric Ferry "Yankee" has been relocated to from pier 25 on the nyc side of the Hudson rive. http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2893&highlight=greenways

(mostly testing G base usese here)

cheers

infoshare

January 25th, 2006, 06:07 PM

This exibit looks worth a visit - I found this information at the "Friends of the Hudson River Park" website.

(From FOHRP website)
The Lost Piers: Photo Exhibit Opens at South Street Seaport Museum. For well over 100 years, the Hudson River piers in Greenwich Village bustled with the maritime commerce that made New York the greatest port in the country. By 1970, however, these piers had been largely abandoned for shipping and fell into disuse.

But in the decade from 1972 to 1982, the decaying piers became the venues for a thriving "other life," with the rotting pier decks serving as stages for music, dance and acrobats, as well as gathering places for New Yorkers of a hundred different stripes. Some of the most bizarre -- and most poignant - of the scenes that characterized the collapsing piers during this decade were captured by photographer Shelley Seccombe.

An exhibition of 24 of Ms. Seccombe's photographs sponsored by Friends and the South Street Seaport Museum opened to the public on January 19, 2006 and will remain there through October 31. The Museum is located at 12 Fulton Street in Downtown Manhattan. For hours and directions, go to www.southstseaport.org.

(update) I went to see this exibit today 1/26, and it is not open yet - the info in the website is wrong. The exibit will be open to the public starting tommorow.

ZippyTheChimp

February 10th, 2006, 11:59 AM

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_144/onthewaterfront.html

On the waterfront, before it was green

“The Lost Waterfront”
Photographs by Shelley Seccombe
On view through Oct. 31
South Street Seaport Museum
12 Fulton Street
Call ahead for hours
(212-748-8600;http://www.southstseaport.org/

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_144/shelley.gif
Shelley Seccombe

Shelley Seccombe’s photographs bring back scenes from a forgotten New York, like “West Street in Snow,” featuring the old elevated West Side highway under demolition, and the still-standing Twin Towers.

By Nicole Davis

It’s easy, if you don’t live or work near the water, to forget that Manhattan is surrounded by it. It’s easier still, while jogging or lounging or kayaking along the parks that now dot the west side from Battery Park to W. 55th, to forget that those green acres were once home to a working waterfront, filled with sailboats and oyster ships and later tugs and scows and football-stadium-sized pier sheds housing meat and produce and manufactured goods. For roughly 150 years, from the time Robert Fulton launched the first steamship from the Christopher Street pier in 1807, to the 1950s, New York was the greatest port in the country. Then came the rise of container shipping by rail and truck, which shuttered New York’s booming maritime industry and many of the 60-odd piers along the Hudson. Commercial activity started to ebb, and a whole new cast of characters flowed onto the abandoned piers. Fortunately, for those of us who weren’t around to witness this flux, we have Shelley Seccombe.

“There are many people in New York who have no idea that the waterfront was any different from what it is now,” says the 67-year-old photographer, just a few blocks from the South Street Seaport Museum where her photographs of the old Hudson River waterfront are on view through October. Over coffee, she explains what it was like in the 70s and early 80s, the period her exhibit covers.

“People hung out on the piers…There were dance concerts, there were always people doing exercises and jogging and walking their dogs and then there were the performers, the people who came and played their instruments.”

Just as this reporter is about to say that her description of the past sounds pretty much like the present, Seccombe mentions the fires.

“Then there were all these fires on the waterfront. Some of them may have been arson fires, [but] there were [also] people around smoking, and the decks of the piers would start to catch fire and the fireboat would come.” Someone even set her own car on fire once, when she parked it in a lot along the river. “It was very colorful,” she says, smiling at her choice of words. “I think I saw [taking these photographs] as keeping a record.”

That record — those 25 photographs on the third floor of the museum — depicts a gritty New York in glorious decay. Dilapidated piers jut out into the Hudson, their frames exposed like skeletal remains. At the edge of one empty pier, a woman curls into an unfathomable yoga pose, mirroring the derelict pier in the background, whose structure is in such bad shape, it looks as though it’s melting.

In many of the photographs, you can also catch glimpses of the old, elevated West Side highway, known then as the Miller highway. By 1973, it had deteriorated so badly that a cement truck on its way to make repairs to the aging roadway caused a 60-foot section of it to collapse. That was around the time Seccombe began photographing the piers in earnest, exploring the waterfront near her Westbeth apartment where she and her husband David still live and where they raised their daughter, who appears in some of the photos. A Midwesterner by birth, Seccombe was drawn to the water from the moment she moved into the subsidized artist apartments at Bethune and West Street. From her window she could still see the waterfront “teeming with commercial activity.” and Seccombe says she took at least ten trips on tugboats, swapping prints for rides so she could photograph the piers from the river. Many of them are gone now, like Pier 49, whose remaining piles poke out of the Hudson today like thick cattails. Seccombe remembers when it was still intact — well, just barely.

“One time I was photographing outdoors and I saw someone with a dog on the pier and suddenly the dog disappeared. [It] had fallen in a hole, and a current carried the dog out into the river. The man jumped in to save it, and I went running for help.” The piers, she says, were riddled with breaks in the decking where you could trap your foot and break a leg. “It was not all that pristine and comfortable,” says Seccombe. And yet New Yorkers still managed to find a way to lie on them. One photograph displays sunbathers on the old Pier 51, which has since been reincarnated as a Hudson River Park playground. Back then it was on the verge of disappearing into a watery grave, and laid accordion-like in the river. At its edge, just before the steel bars sticking out from the end, a few extreme sun worshippers spread out blankets to catch some rays. Seccombe says there were days the edges of these piers, hidden from the street by elegant head houses in front, were covered with nude sunbathers. (Don’t get too excited. She kept those racy images out of the show.)

A few of the digital prints, made with the help of Nancy Sirkis from Seccombe’s stash of negatives and slides, also show the Twin Towers still standing. In one, the smoke and flames from a burning pier crowd out the image of the Towers in the background, a grim foreshadowing of 9/11. Seccombe isn’t sure which pier it was — 46 or 48—because she didn’t take good notes when she first switched careers from violinist to photographer and photography teacher.

“Although it’s early work, it’s some of my best work,” says Seccombe. “I’m always surprised when I go back to it that it still looks pretty good, even though I was in many ways less technically adept than I am now. I was so involved in it, I guess because I had never lived on the water,” says the Illinois-born photographer.

Today, Seccombe still takes pictures along the waterfront, particularly of street performers who bring some of the old flavor back. But the grime and the grit are gone. In its place, as photos donated from Friends of Hudson River Park show, are manicured lawns and reconstructed piers where even the people lounge in an orderly fashion, seated almost in a straight line at the edge of the newfangled Pier 45.

Increasingly, however, Seccombe is turning away from the waterfront and into the heart of the country, where she travels frequently to see her daughter in Phoenix. On her road trips with her husband through the Heartland and the Southwest, she finds herself stopping in places like Kansas to photograph orange piles of sorghum and old grain elevators — yet another symbol of industrial decay.

“I hate to say that I only take pictures of things in decay,” says Seccombe. “But it’s difficult to shoot something that’s inherently beautiful in a way that will capture people’s attention.”

Downtown Express is published by
Community Media LLC.

lofter1

February 23rd, 2006, 07:08 PM

A Ribbon of Green That Hasn’t Got Any

Paying for Parks With the Public Purse

By Matthew Schuerman
NY Observer
Feb. 27, 2006 Edition

http://www.observer.com/20060227/20060227_Matthew_Schuerman_finance_financialpress. asp

The five-mile-long Hudson River Park was born from the rubble of Westway—the controversial plan to sink the West Side Highway and cover it with park, which met an ignominious end in 1985.

But reclaiming the waterfront—and getting the hookers off the piers—still sounded good to pretty much everyone.

So planners conceived a new ribbon of green around the edges of lower Manhattan, and phased in a little bit of profit-making development, too, to maintain the greenery. In fact, they even went so far as to say that the park would pay for itself.

But that was 1995, and the financial plan showing that the park can indeed pay for itself hasn’t been revised since.

Rents from developments like Chelsea Piers still cover the rent, but only for a small part of the planned park. Some 70 percent of the park remains to be built—and who will pay for that?

“The party line is that it will be totally successful,” said Albert Butzel, the president of Friends of Hudson River Park, a booster group that has helped raise funds for the park, which is controlled by a city-state agency. “The reality is that it is going to need a lot of help.”

Building the park will require some $450 million, and aggressive fund-raising will be required to obtain that money. But more harrowing to some park critics is the lack of a budget for day-in, day-out costs like mowing the lawns, picking up litter and patrolling the property, which may reach $17 million to $20 million once the park is finished.

Mr. Butzel is thinking of something normally taboo: a new tax.

The argument is simple enough: The park, created in 1998, has increased property values; beneficiaries should chip in something in return. The rub is that not only will some property owners balk at the unexpected cost, but opponents of a proposed self-financed park in Brooklyn Heights are already pining that their park be run the same way.

“Initially, my sense is that this is not what we all bargained for when the Hudson River Park sold the park to the city. It was supposed to be self-sustaining,” said Edward Baquero, managing partner at Coalco, a real-estate investment company that owns two properties that abut the park, including a building with Diane von Furstenberg’s studio on West 12th Street.

But he doesn’t rule out a special assessment district. “We should see what really went wrong,” Mr. Baquero said. “Was it a judgment error? If not, why was it off? I think they need to be very transparent.”

“They,” in this case, is the Hudson River Park Trust, the quasi-public agency overseeing the park. The costs of both constructing and operating the park have climbed since first outlined in a 1995 brochure issued by Mayor Rudolph Giuliani and Governor George Pataki.

The annual operating cost once completed was supposed to hit $10 million. Currently, with just 25 to 30 percent of the park up and running, the budget is about $12 million, paid for by rents, concessions and other revenues. As more parkland will come on line, the trust will gain a few more profitable ventures—like a banquet hall and marina planned for Pier 57 at 15th Street—but Noreen Doyle, executive vice president of the trust, said that no one knows whether the new revenues will offset the new expenses.

Park Tax?

The Friends of Hudson River Park, Mr. Butzel told The Observer, is two or three months away from releasing an analysis of 15 years of data comparing properties in the West Village—which is where the first sections of the waterfront park have been completed—with those elsewhere in Manhattan.

The group is pursuing a two-pronged strategy, he said: The data may, in and of itself, convince enough people to contribute voluntarily, or it may persuade them to form a type of business-improvement district that would make those contributions mandatory for owners of property within its boundaries, which he said would probably extend about two blocks in from West Street.

“We haven’t received any feedback from property owners. This isn’t even a public idea,” Mr. Butzel said. “This is still years away.”

He said the study, undertaken with the Regional Plan Association, a nonprofit planning group, would consider a number of variables that may have contributed to value appreciation, such as proximity to a subway station, as well as the citywide real-estate boom.

“Even between one block and three blocks from the river, you can see the difference,” Mr. Butzel told The Observer.

The tax, which would be imposed on top of regular city property taxes, would technically be called an “assessment” and would come only after a majority of property owners decided to create the type of business-improvement district that exists on retail strips throughout the city. The district would have its own budget and its own officers, which would allow property owners to control how much to tax themselves and whether to spend it all on the park or not.

“I think all of these are good ideas,” said Ms. Doyle, adding that the trust wasn’t involved in the tax-district study.

But if the Hudson River Park administrators don’t see a problem in the future, the city and state do. As more and more waterfront parks are planned under the pay-your-own way mantra, the cost of operating these parks—and the desire to create massive development nearby to help fund their construction and maintenance—has become crystal clear.

The Brooklyn Bridge Park, a 72-acre park to be built largely on former shipping piers, would include seven buildings—condominium towers, a hotel and a retail arcade, two of which already exist—covering about eight acres. The development rights and annual fees are supposed to cover the $15.2 million estimated annual budget. (State officials say the park is 85 acres, but that’s including water.)

“I think the Hudson River Park was not so focused on the issue of self-sufficiency. No one was in charge like Charles Gargano, who wanted to make sure it was really self-sustaining,” said Mr. Butzel, who is also a board member of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Conservancy, a support group for that park. “The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation has leaned heavily in that direction so that revenues would be adequate, and the price of that is that buildings may be higher than they need be. But I think that residential development is a reasonable strategy. We are talking about one 30-story building. Why are people so upset about this?”

Mr. Gargano, the Governor’s chief economic aide, who is also the chairman of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corporation, didn’t respond to a request for an interview, but his associates often say that the self-sufficiency idea for the Brooklyn park stemmed from “the community” a long time ago and was codified in “13 guiding principles” in 1992.

Those principles also state, however, that “Specialized commercial uses … shall be encouraged and residential and office uses shall be discouraged.”

Of course, residential development is exactly the kind envisioned for the park, and for good reason: A marina just would not make much money. Brooklyn’s new park would need six Chelsea Piers in order to pay for itself.

The other document that state officials point to is a 2002 agreement between Governor Pataki and Mayor Bloomberg. That agreement repeatedly refers to a “sustainable” park but never elaborates. (Environmentally sustainable? Financially sustainable?) At one point, the document permits but does not require commercial development to take place on the park: “the development of appropriate commercial uses may occur within the project area, provided that all revenues derived from such uses shall be used exclusively for the maintenance and operation of the project.”

Of course, there is a liberal argument that new parks should pay for themselves whenever they can, so the public money can go to parks in poor neighborhoods that are poorly maintained. It’s the reverse of environmental racism, of putting all the transfer stations and power plants in poor neighborhoods where property values are low anyway and the residents are too disorganized to raise hell. We’re not even talking about power plants here; we are talking about luxury condos with river views.

The state and city are already chipping in plenty of land and money to create both the Hudson River and Brooklyn Bridge parks; the self-sustaining part only pertains to the operation and maintenance budgets.

Besides, some park lovers—or at least park administrators—argue that relying on the city and state to pay annual expenses is just a bad management practice.

“Government has its ups and downs, and over the years, if you have a built-in ability to make sure you always have the bathrooms clean and lawns maintained, how much better would it be,” said Tupper Thomas, the administrator of Prospect Park in Brooklyn and the president of the Prospect Park Alliance, a private support group. And fund-raising, she added, doesn’t qualify as a “built-in ability”; it’s a very hard thing to do.

The opponents of Brooklyn Bridge Park, who fear that the condominium owners will turn the park into their private domain, would welcome the chance to try out a special assessment district.

“We proposed that last year. We called it a P.O.D., a parks oversight district, or a P.I.D., a parks improvement district,” said Judi Francis, the president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund. “We are not stupid. We know that it will improve our real-estate values. But give us the tax burden of the park without the privatization.”

In other words, why can’t Brooklyn be more like Manhattan?

copyright © 2005 the new york observer, L.P.

lofter1

March 1st, 2006, 01:40 PM

On LES, It's OEM Out, Hoop Dreams In

Wednesday, March 01, 2006

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006/03/01/on_les_its_oem_out_hoop_dreams_in_.php

http://www.curbed.com/archives/2006_03_basketball.jpg

Basketball City Is About To Score OEM's Space on the Lower East Side

BY DAVID LOMBINO - Staff Reporter of the Sun
New York Sun
March 1, 2006
URL: http://www.nysun.com/article/28322

Pier 36, just north of the Manhattan Bridge on the Lower East Side, was home to a prison barge in the late 1980s that was used to help alleviate overcrowding in the city's jails. Further back, it was used by banana importers and was the backdrop for a waterfront racketeering scandal in the 1970s.

Now, following up on an agreement struck in the Dinkins administration, the city is clearing out the Office of Emergency Management's facilities on the pier to make room for Basketball City, a company that now operates private basketball courts near Chelsea Piers.

The city's development agency is negotiating over the terms of a long-term lease for the site with Basketball City, which seeks to put courts inside an existing 64,000-square-foot warehouse. OEM is seeking Department of Planning approval to move some of its emergency vehicles into an existing warehouse on Flushing Avenue in Brooklyn.

A spokesman for Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, whose district encompasses the site, said the speaker supports Basketball City moving to Pier 36 because it fulfills the community's long-term goal of reclaiming the pier for recreational purposes.

The spokesman, Bryan Franke, said Mr. Silver successfully sued Mayor Dinkins to free the pier of the burden of housing city vehicles and heavy machinery.
Mr. Silver brokered a memorandum of understanding with the city that the pier eventually would be used for a community recreational facility. Under the Giuliani administration, an estimated 10 years ago, a request for proposals was issued and the use of the site was awarded to Basketball City.

Now the city's development agency is honoring that agreement and negotiating exclusively with Basketball City, although officials would not discuss the details of the talks, or say why it has taken so long to finalize the deal. Representatives of Basketball City did not return phone messages from a reporter.

At six Chelsea courts, Basketball City hosts adult basketball leagues and corporate events, runs youth programs, rents its courts to the public, and is affiliated with a nonprofit youth development organization that uses its facilities, according to its Web site.

Community Board 3, which covers the neighborhood that includes Pier 36, gave the green light to Basketball City about two years ago. But some area residents are saying that putting a private recreational facility into a neighborhood filled with public housing makes no sense.

The president of the Two Bridges neighborhood council, Victor Papa, said, "Basketball City is probably a very good entity, but the people who live along South Street have a median income of about $20,000 a year."

The long neglected East River waterfront is now getting some serious attention in the form of a city plan to reconnect the surrounding communities to the river. In addition, the Drawing Center, which had been slated to move to ground zero, recently announced it would occupy the site that was recently the home of the Fulton Fish Market. That area is sprouting with the same luxury residential development that has seized most of Lower Manhattan.

Surely some will see Basketball City's expected arrival as advancing this promising improvement. But the director of the Rebuild Chinatown Initiative, Robert Weber, said the Basketball City plan, in addition to being inaccessible to the community, may not meld with the city's plans to improve the waterfront.

"That project went out 10 years ago, and in the last year the city has sponsored this planning process. Why wouldn't you integrate this into the existing planning of the waterfront community?" Mr. Weber said.

The director of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, Carter Craft, said that the city's decision to move ahead with the Basketball City plan is a definite improvement over the existing parking lot, but also is telling of a larger trend.

"The painful reality of today is that it's so expensive to develop, protect, and maintain the waterfront that the city is seeking more private developers to do it instead of allowing or enabling the Parks Department to do it," Mr. Craft said.

© 2006 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC

infoshare

March 4th, 2006, 08:03 AM

Earlier this week construction began on the Harlem Piers project. The waterfront in this area had been used as a parking lot for the Fairway food market prior to the recent construction activity. This project is being built on the Hudson River bank and 133rd Street.

The completion of this project will provide a vital link between Riverside Park and the other waterfront parks further uptown: a continuous path from the tip of northern Manhattan all-the-way to Battery Park City.

To view schematic illustrations and read a general project
description go to - http://www.weact.org/hotr/planning_document.html
Also - http://neighbors.columbia.edu/pdf-files/Harlem_Piers.pdf

antinimby

April 20th, 2006, 07:02 PM

Funds slated for Brooklyn waterfront cleanup
by Catherine Tymkiw

City and state officials on Thursday announced $36 million in funding to help clean up and redevelop the Bush Terminal Piers in Brooklyn.

The city plans to clean up the site, located on the Sunset Park waterfront between 43rd and 51st streets. The Bush Terminal site had been an active port before becoming contaminated in the 1970s because of illegal dumping of oil, demolition debris and wastewater.

After clean up the site will be transformed into athletic fields, walkways, natural areas, an environmental education center, a boat-building area, a fishing pier, seasonal restaurant booths, a community building, and a banquet hall.

"I am very pleased that, finally, this land will be cleaned up and be made accessible to the public," said Assemblyman Felix Ortiz in a statement. "By using these state funds to return the Bush Terminal Pier site to the people of Brooklyn, we are enhancing the quality of life for the city's residents."

The state will provide $17.8 million, the city $9 million and the federal government $8 million for the project.

©2006 Crain Communications Inc.

http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/news.cms?id=13456

krulltime

April 21st, 2006, 12:17 PM

^ That is great! I love to hear news about new parks in the city.

MidtownGuy

April 21st, 2006, 12:51 PM

I hope this continues, we could have one of the most beautiful waterfronts and harbors in the world.

BPC

April 21st, 2006, 01:37 PM

Have you seen Sydney's? From a natural perspctive, it is really something believable. But NY has a better skyline.

infoshare

April 21st, 2006, 10:03 PM

A long string of small yellow floats has recently appeared on the waterfront near the construction site of the new Harlem Piers project.

The floats are in the same general location of the piers - as indicated on the design drawing - for the proposed project. My connect-the-dots theory is that they have been placed there to indicate the spots where the new pier supports are to be placed.

http://www.weact.org/hotr/planning_document.html

antinimby

April 22nd, 2006, 02:15 AM

For $2.4 Million, 7 Racing Yachts Get Parking Spot

By PATRICK McGEEHAN
Published: April 22, 2006

The Kiwis are coming, and so are the Dutchmen and the Brazilians. They are coming by sea in sleek racing yachts and they are going to need what so many people in Manhattan covet — a place to park.

To make way for them, workers are dredging the North Cove Marina in Battery Park City as fast as they can. When they started last Saturday, the water in the marina was less than six feet deep in some places. But the seven boats, which are taking part in a round-the-world race whose next leg ends at the Statue of Liberty, need the water to be at least 14 feet deep.

So the agency that runs Battery Park City in Lower Manhattan decided to spend $2.44 million to give the yachts a proper place to dock when they arrive in early May.

That is how much a New Jersey-based dredging outfit, Donjon Marine Company, is being paid by the Battery Park City Authority to remove about 25,000 cubic yards of silt from the bottom of the basin by May 1. With a deadline looming, the authority's directors convened a special meeting three weeks ago. Although some directors wondered aloud why the authority was paying so much to prepare for an event that would benefit so few, they unanimously approved the rushed contract, an authority spokesman confirmed.

The authority, a state corporation that collects rent and other payments from the owners of residential and office buildings in Battery Park City, spent $37.2 million last year to manage the entire 92-acre development.

"We're certainly paying a premium to have it done quickly," said James Cavanaugh, the president of the authority, which owns the marina. "It's not cheap to move dirt, especially when it's underwater."

But, he added, "They're going around the world; we don't want them to run aground in North Cove."

Still, the notion that a state agency would invest a significant amount of money toward an elite event with a limited following has puzzled some residents. And the racers will not have a chance to do much spending in New York because they will be here only two days.

Edward Hersey, a father of two who has lived in Battery Park City for 12 years, said he would rather see the authority spend its money on parks than yachts. "There needs to be more open, public green spaces," he said.

The yachts are expected in New York Harbor on May 8 or 9, after a short leg of the race, from Annapolis, Md. The Volvo Ocean Race is a sort of roving international carnival of sailors from a variety of ports and support teams of more than 500 people.

In five months, the boats, which are 70 feet long with masts 100 feet tall, have sailed 25,000 nautical miles in an eastward loop from Spain to South Africa to Australia to Brazil to Maryland.

The latest leg ended Tuesday, with ABN Amro One, whose skipper is from New Zealand, holding the lead. Pirates of the Caribbean, a boat inspired by the movie that has an American skipper, Paul Cayard, and a crew that includes Kiwis, Australians and a Dutchman, is in a tight battle for second place.

After racing 400 nautical miles up the East Coast to New York, the boats will dock for two days then turn around and head from Manhattan to Portsmouth, England.

"The race restart should be really cool and a great symbol for Lower Manhattan," said Michael Fortenbaugh, commodore of the marina, who led the campaign to have the race go there. "This is the first time a race of this magnitude has been attracted to New York City."

Mr. Fortenbaugh's company, North Cove Marina Management, leased the marina from the Battery Park City Authority a year ago. Dennis Conner, who has won the America's Cup four times, is one of Mr. Fortenbaugh's partners.

All of the drama on the high seas was of little interest to Thomas D. Witte, executive vice president of Donjon. His priority was getting the dredging done on what he called "about the tightest schedule we've ever seen."

From 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day, a crew of five men operates the dredge, which scoops the muck in buckets wrapped in rubber and dumps it onto scows. Other Donjon workers operate tugboats that push the loaded scows up the river, where the silt is unloaded and trucked to landfills, Mr. Witte said. He said the silt was mixed with cement to form a hard material that is used to cap the landfills.

The men worked all day on Easter and their goal is to increase the depth of the water in the basin to at least 16 feet, he said.

"Unfortunately, the life of a dredger is what the life of a dredger is," Mr. Witte said. "I've never owned a yacht. I'm all blue-collar vessels."

The late start on the dredging work was causing no worries for the race organizers, said a race spokesman, Cameron Kelleher. "It's not unusual for us to be a couple of days away from a stopover and the last few bits of dredging still to be done," Mr. Kelleher said by phone from Baltimore. "In Brazil, they were dredging up to two days before we arrived."

Warned that public-works projects are rarely completed on time in New York City, Mr. Kelleher laughed and said, "You should try Spain."

http://www.nytimes.com/2006/04/22/nyregion/22yachts.html

infoshare

May 13th, 2006, 02:25 PM

A long string of small yellow floats has recently appeared on the waterfront near the construction site of the new Harlem Piers project.

Excerpt from NY Times:
By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: May 12, 2006

After making its way through the legislative approval process, however, the project was delayed for about a year by the Army Corps of Engineers out of concern that the new piers would disrupt fish spawning and migration routes. As a compromise, 50 "reef domes" — concrete structures five feet in diameter and four feet high with holes cut out to allow fish to swim in and out — will be placed at the bottom of the river near the piers.

http://img372.imageshack.us/img372/9357/96tg.jpg
reef dome

infoshare

June 11th, 2006, 03:55 PM

Recently the construction crews have begun placing the reef domes into the Hudson River. My guess is that the 'yellow floats' art there to indicate the place to put the reef domes. Let the spawning begin!

ablarc

June 11th, 2006, 04:03 PM

And if they don't work, they'll make dandy septic tanks.

pianoman11686

June 19th, 2006, 01:14 PM

N.Y.C.'s hidden beach oases

Secret finds something to sea

BY JEGO ARMSTRONG, ELIZABETH HAYS and TANYANIKA SAMUELS
DAILY NEWS WRITERS

Call them the secret beaches of New York.
Hidden in the nooks and crannies along the city's riverbanks lie dozens of small, sandy oases.

But don't grab the beach towels just yet. Most of the estimated 60 to 70 "beaches" in the five boroughs and New Jersey are isolated, neglected and debris-strewn. Still, some nature enthusiasts are optimistic.

"Right now ... these beaches are not great sunbathing options," said Rob Buchanan of New York Harbor Beaches. "But they could become that if people start to take care of them."

Buchanan, 47, is among a group of hikers and boaters who spent the last year combing the East, Hudson and Harlem river shorelines.

Not everyone is pleased with the idea of opening up the small beaches. Officials at Community Board 1 in downtown Manhattan, for example, downplayed the area under the Brooklyn Bridge for fear of increased drownings.

But John Lipscomb, patrol boat captain for the nonprofit group Riverkeepers, sees people fishing, crabbing and wading along the shoreline around the city all the time.

"People want to use the water," he said, adding that pollution remains a major problem. "We need to get to a point where mothers can take their children there to play and build sandcastles. We're on our way, but we're not quite there yet."

Not all the beaches lie on public land, and many are not easily accessible. They're tucked under bridges, below city parks and on rocky strips in neighborhoods like DUMBO, Astoria, Battery Park and the South Bronx.

In Red Hook, Brooklyn, only the locals seems to know about the pocket-sized sand and gravel beach off Valentino Pier.

On some days the tides there wash up garbage, making the water less appealing, but when the tides are right, the spot is "breathtaking," said resident Elizabeth Freund.

"It feels like a little vacation before I start my workday," she said.

In lower Manhattan, the clean, golden sand beach under the Brooklyn Bridge near the South Street Seaport draws the occasional beachcomber.

Francisco Morales, 27, of the upper West Side, sometimes goes there with his girlfriend. "It's nice here, but people do look at us funny," he said.

And not everyone is eager to share their finds with the rest of the city. At Astoria Park beach in Queens, the well-manicured stretch of sand offers a boathouse and views of the Triborough Bridge. Denny Core, a 50-year-old retiree who has been going there for the past 20 years, is hoping it remains low-key.

"This is my favorite spot," he said. "And I like it just the way it is."

Look for Rob Buchanan's secret beach finds on the Web at www.newyorkharborbeaches.org

Originally published on June 19, 2006

Copyright 2006 Daily News

MidtownGuy

July 7th, 2006, 08:51 PM

Since I can't find the thread on Hudson River Park, or the Meier buildings (the search function seems useless to me, I wish I could just search thread titles) I am posting these here.
http://static.flickr.com/70/184391340_9a9028a696_b.jpg

http://static.flickr.com/60/184391339_f6776f8b4d_b.jpg

ablarc

July 7th, 2006, 08:59 PM

Wow, variations on a theme. Don't know which is most beautiful.

They're like a string of phrases in a piece by Philip Glass; each variation is ever so slightly altered.

I like your penchant for foreground flowers.

pianoman11686

July 7th, 2006, 09:12 PM

I wish I could just search thread titles

Oh, but you can search thread titles! Just go to the advanced search, and under keyword, select "Search Titles Only." Also, if you're looking for something specific, select the Boolean option. I searched for "Meier" and got only 5 results. Here are the links to his Hudson River Projects:

165 Charles Street (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3219&highlight=MEIER)

Perry West (http://www.wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=3400&highlight=MEIER)

MidtownGuy

July 7th, 2006, 09:52 PM

Thanks, that will be very useful to know!

lofter1

July 20th, 2006, 12:02 PM

Bringing it back home ...

How green will Tribeca’s park be, how long was the wait?

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_166/tribeca.gif
Rendering of Pier 25 design

DOWNTOWN EXPRESS (http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_166/howgreenwilltribeca.html)
By Josh Rogers
July 20, 2006

The dirt Gov. George Pataki and other officials shoveled last week on Pier 25 was just a prop to symbolize construction of the Hudson River Park’s Tribeca section, but after years of delays, real work is actually underway.

A few days later, as cyclists and joggers went by the pier and would-be trapeze artists practiced in the air, few visitors to the temporary parts of the park knew much about the permanent plan that includes rebuilding piers, building a playing field, planting trees and adding a nature area.

“I have lived here for 12 years and I have seen so many plans revised 100 times,” said a 36-year-old Battery Park City resident, who declined to give her name. “I don’t believe anything until I see it — ground zero is the perfect example.”

She hoped the Tribeca part of the park ends up looking something like the completed Village section to the north, although a few others stopped for interviews did not want to see a repeat of the manicured lawns.

“Trees are good — as long as they don’t make it too chi-chi,” said Paul Rubin, a Tribeca writer who returned to the neighborhood four years ago after moving out west in 1970. He was out walking Hubert, his large and amorous Alaskan malamute, and hoped to be able to let the dog run free on the piers (a dog run is planned nearby, but leashes will be required for the rest of the park).

The Tribeca section is now scheduled to open in 2009 and Pataki said there will be no more delays. “It’s going to be [done on time],” he told Downtown Express. “It’ll be open for 100 years. People had no access to the water for longer than that.”

He told the audience at the July 6 ceremony that his favorite parts of the plan are the beach volleyball courts and kayak boathouse, which were on Piers 25 and 26 before they were closed at the end of last year for construction. “I first got to know my wife pretty well playing volleyball on the sand in Long Island,” said the governor, who has also kayaked down the Hudson to Tribeca.

The piers are gradually decaying and would have had to have been closed eventually.

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_166/pataki..gif
Downtown Express photo by Lorenzo Ciniglio
Above, Stefan Pryor, left, Lower Manhattan Development Corporation president,
Kevin Rampe, L.M.D.C. chairperson, Dep. Mayor Dan Doctoroff, and Gov. Pataki
on the pier last Thursday to celebrate the start of construction of the
Hudson River Park’s Tribeca section, funded by the L.M.D.C.

Pataki has spoken enthusiastically about the Hudson River Park for most of his administration, although he has never been able to secure all of the money needed to build it. After the Sept. 11 attacks, he set up the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which became responsible for disbursing $2.8 billion in federal funds to help Downtown rebuild. In November 2004, the governor said the L.M.D.C. would provide the money needed to build the $70 million Tribeca section, but by that time he had given the mayor 50 percent control of the corporation and the city and state were negotiating over how to spend the remaining $800 million.

Dep. Mayor Daniel Doctoroff joked about the delay at last week’s ceremony on Pier 25. “We all knew all along the money was in the bag — we just didn’t want to tell you too soon,” said Doctoroff, who is also vice chairperson of the Hudson River Park Trust, the state-city authority building the park.

The standoff is likely to mean most of the pile work rebuilding the piers will be pushed back by more than two years after the date when Pataki said the money was coming. The Trust can only work in the water in warmer weather and must stop by Oct. 31 under its permit.

“The majority of the pile work will be done next season, said Marc Boddewyn, the Trust’s vice president of design and construction. The Trust closed the Tribeca piers at the end of last year, evicted the historic Yankee ferry from the park, and began preliminary work clearing structures like the Downtown Boathouse, River Project and mini-golf course. They suspended work a few months ago waiting for the U.S. Dept. of Housing and Urban Development to sign off on the L.M.D.C. grant.

Boddewyn said work cutting the pier decks began about two weeks ago and they should be removed by the end of August. The Trust is talking to contractors about the pile work for Piers 25 and 26 and has not decided how much work it wants to do this season.

He said the goal is to open as much of the section as soon as possible and the area from Laight St. to just north of Tribeca at Pier 40 possibly could open by fall 2007. There will be two basketball courts, the existing tennis courts and a nature walk with beach grass and cedars that Boddewyn assured would not be chi-chi.

“This will be different than the Village section,” he said. “It will have less lawn and it’ll be more raw — wonderful.”

Pier 25, which was used to transport the rubble collected at the World Trade Center site, will be extended to 1,000 feet, several hundred feet longer than it had been in recent years. There will be an artificial turf field and a new playground. A mooring field for boats, a more elaborate mini-golf course and a snack bar will return. Pier 26 will have a boathouse, a center to study marine life — and a restaurant. In the upland area closer to the bikeway/walkway, there will also be a skateboard park.

Groups like Manhattan Youth, the Downtown Boathouse and River Project, which ran many of the piers’ programs, have said they want to return when the piers reopen. Chris Martin, the Trust’s spokesperson, said the operators would be selected under a formal request for proposal process and all will be picked well after the new year — probably about seven months before a specific operation will be ready to go.

Veterans of the battles to build a waterfront park were hopeful last week about the park’s Tribeca section. Robert Trentlyon, appointed nearly two decades ago to the West Side Task Force by Gov. Mario Cuomo, said things should proceed smoothly now because it won’t be easy to stop for economic downturns.

“I think so,” he said. “I feel very confident there is a lot of momentum. Politically, [the park] is so used, no one will dare stop in the middle.”

© 2006 Community Media, LLC

TonyO

August 7th, 2006, 11:22 AM

NY Sun

In the Vanguard Of a Sea Change

http://www.nysun.com/edition/525_large.jpg
The new IAC HQ building on the West Side Highway between 18th and 19th streets in Chelsea is among the many changes taking place in the area.

Architecture

By JAMES GARDNER - Special to the Sun
August 7, 2006

Many of the world's great cities, like Venice, Italy; Paris; and Buenos Aires, Argentina, are now essentially complete. They have swelled to their foreordained limits and been filled with most of the building stock they'll ever need. But even though New York has existed for nearly four centuries, it is still very much a work in progress: Not only are its specific streetscapes in constant flux, but the grand strategy of the entire city, the very role and function it should serve, is undergoing a revolution from an industrial to a post-industrial state. This sea change can be seen throughout the world, but New York is in the vanguard, exactly as it was in the rise of the modern city a century ago.

If you want material proof of this revolution, walk along the far West Side of Manhattan Island, from the Chelsea Piers at 23rd Street down through the West Village. Many changes have taken place in the past decade or so, with more on the way. In addition to the Chelsea Piers, perhaps the earliest harbinger of this change, are the art galleries of Chelsea, the Chelsea Art Museum at 22nd Street, the three residential towers designed over the past five years by Richard Meier at Perry and Charles streets, the Hudson River Park that will one day connect the Battery to Riverside Park, and a new office tower designed by Frank Gehry at Twelfth Avenue and 18th Street.

For much of its earlier history, of course, New York was coterminous with Manhattan Island at the center of New York Harbor. As such, it was a maritime entity: The water at its circumference was spiritually at its center. Since World War II, however, a variety of social and technological forces, from cars and airplanes to the rise of containers in moving cargo, exploded the maritime rationale for New York City until, by the 1970s, it had ceased to exist. As the city's magnetic charge, so to speak, flipped from the circumference to the center, Manhattan, which had once been its sailors and longshoremen, its piers and masts and the Fulton Fish Market, became Central Park, Fifth Avenue, and Times Square.

Once maritime Manhattan had passed away, the city's circumference very quickly became a grimy no man's land. No longer a destination, it assumed all those functional necessities that were deemed too ugly, too déclassé, to exist anywhere near the exalted center of the island. Garages and car repairs, power stations and sanitation hubs all accumulated around the edges like barnacles clinging to the timbers of a rotting ship.

But over the past 10 or so years, a new urbanistic process has emerged, one that really picked up speed around 2000. First world cities, once essential organs of manufacture and commerce, have lost their sense of functional necessity: With exponential improvements in communications and transportation, it is no longer imperative that one be physically present in a city, as had once been the case. In response to their vanishing functionalism, certain urban centers, and none more than Manhattan, have increasingly reinvented themselves as zones of culture and recreation: The loading docks of Chelsea have become art galleries; the abattoirs of the Meatpacking District are now upscale restaurants, and the waterfront itself, once essential to the city's economic commerce, has become a park.

In one of the ironies of urban history, the disappearance of New York's functionalism has only increased the city's drawing power. But the new inhabitants of the far West Side, and of New York City in general, are very different from the old. While residential Manhattan has historically been limited to a relatively few desirable zones, now the urge to live here is so great that, henceforth, no parcel of the island will ever again appear unworthy of residential development. Even the once off-limits zone of infrastructure that is the far West Side has become the object of such longing among the latest generation of home-makers, that even Martha Stewart, who can live anywhere she wants, has bought one of the apartments in Richard Meier's Perry Street Towers.

This reinvention of the far West Side has coincided with the emergence of a new phase of taste among the younger generation, an appreciation of hulking, superannuated infrastructure, no longer as a functional necessity, but as a compelling, and quintessentially urban, backdrop. Just as the 18th century discovered the natural sublime, so today many people find a kind of man-made sublimity in the hulks of a city's decaying infrastructure. The West Side of Manhattan, with its stumps of rotting piers, its salt-bitten iron-works collapsing into the Hudson, its massive smokestacks that have emitted no smoke in decades, above all such landmarks as the High Line, suggests to the latest generation a virile and purposive past that, even as it is being transcended, is scrupulously preserved.

For this reason, the development of Twelfth Avenue below 23rd Street does not and will not resemble the usual developments that you see in New York. Most people don't realize that Park Avenue rises over the tracks leading north from Grand Central. This fact was vigorously suppressed by the developers of the past 100 years. On the Far West Side, however, the train tracks and the smokestacks are the area's main selling points. In the process, the grunge aesthetic has migrated from torn jeans and a three-day growth of beard to architecture and urban planning, as a whole new generation of New Yorkers has taken to slumming on the far West Side.

ablarc

August 7th, 2006, 09:01 PM

^ Good article, but needs a better conclusion.

krulltime

August 28th, 2006, 10:18 AM

GARDEN-VARIETY B'KLYN
PARK PLAN A WATERFRONT WONDER

http://www.nypost.com/photos/news08272006012a.jpg
GREEN QUEEN: Proposed park would see Greenpoint
live up to its name.

By ANGELA MONTEFINISE
August 27, 2006

The scenes seem more Greenwich than Greenpoint: pedestrians strolling along a shorefront esplanade, kayakers paddling through placid waters, people gathering at an outdoor performance shell.

But if city park planners have their way, it will come true.

As part of a $100 million refurbishment of the Greenpoint waterfront, planners are proposing soccer and softball fields, a visitors center, a boathouse, a beach and a boardwalk for the 25-acre Bushwick Inlet Park.

Also planned is a museum and memorial plaza dedicated to the USS Monitor, the first ironclad ship commissioned by the U.S. Navy, built and launched in Greenpoint during the Civil War.

There will also be a community center, a performance space in the footprint of the soon-to-be-removed Bayside fuel tanks and a floating movie screen on the inlet.

The Parks Department's preliminary and still-evolving designs were unveiled last week at Community Board 1, where reactions were mixed.

While most seem pleased with the design, some complained that planners are simply thinking too big.

Others were angry that the Monitor museum's proposed location has been moved to Kent Avenue, the northernmost part of the park.

The museum, which is now a traveling exhibit, was given land for a permanent home on the inlet's waterfront in 2003. It used a $50,000 state grant to clean the site, which will now be used for other park uses.

"No one's against the park," said Janice Weinmann of the museum. "We just want the museum prominently displayed on the waterfront where the ship was actually launched."

The city is still in the process of acquiring the Bushwick Inlet from five private developers.

Copyright 2006 NYP Holdings, Inc.

lofter1

October 4th, 2006, 11:22 AM

A Riverfront Oasis Replaces a Bleak Lot in a Bleak Area

http://graphics10.nytimes.com/images/2006/10/04/nyregion/park600.jpg
Marilynn K. Yee/The New York Times
Officials cut the ribbon yesterday for the Bronx’s newest park.
It is part of a 10-year effort to improve parks in the borough.

NY TIMES (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/04/nyregion/04park.html?_r=1&ref=nyregion&oref=slogin)
By MICHELLE O’DONNELL
October 4, 2006

For years, the contaminated land at the end of Tiffany Street in the Hunts Point section of the Bronx jutted into the East River like nothing more than a mean and bony elbow.

On weekends, hardy neighborhood revelers planted the Puerto Rican flag there and danced and partied at the river’s edge, transforming it into a happy outcropping known as La Playita, or the Little Beach. But mostly the lot lay barren amid a stretch of waste-treatment plants and factories.

So the unveiling yesterday of its transformation into Barretto Point Park, a lush five-acre waterfront spot complete with a sandy cove, a small boat ramp, sea grasses and a paved path along the river, was understandably met with glee — and no shortage of wonder.

“I’m amazed at the grass,” said Margaret George, a teacher at nearby St. Ignatius School, who gazed at the gently sloping lawn as her sixth-grade students clamored on the shiny new playground equipment, including swings that seemed to soar right over the river.

A neighborhood must have had a long and scarred legacy when a simple new lawn evokes awe. Few neighborhoods have had as much scarring as Hunts Point.

“In the 70’s when you used to come down here, you wouldn’t stop at traffic lights,” recalled Kathy McCarthy, a volunteer at St. Ignatius whose father owned a gas station nearby. “There was so much crime you were afraid.”

Long an outpost of factories and impoverished residents, plagued by drugs and prostitution, Hunts Point is undergoing a slow transformation, led by community groups like Sustainable South Bronx, the Point and Banana Kelly that urged city leaders to restore waterfront access in a borough where much of the shoreline is inaccessible to its residents.

Last summer, armed with $7.2 million in funds, including $5.3 million from Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg’s office, the Parks and Recreation Department closed La Playita and went to work transforming it in what would have to be labeled an extreme extreme makeover.

Workers hauled out tons of trash and debris, cleared tall grasses and capped the contaminated ground with two feet of soil. They hauled in hundreds of shade trees — sweet gum, red maple, pin oak — rebuilt a pier of concrete, added the boat ramp and recreated the rocky shoreline, even adding a storage container for the South Bronx Kayak Club’s gear. They bedded native plants like sumac and rugosa roses and beach grass. They cut an idyllic amphitheatre into a slope over the water’s edge.

And, in a nod to La Playita, they expanded the tiny beach, forming an immaculate cove with a carpet of cappuccino-colored sand.

The result is a pristine enclave with views of Rikers Island, North Brother Island (a bird sanctuary) and the Manhattan skyline.

The emerald in the new park’s crown is, of course, the lawn, a lush and undulating promenade laced with walkways. Yesterday, it bore up well under the weight of dignitaries, neighborhood leaders and curious South Bronx residents who came out to see Mayor Bloomberg cut a red ribbon around noon and declare it a city park. Some, like Nelsine Sepulveda, 11, had already enjoyed it. She said her father had brought her on weekends to fish from the pier.

In fact, well before Mr. Bloomberg arrived, the park’s christening was made official just after 10:20 a.m. when Maria Carrasco, a fifth grader at St. Ignatius, reported the playground’s first skinned knee.

The Parks Department is in the middle of a 10-year, $462 million campaign to improve Bronx parks said Adrian Benepe, the parks commissioner.

At least $113 million has already been spent. Roughly $200 million of the money is expected to come from cost savings after the city built a water-filtration plant under Van Cortlandt Park, according to Mr. Bloomberg, who reiterated his administration’s goal of restoring much of the city’s 578 miles of shoreline.

“What you are seeing is a little piece of paradise on the South Bronx waterfront,” Mr. Bloomberg said. “The view is great and will just get better.”

When the projects are done, there will be a 15-mile greenway linking parts of the Bronx waterfront to Randalls Island and the Westchester border.

But some said there was still work to be done. For one thing, there is virtually no public transportation to Barretto Point Park, which is surrounded mostly by industrial buildings — including a waste-transfer station and a fertilizer factory — and far from most of the residential parts of Hunts Point.

Others urged city officials to steer clear of any future development on the shoreline for uses that do not need waterfront access, like a jail proposed at nearby Oak Point.

“If we learn anything today, we learn just how wonderful access to the waterfront is,” said Kellie N. Terry-Sepulveda, executive managing director of the group the Point. It was, she added, “soothing to the soul, for a community that needs more of that.”

Copyright 2006The New York Times Company

***

Barretto Point Park

Capital Project of the Month
nycgovparks.org (http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/capital/pd_proj_month_jan_03.html)
January 2003

http://nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/press_releases/images/barretto.jpg

Download (http://nycgovparks.org/sub_newsroom/press_releases/images/barretto.pdf) a high resolution version of the rendering ( 2MB PDF )

http://nycparks.org/Photo_Collection/images/photos/Bronx/X248_1078345534.jpg
PARK DESIGN

The primary goal of the design was to exploit the substantial East River waterfront to create as much connection to the water as possible, with a wide variety of shoreline experiences, for a community surrounded on three sides by waterfront, but with very little access to it. The main design feature is a gracefully curvilinear and undulating closed loop promenade, lined with benches and groves of trees, circumscribing a large central lawn. A large, stone and grass amphitheater and stage will be constructed to overlook the East River and skyline vistas. And a sand volleyball area, defined by a low stone seating wall, will be carved into the central lawn, adjacent to an enlarged natural sand beach at the bottom of a new boulder revetment.

Along the urban, industrial edge court sports, play equipment, a comfort station, a boat house, a custom designed ornamental steel fence, and perimeter plantings will serve as a buffer and transition zone. This urban-pastoral transition zone will be further defined by a series of discrete play units and fitness areas sited to enjoy the park's sweeping views, and a decoratively paved concrete block spray plaza and seating area that will serve as a gateway into the park.

A river front theme will include a concrete runnel along the shoreline promenade that will channel the water from a decorative spray shower through a playful series of twists and turns before spilling into the river. In addition, several thousand native and shoreline tolerant shrubs, grasses and trees will be planted to establish a naturalizing plant palette, with picnic areas to be located among the groves of trees. Boulders, fieldstone and stone veneer will be used throughout the park to draw upon the rocky Bronx shoreline and the exposed ledge common throughout the Bronx. Recycled plastic lumber will also be used in the benches, picnic tables, cribbing and low barrier rail to draw upon the recycled nature of this former brownfield site, as well as to provide a connection to the adjacent Tiffany Pier, which was completely constructed from recycled plastic lumber.

104 ballfield #1:

http://nycparks.org/Photo_Collection/images/photos/Bronx/X248_1078345346.jpg

108 St. ballfield 2:

http://nycparks.org/Photo_Collection/images/photos/Bronx/X248_1078345767.jpg

lofter1

October 4th, 2006, 11:48 AM

Barretto Point Park

Google MAP (http://www.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=1201+Ryawa+Ave,+Bronx,+NY+10474&ie=UTF8&z=14&ll=40.801888,-73.885159&spn=0.027938,0.084887&t=h&om=1)

***

antinimby

October 23rd, 2006, 08:11 PM

There's a story about a possible expansion of Battery Park City on the Crain's NY website (http://www.newyorkbusiness.com/).

Can someone with a membership subscription post the entire article here?

Here's a partial excerpt:

Hudson landfill mulled

The chairman of the Battery Park City Authority hopes to fill in 50 acres of the Hudson River, expanding the successful lower Manhattan community to add affordable housing...

BPC

October 23rd, 2006, 09:37 PM

Sorry, no subscription, but someone told me the article says that Gill wants to fill in South Cove. Never gonna happen.

BPC

October 24th, 2006, 01:56 AM

Whoops, my source was wrong. The BPC Broadsheet (no web site) is reporting today that James Gill, the Chair of the BPCA, wants to extent BPC northward about 2000 feet past Stuy HS with new landfill. The Hudson River Trust, of course, is vehemently opposed (it would eat up the southern chunk of the new park they are building). Ultimately, Albany will decide.

antinimby

October 24th, 2006, 07:00 AM

Thanks.

I didn't think it would be the South Cove because it said 50 acres and there is no way you can fit such a large piece of land in that area.

I'm sure this isn't the first time this was proposed. I remember hearing something like that awhile back.

Hopefully this time the city or state will make the right decision and give the go ahead for this explansion plan.

This will be essentially "enlarging" the land area of the city and that is always a good thing despite what the park supporters' self interests are.

antinimby

October 26th, 2006, 02:08 AM

Plan studied to expand Battery Park City 2000 feet to the north 25-OCT-06

http://www.cityrealty.com/graphics/uploads/1161811191_batmap2.jpg

A major expansion northwards of Battery Park City is being studied that would add 50 acres to the 92-acre mixed-use enclave that was created on landfill and is now approaching its original build-out.

In a telephone interview today with CityRealty.com, James F. Gill, the chairman of the Battery Park City Authority, said that studies are underway to establish preliminary plans and discussions with various agencies. “It’s a formidable task and in its early stages,” he said, adding that there are a lot of “hurdles” and “permissions” that would be required to move ahead with the plan.

Mr. Gill said the proposal would extend Battery Park City about 2000 feet to the north to Canal Street as indicated by the area delineated in red in the Google map shown at the right.

“There is a dearth of affordable housing” and that could be a major component of development plans for the expanded site, which he said would be developed along similar lines to the existing Battery Park City, which incorporates the World Financial Center and a broad mix of residential buildings, 35 acres of parks and a mile-and-a-half riverfront esplanade.

The authority recently announced it is funding $130 million from its reserves to the New York City Housing Trust Fund, to create or preserve 4,300 affordable housing units in the city over the next three years.

Mr. Gill noted that the authority’s experience and expertise in landfill development and “green” (environmentally friendly) architecture is well established and should “soften” concerns about the environmental impact of such a huge undertaking.

The expansion, Mr. Gill explained, would use landfill that has been created by dredging to deepen ship channels in the Hudson River. The original Battery Park City was created with landfill from the excavations at the World Trade Center site.

An article in this week’s edition of Crain’s New York Business by Anne Michaud quoted Mr. Gill as stating that he wants to present the plan after the first of the year to the state’s new governor.

Mr. Gill told CityRealty.com that he has not yet discussed the northwards expansion with city officials but has discussed with Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg taking over Pier A at the south end of Battery Park City, which was originally in its plans but given to the city many years ago. The clocktower at the end of the pier is an individual city landmark, but the entire building is not. Mr. Gill indicated the authority would like to buy out the building’s tenant,William Wachtel, and convert the building into a ferry terminal and museum and restaurant complex.

Copyright © 1994-2006 CITY REALTY.COM INC.

lofter1

October 29th, 2006, 09:23 PM

Ball fields near completion; East R. walkway plan to begin

The $50-million reconstruction of the East River Park promenade, stretching from Jackson St. on the Lower East Side to E. 12th St. and closed for more than two years, is scheduled to begin this autumn.

The 1.25-mile park project, outlined at a Jan. 27 Community Board 3 meeting and eagerly awaited by East Village and Lower East Side residents, is scheduled to open in stages, the first 2,000 sq. feet in the summer of 2005.

The entire promenade along the East River is to be completed by the summer of 2006 ...

The rebuilding of the East River Park Promenade is plodding along ... signs at the site now say completion is scheduled for Summer 2007 ...

***

ZippyTheChimp

November 7th, 2006, 06:54 AM

Renovations Kick Off In Popular Riverside Park Path
November 06, 2006

Cyclists who use Riverside Park as a scenic alternative to the streets of Manhattan will be happy to learn the rough road they travel is about to get smoothed over.

Officials broke ground Monday on the reconstruction of the Serpentine Promenade. The well-traveled route spans from 83rd Street to 91st Street in the park. In addition to smooth pavement, new benches, curbs and fences will be installed.

People who use the park everyday say they couldn't be happier.

“It's a beautiful place to ride,” said park user Rich Weil. “You have the river it's unobstructed you get there fast. It's nice you don't have to on the street. It's a jewel; it's a great place. And now that they are repairing the bed of the road it's going to be great."

The $1.5 million project will mark the first time the Serpentine section has been updated since it was built 70 years ago.

The Serpentine Promenade is the double pathway with the center mall that runs over the Amtrak tunnel.

lofter1

November 7th, 2006, 06:30 PM

East River Waterfront to Get a Makeover

http://www.lowermanhattan.info/news/east_river_waterfront_to_30310.aspx
November 6, 2006

http://www.lowermanhattan.info/images/news/08-04-06%20EastRiverPK%20sm.jpg

Designs for the East River Waterfront are being examined by Community Board 1 In recent weeks, Community Board 1 has examined designs for Lower Manhattan's Burling and Peck Slips in Lower Manhattan. These designs are crucial aspects of the East River Waterfront revitalization plan and are just of a few of the proposed developments currently being evaluated by the downtown community.

The vision for the East River Waterfront is planned as a series of projects that will create a consistent yet unique identity while reinvigorating the downtown waterfront.

Few people who lived in New York City in the 1970s reminisce longingly about the waterfront, with its decrepit piers, graffiti-covered warehouses, and stench of rotting fish. But at the very least, it could claim a gritty sort of integrity that was a part of the fabric of New York. Typical riverfront developments around the nation today, in contrast, too often call to mind open-air suburban malls.

Fortunately, the master plan for an East River Waterfront esplanade unveiled last year by Mayor Michael Bloomberg avoids both extremes. Covering a two-mile stretch of waterfront from Battery Park to East River Park in Lower Manhattan, the project will transform a series of abandoned piers and derelict corners beneath the Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR) Drive into a vibrant urban panorama without sacrificing the rough edges that make the city waterfront unique.

Multiple city agencies and world-renowned architects have worked in collaboration as part of the planning process. The project was commissioned by the New York City Department of City Planning and the Economic Development Corporation, and the design was developed as part of a coordinated effort by architectural superstars Gregg Pasquarelli of SHoP Architects, the Richard Rogers Partnership, and the landscape architect Ken Smith. The resulting plan promises to transform the area "from something underperforming into something that New York would want," says Amanda Burden, Department of City Planning chairperson.

Even as the plan celebrates the city's underbelly, it weaves it into the surrounding neighborhoods with incredible sensitivity. The plan displays how a series of small interventions, when thoughtfully conceived, can have a more meaningful impact on daily life than an unwieldy urban development scheme. Ultimately, the idea is to create a seamless, contemplative environment along the waterfront that embraces both the fine-grained scale of the surrounding communities and the monumental scale of the FDR.

http://www.lowermanhattan.info/images/news/08-04-06%20EastRiverEsplanade%20sm.jpg

Funding for this ambitious effort is being provided by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), which has allocated $150 million dollars toward realization of the waterfront redevelopment plan. Top goals include creating a waterfront esplanade, completing the Manhattan greenway for bicyclists, and reconnecting the communities of Lower Manhattan to the East River. Of the three, completing the waterfront esplanade has been a primary focus. As designed, the esplanade will stretch along a two-mile length of the river's edge, from historic Battery Park at the tip of the island to East River Park, the Lower East Side's principal open space. The new waterfront walkway will include traditional waterfront amenities such as seating and plantings, as well as innovative improvements that blend into the areas beneath the FDR. Initially, Pasquarelli and Rogers considered lowering parts of the elevated freeway to ground level, but the cost was prohibitive. Eventually the team decided that the FDR's aggressive form could be used to instill the site with energy.

Taking advantage of the natural "roof" that is the FDR Drive, the plan proposes that the underside of the FDR, as well as the steel beams that support the freeway, be clad with contoured metal and sound attenuating material with enhanced lighting. Such artistic touches would mesh well with an elaborate system of landscaped noise barriers (also known as berms) and shelters to be scattered along the waterfront. Planted with colorful shrubs and wild grasses, the berms will rise right out of the pavement's surface. A series of glass pavilions planned for underneath the FDR viaduct will include commercial, cultural, and community uses that will complement the public open space experience by bringing activity and the vitality of New York City to the water's edge.

Other highlights of the plan include:

New plantings, benches, tables, paving, improved lighting, and a widened bike path along the esplanade;
Reconstruction of Pier 15 for two levels of community open space and expanded programs for the South Street Seaport Museum;
Transformation of a current sanitation pier into a publicly accessible open space on the water;
Adaptive reuse of land under the FDR Drive for community, commercial, and cultural programs in new pavilions along South Street;
New and expanded upland parks and open spaces in the historic slips that line South Street, including Burling Slip, Peck Slip, Catherine Slip, and Rutgers and Montgomery Streets;
Enhanced and expanded access into East River Park, and
Design and engineering for a new public plaza in front of the historic Battery Maritime Building to better connect the Battery to the East River, including the extension of the Battery Park underpass 350 feet to the north to improve pedestrian safety.With a team of consultants, the Department of City Planning has developed a plan that will greatly enhance access to the waterfront, a priority repeatedly expressed by local community organizations during the city's outreach. City planners and architects have held more than 70 separate meetings over the past few years with the community boards, tenant associations, civic leaders, maritime experts, and local elected officials to solicit feedback and community participation. In fact, establishing good relationships with stakeholders in the study area has been a priority since the process first began in 2004. Meetings about the public involvement process, interviews, briefings, and workshops allowed the study team to get valuable input from interested parties. This helped to shape the design and planning process and also aided in the development of concepts and preliminary schematic options.

Because of the unique design challenges posed by the areas north and south of the Brooklyn Bridge, Manhattan Community Boards 1 and 3 played an integral role in the public outreach process. In addition to community boards, participation by neighborhood groups, city agencies, and elected officials has been encouraged. Interviews with organizations such as the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance (MWA), Asian Americans for Equality (AAFE), the Two Bridges Neighborhood Council were important to help the project team maintain impartiality that was crucial to preserving the community's trust.

http://www.lowermanhattan.info/images/news/08-04-06%20EastRiverPeckSlip%20sm.jpg

With funding now in place, the city is working toward the implementation phase. This will include environmental review and detailed design of the esplanade, creation of new open spaces, and rehabilitation of pier structures.

The design for each of these projects is either still in the planning phase or being evaluated by community boards. While admittedly the process is not a speedy one, careful and thoughtful evaluation is the key to successfully fulfilling the dream of revitalizing the East River waterfront.

Kris

November 21st, 2006, 07:05 AM

November 21, 2006
Bronx: Waterfront Development Plan
By DIANE CARDWELL

Moving to reclaim a bleak stretch of the South Bronx waterfront, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced a $30 million plan yesterday to add parkland, recreation space and landscaped streets to the Hunts Point Peninsula. Part of a larger effort to foster an environmentally sound but commercially viable neighborhood around the city’s major wholesale food market, the project, scheduled for completion in 2011, would create a waterfront park at Hunts Point Landing as well as jogging and bike paths along the waterfront and landscaping on residential streets nearby, officials said.

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

lofter1

November 21st, 2006, 11:36 AM

MAYOR BLOOMBERG UNVEILS
SOUTH BRONX GREENWAY PLAN

City Initiates Design of First Four Projects and Additional Improvements

Plan Expected to Add 1.5 Acres of Publicly Accessible Open Space and 2.3 Miles of Green Streets at Hunts Point

nyc.gov (http://www.nyc.gov/portal/site/nycgov/menuitem.c0935b9a57bb4ef3daf2f1c701c789a0/index.jsp?pageID=mayor_press_release&catID=1194&doc_name=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nyc.gov%2Fhtml%2Fom%2Fht ml%2F2006b%2Fpr407-06.html&cc=unused1978&rc=1194&ndi=1)
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
PR- 407-06
November 20, 2006

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today unveiled the master plan for the South Bronx Greenway, a key component of the Hunts Point Vision Plan that will vastly improve access to the waterfront, provide much-needed recreational opportunities, improve transportation safety and greatly enhance the network of bike and pedestrian paths on the South Bronx peninsula. The City will begin the implementation of the Greenway plan with four short-term projects and additional improvements that will create 1.5 acres of publicly accessible open space and 2.3 miles of green streets. When it’s completed, the South Bronx Greenway will encompass 1.5 miles of new waterfront greenway, 8.5 miles of new green streets, and nearly 12 acres of new waterfront open space ...

“The Hunts Point Peninsula is a vibrant commercial and residential area, but its residents have been blocked off from the waterfront for far too long,” said Mayor Bloomberg. “By creating access to the waterfront with bike and pedestrian paths, new open space for recreational opportunities and green streets throughout the peninsula, we can improve the quality of life for today’s residents and future generations. An initiative as pioneering as the South Bronx Greenway demonstrates how much can be achieved when the City, State and Federal governments work closely with local community groups to identify needs and address them” ...

lofter1

November 21st, 2006, 11:45 AM

SOUTH BRONX GREENWAY

http://www.ssbx.org/greenway.html

South Bronx residents have struggled for years with very little open space and even less access to the waterfront due to the insensitive city planning.

The South Bronx Greenway Project (SBG) is a community led plan for a bicycle/pedestrian greenway along the South Bronx waterfront, which will provide much needed open space, waterfront access and opportunities for mixed used economic development within the South Bronx.

SSB’s executive director Majora Carter wrote a $1.25 M federal transportation planning grant to conduct a feasibility study for the Greenway. With NYC Economic Development Corporation as the government sponsor, SSB and The Point as the community partners, and the skills of the renowned landscape architects, Mathews Nielsen, the greenway was designed. The study provided a unique opportunity for our community to impact design and policy. To date there has been almost $30 million secured for the greenway and greenway related projects.

http://www.ssbx.org/images/projects/greenway_map_large.jpg

The South Bronx Greenway will create bike & pedestrian paths around the Hunts Point and Port Morris waterfront, as well as include on-street connections. Various points along the Greenway will include: Hunts Point Riverside Park, the Bazzini Piers, Tiffany St. Pier, and Barretto Point Park, and a potential connection to Randall's Island ...

..................TODAY........................... ................................ TOMORROW

http://www.ssbx.org/images/projects/railway_now.jpghttp://www.ssbx.org/images/projects/railway_a.jpg

http://www.ssbx.org/images/projects/lafayette_b.jpghttp://www.ssbx.org/images/projects/lafayette_a.jpg

http://www.ssbx.org/images/projects/greenway_2.jpghttp://www.ssbx.org/images/projects/greenway_1.jpg

Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects as the lead consultants has collected background information on land ownership and site conditions, and conducted surveys and interviews with property and business owners. The City recently approved over $10 million to be designated for the Greenway as part of the work of the Hunts Point Task Force, bringing the total of funding for greenway-related projects in the South Bronx to $28.5M over the next few years. SSB looks forward to completing the study and moving into the construction phases of the project.

Potential first phase projects will include intensive streetscape and bicycle path improvements on Hunts Point Avenue and Lafayette Avenue, two major thoroughfares in Hunts Point; a bridge connecting Randall’s Island and Port Morris under the Hell Gate span; or a new waterfront park adjacent to the new Fulton Fish Market in Hunts Point.

Copyright 2003-2006 Sustainable South Bronx

antinimby

December 27th, 2006, 09:42 PM

Temporary Roadway for Cars May Be Transformed Into Permanent Refuge From Them

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/26/nyregion/26park.1.600.jpg
Looking south near the F. D. R. Drive at the outboard detour. It may be used for pedestrian and bicycle paths.

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: December 26, 2006 (http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/26/nyregion/26park.html)

A temporary detour route on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive that extends 25 feet over the East River would be remodeled into a waterfront park under a plan being studied by the Bloomberg administration.

The Outboard Detour Roadway, completed in 2004 from roughly 54th to 63rd Street while that section of the drive was being refurbished, had been scheduled to be dismantled last month. Now, though, city officials are pressing to use the abandoned 2,500-foot strip of roadway to extend the esplanade around Manhattan to a portion of waterfront currently inaccessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2006/12/26/nyregion/26park.map.jpg
Large ships passing beside the
detour are required to use tugboats.

The plan, in its very early stages, calls for demolishing all but the roadway’s westernmost underwater support beams and building a new structure that would not extend as far over the river.

The new park would probably be at most 20 feet wide, city officials said, enough room for bicycle lanes and a narrow pedestrian walkway. Advocates say the result would be akin to the High Line park being developed out of an abandoned elevated railway line on the West Side, although it would be much smaller, and over water.

“It is on the water, it is already built, and we would like to have a nice bikeway, a nice walkway that would connect to the rest of the esplanade,” said Lyle Frank, chairman of the local community board. “This is a tremendous opportunity to do it.”

The plan faces substantial obstacles. The Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers have expressed concern that the design would interfere with shipping traffic, and the State Department of Environmental Conservation has voiced fears that the park would disturb fish habitats because of the permanent shadow it would cast on the water.

“It’s something we are very interested in, but a lot more work has to be done to make sure it is feasible,” said Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development. “We’re trying to find as many creative ways as we can to give people access to the waterfront.”

The Bloomberg administration has made it a priority to complete an uninterrupted greenway around the waterfront of the five boroughs, particularly in Manhattan. While there is generally contiguous riverfront access along the West Side except for a stretch from approximately 81st to 91st Street, there are several significant gaps on the East River esplanade. Among them are the Consolidated Edison site from 34th to 41st Street and the United Nations headquarters at 42nd Street.

The site of the proposed park also lacks waterfront access because the F. D. R. Drive extends to the river there.

When a plan to refurbish the drive was proposed in the 1990s, some residents of the adjacent neighborhood worried that vehicles seeking to avoid highway delays would clog its streets, creating noise and safety problems.

Because the drive, which carries about 150,000 vehicles daily, is among the city’s busiest arteries, state and city officials ruled out closing a heavily used section of the highway for several years of repairs or even blocking off a few lanes at a time for weekend and night work.

Instead, the Outboard Detour Roadway was designed. The detour, which cost $139 million in federal money, is essentially a bridge built parallel to the existing F.D.R. Drive. The section from 53rd to 60th Street alone, which is entirely over the river, cost about $40 million to construct.

Because the detour extended so far over the river — which at that point is particularly turbulent and only about 800 feet wide — engineers had to figure out how to ensure that the 2,100 vessels a year that pass through that stretch of water would not strike the roadway.

So they designed a system of floating guardrails held in place by four anchors drilled into the bottom of the river, some as deep as 120 feet below the surface.

The anchors are secured to one another by a heavy chain with links that weigh more than 150 pounds each. They keep the system in place during changing tides and currents, which moved water levels up and down by as much as six feet a day during construction. For the last two years, even with that safeguard in place, large ships have been required to have tugboats help them navigate that stretch of river.

When the detour was completed in 2004, it won engineering awards for its innovation.

Now, even as sections of the detour are being dismantled to allow ship traffic unimpeded access in the river, advocates for a new esplanade are wondering whether spending the estimated $50 million it would cost to build a base for a park would make sense.

“We have to decide if the structure is worth the cost,” Mr. Doctoroff said. “It is too early to give odds, but if I could give odds — outside of cost — based only on our desire, they’d be pretty high.”

“But,” he added, “desire is not the only factor involved.”

Copyright 2006 The New York Times Company

lofter1

January 26th, 2007, 10:41 AM

City balking on rec field for East River’s Pier 15

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_194/jump.gif
Downtown Express file photo by Elisabeth Robert
The city’s plan for the East River waterfront, seen here last fall,
includes commercial space on a rebuilt Pier 15 near Maiden Lane.
Officials told Community Board 1 last week that as of now, they
would not add a field to the pier plan, but that a field might be
included later in the design process.

downtownexpress.com (http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_194/citybalking.html)
By Skye H. McFarlane
Volume 19 Issue 37
January 26 - February 1, 2007

Ordinarily, it’s a good sign when a preview leaves the audience hungry for more. Unfortunately, the city’s preview of its latest plan for the East River waterfront left an audience of community members demanding more information and greater assurances that recreational space will not be sacrificed for commercial interests.

“Once you invite the community to have input, we jump right in,” C.B. 1 Waterfront Committee chairperson Julie Nadel told the harried team of city representatives after the Jan. 23 meeting. “Don’t look so tired.”

Though the substance of the city’s plan for the waterfront park, which will stretch from the Battery up to the entrance of East River Park, has not changed, the board expressed concern over the Economic Development Corporation’s upcoming request to “dispose” of 6,000 square feet of space on Pier 15.

The disposition, as it is technically called, would allow the city to lease space on the pier to a commercial tenant — possibly a retailer or a concessions vendor. Under current zoning, the commercial building could be 30 feet high with a setback up to 40 feet. If the request is approved through the city’s Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, the city could put the 6,000 square feet of commercial space anywhere within a 21,500 square foot “envelope” on the pier.

The city is asking for seven such envelopes throughout the park, most of which would be located in pavilions under the F.D.R. Drive.

The E.D.C. added that the city may ask for more dispositions in the future, prompting committee member Joe Lerner to retort, “You mean that if it makes you money, you’ll come back for more land.”

The commercial leases would bring in revenue to support the maintenance of the park, but some committee members fear that economic interests will trump community needs. In particular, residents are eager for more active recreation space on the east side of the island. Many would like to see a small playing field on the reconstructed Pier 15, which will sit at the end of Maiden Lane. Similar pier-top fields exist in the Greenwich Village section of Hudson River Park and another one will be constructed on the new Pier 25 in Tribeca.

Committee members worried aloud that the commercial space on the pier might squeeze out the soccer players and that board support for the disposition now might lock the community into an unfavorable design later.

“If we approve this, what’s to say that you won’t come back later and say, ‘Look, you already approved this as commercial space,’” George Olsen asked the city team. “After the ULURP, we have no power.”

Although Chris Sharples of SHoP Architects said that the firm, which is designing the park, would be happy to insert a playing field into its working project model, the E.D.C. representatives said that those types of decisions would have to wait until the next design phase. The city reps assured the board that the upcoming land use request would give the city the right, but not the obligation, to use the pier space for commercial leasing. They also said the community will have input during the 2007 design process, which will take the park’s current conceptual design and turn it into a detailed space-by-space layout in time for the start of construction in mid-2008. The park planners added that some commercial uses, such as a concession stand, might enhance active recreation on the pier.

“There’s still plenty of time before we enter into final arrangements or leases with anyone,” said William Kelly, E.D.C. special projects director.

Despite the assurances, the committee decided to hold a special meeting to discuss the details of the ULURP application with the board’s newly hired land use expert, City Planning veteran Mike Levine. C.B.1 and other members of the public will have 60 days to comment once the city submits its application on Feb. 26. The board will get a formal presentation of the plan in March.

The committee also asked the city for the complete data of a recent economic study, which examined the pros and cons of different management structures for the park. The city hopes to pick a management agency by fall 2007, but it must first decide whether to turn the park over to a public agency such as the E.D.C., an existing non-profit such as the Downtown Alliance, or a new non-profit created just for the East River Waterfront, similar to the Battery Park City Parks Conservancy.

© 2006 Community Media, LLC

212

June 9th, 2007, 07:08 PM

Originally posted in the Con Ed and U.N. renovation threads, but I figured it'd work here, too.

Six Architects To Compete For East River Esplanade Design Rights

By ANNIE KARNI
Special to the Sun
June 5, 2007

As the city mulls an expansion of the United Nations campus onto city park space and the state moves forward with plans to rebuild the Midtown segment of the FDR Drive next door, elected officials and community members are seizing the opportunity to open up access to the East River with a new waterfront esplanade.

Six prominent landscape architects, including the architect of the High Line, the architect of the Museum of Modern Art roof garden, and the architect of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, will participate in a design competition on Friday to create a sweeping vision for a waterfront park that would stretch to 63rd Street from 34th Street along the East River.

The proposed 35-story U.N. office tower would be built on the current site of the 1.3-acre Robert Moses Playground. The loss of parkland would require the creation of more open space nearby, and officials have said a new waterfront esplanade would be an appropriate trade. A new tower would require approval by the state Legislature, and the esplanade would require approval from the developer of the former Consolidated Edison power plant site just south of the United Nations, Sheldon Solow, who owns the land. Officials from the state's Department of Transportation and from the city's parks department, as well as representatives from Mr. Solow's office, are expected to meet on Friday for a briefing on the proposed waterfront esplanade.

The 12-hour design competition is being sponsored by elected officials who represent the Upper East Side, including Assemblymen Jonathan Bing and Brian Kavanagh, state Senators Liz Krueger and Thomas Duane, and numerous civic groups. The winning design is expected to be unveiled to the public on Sunday and would serve as a makeshift blueprint for future construction.

State support for the city's plan to expand the U.N. campus has been hard to come by. "I don't believe the Senate's there," a state senator of Brooklyn, Martin Golden, said in an interview. "One would have thought the city would have moved on at this point. The U.N. doesn't curry favor with us. They are a useless group that is at best anti-American."

© 2007 The New York Sun, One SL, LLC. (http://www.nysun.com/article/55880)

MidtownGuy

June 10th, 2007, 02:28 PM

The U.N. doesn't curry favor with us. They are a useless group that is at best anti-American

at least, when being "pro-American" is anti-world.:rolleyes:

pianoman11686

June 14th, 2007, 11:12 AM

Planned Parks May Cost City Too Much, Group Warns

By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
Published: June 14, 2007

In a city with few backyards, everyone loves a park — but not many people consider who is going to pay for all that grass.

New York City is in the midst of one of the most ambitious expansions of its park system in history, but a report by the Regional Plan Association, scheduled to be released today, questions whether the city and state will be able to maintain all the new green space.

The report by the independent planning group said the cost of operating some 55 miles of planned waterfront parks alone would be $100 million annually — almost one-third of the park department’s $355 million budget. The city has not yet estimated its operational costs for the parks.

The 700 acres of parks analyzed by the group include Hudson River Park and Riverside Park South along the Hudson River in Manhattan, and parks in various stages of planning or development, including Brooklyn Bridge Park, the South Bronx Greenway, the Harlem Piers and a string of parks for the Brooklyn waterfront from Greenpoint to Sunset Park.

Waterfront parks are typically more expensive to build and to maintain because of the costs of underwater construction on piers and the parks’ proximity to salt air, which causes material, particularly wooden benches and piers, to deteriorate more quickly.

The report comes a few weeks after Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg announced an initiative that includes the goal of creating enough green space so that by 2030, every New Yorker lives within a 10-minute walk of a park.

Adrian Benepe, the city parks commissioner, said yesterday that for the past several years the city had been projecting potential maintenance costs and had sought financing before opening new parks.

“The report represents a legitimate concern, and it’s exactly the right thing for them to worry about, but the sea change we’ve seen in this administration is that when we’ve created new parks we’ve had extra staff allocated to maintain the parks,” Mr. Benepe said.

In recent years, as parkland has replaced abandoned or underused manufacturing and shipping facilities along the Hudson, Harlem and East Rivers, the state and city have turned to nontraditional methods to pay to operate the new parks.

For instance, Hudson River Park, which is about half completed, is paid for in part with revenue from a parking garage on Pier 40.

Riverside Park South receives financing as part of a fee paid by neighboring homeowners, and Brooklyn Bridge Park, where construction is to start later this year, is to be financed by developers of apartment units that will be built on the park’s edge.

In the past, with a few exceptions — including Bryant Park and Battery Park City, where businesses and residents respectively, pay a park maintenance fee — the city and state have paid for and maintained parks directly.

“Today’s new parks seem, if not to be required to pay for themselves, to at least have some associated revenue stream,” the report said. “Based on the average costs of currently operating and future city and state parks, new waterfront parks will require around $135,000 an acre each year for management, maintenance, security and creative programming.”

The report criticized some of the new arrangements, particularly financing formulas that may allow wealthier neighborhoods to have better maintained parks than poor areas, and parks where operations and maintenance have been left to developers.

“Our sense is that this model has not been a recipe for success,” said Robert Pirani, director of environmental programs at the Regional Plan Association.

The association’s report will be available to the public at www.rpa.org.

Copyright 2007 The New York Times Company (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/06/14/nyregion/14parks.html)

brianac

November 3rd, 2007, 07:03 AM

CB1 Sees Latest Waterfront Concept
By Nick Pinto
POSTED NOVEMBER 2, 2007
http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov07/EastRiverEsplanade.jpg
http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov07/captions/ERWaterfrontEsplanadeCaption%20copy.gifArchitects for the city revealed their most detailed plans yet for remaking virtually every aspect of the East River Waterfront.
Gregg Pasquarelli, a partner in SHoP Architects, presented to Community Board 1 the firm’s latest visual concepts for a lively promenade, a new Pier 15 dedicated to recreation and easy access to the waterfront.
The plan eliminates one of the major obstacles to pedestrians trying to reach the waterfront. South Street, running beneath the FDR Drive, is nearly twice as wide in some places as the standard New York City street and lacks curbs, well-delineated bike lanes, or sidewalks in many areas. The street would be narrowed, with more crosswalks, freeing up space for the esplanade, which will include planted areas, several kinds of seating, and at least 20 feet of uninterrupted pedestrian walkway at the water’s edge.
http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov07/EastRiverNight.jpg
http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov07/captions/ERWaterfrontNightCaption%20copy.gifFor much of Lower Manhattan’s East River waterfront—the stretch between Pier 11, near Wall Street, and the Brooklyn Bridge—pedestrians will take a path over the river, on a 58-foot-wide walkway that hangs above the water.
“This is going to be a destination in its own right,” Pasquarelli said.
Interspersed along the esplanade would be a series of glassed-in pavilions under the highway with garage-style doors that pull up to form an awning at their front entrances, perhaps equipped with acoustic baffles to shield visitors from the noise of the FDR Drive. Ranging from 1,500 to 8,000 square feet, the pavilions could house a range of uses, including flower markets, cafes, daycare centers and dance studios.
http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov07/EastRiverPier1.jpg
http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov07/captions/ERWaterPierCloseCaption%20copy.gifUnlike the current walkway, the new esplanade would be well-lit, but with soft, indirect illumination to preserve night-time river views. Some lights would be bounced off the elevated FDR, while others—possibly programmable LED arrays—would be installed in the railing at the water’s edge.
Pedestrians from Battery Park trying to get to the East River waterfront now face a daunting passage in front of the Battery Maritime Building, where the FDR emerges from its tunnel and the sidewalk narrows to barely over a foot wide. The plan calls for the creation of a pedestrian plaza in front of the building, making space by moving the tunnel entrance 350 feet to the northeast. Pasquarelli conceded that this part of the project isn’t expected to get underway anytime soon, however.
“It takes a lot of money and planning to move a highway tunnel,” he said.
The reconstruction of the decrepit Pier 15 is a centerpiece of the waterfront plan. The new pier would rest on more widely spaced pylons—a more hospitable environment for underwater life. The architects’ vision consists of an elevated park, complete with lawns and shrubs, connected by long ramps to the lower level pier, which is slated for maritime use by the South Street Seaport Museum.
Community Board members responded positively to the presentation.
“This is one of the most breathtaking public works projects in the world,” said board member Bruce Ehrmann.
But not everyone was pleased with the designs. More than a dozen boating enthusiasts crammed into the small meeting room to voice their displeasure at the plan, which they said offers little to boaters.
“This doesn’t work from a boating point of view,” said Carolina Salguero, the director of Portside New York, an advocacy group fighting for more boating opportunities on the city’s waterfront.
http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov07/EastRiverPier2.jpg
http://www.tribecatrib.com/photos/news/nov07/captions/ERWPierWideCaption%20copy.gifIn particular, the boating advocates said they want Pier 15 to be a true working pier, with access for all sizes of private boats to tie up. William Kelley of the city’s Economic Development Corporation, the agency overseeing the East River Waterfront Project, noted that the South Street Seaport Museum holds the lease on the pier, so it is more likely to be used to showcase the museum’s collection of old ships.
South Street Seaport Director Mary Pelzer said the new Pier 15 will celebrate the city’s maritime past.
“This is a great opportunity for the museum to reprogram our fleet and let people see more of our historic ships,” she said.
Advocates for an active waterfront remained unimpressed, however.
Lee Gruzen, the co-chair of Seaport Speaks, a group advising planners on the area’s redevelopment, said she too was disappointed by the plan.
“I was hoping to see something here that I can’t do anywhere else in New York,” Gruzen said. “Instead, this plan makes us couch potatoes.”

MidtownGuy

November 3rd, 2007, 12:58 PM

This is long overdue.
I'm excited by the plans for the area under the FDR drive. The lighting scheme sounds very intriguing, and I imagine at night it will look breathtaking from Brooklyn, a ribbon of lights reflecting on the water.

NYatKNIGHT

March 11th, 2008, 03:06 PM

Doubles team serves up new idea for old tennis pier

Downtown Express (http://www.downtownexpress.com)
MARCH 7 -- 13, 2008

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_253/pier.gifhttp://www.downtownexpress.com/de_253/pier1.gif

A landscape architect and sculptor have proposed rebuilding Pier 13 with a boardwalk and 80-foot replica of the Brooklyn Bridge, left, and an aquarium right.

A new proposal for Pier 13 would bring whimsy, art and education to the East River waterfront.

Al Landzberg, a sculptor, and Anthony Walmsley, a landscape architect, joined forces to design what they see as Downtown’s new icon.

“Our goal is a very simple one: To provide the public with direct access to the waters of Manhattan,” said Landzberg, whose group is called Rivers Alive. “Manhattan is totally surrounded by water, but you can’t get near it.”

On the proposed Pier 13, people wouldn’t just be able to get near the water — they’d be able to get in it. A wet boardwalk near Wall St. would flood at high tide, allowing visitors to wade down the pier in knee-deep water. Those who prefer to keep their shoes on could stay on the dry boardwalk, which would be separated from the wet one by a long aquarium filled with fish native to New York Harbor. If visitors had questions about the fish or the pier’s history, they could head to glass-enclosed computer kiosks for answers.

The pier’s artistic features are just as imaginative. Sweeping cables reminiscent of the Brooklyn Bridge would hang above the pier, tethered to 80-foot-tall towers. A twisting sculpture at the end of the pier would soar 100 feet tall to symbolize the Manhattan skyline.

Landzberg and Walmsley presented their vision to Community Board 1 last month and received the board’s approval. The tougher road to approval lies ahead: The pair will need support from a host of agencies. They estimate they’ll need about $25 million to build their plan, based on bids they collected from contractors.

Landzberg has been working on waterfront ideas for several years and decided to focus on the East River because the city is planning an overhaul there with $150 million in Lower Manhattan Development Corp. money, though the city has no plans for Pier 13 or Pier 14, which were last used for indoor tennis courts and were left out of the plans because of a budget shortfall. Once a major freight shipping center, Pier 13 was demolished last fall. The Rivers Alive plan would rebuild it from scratch.

“Our hope is to create an icon of the city,” Landzberg said, “something that speaks to the city, that echoes the city and tells people to come to the waterfront.”

—Julie Shapiro

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_253/doublesteamservesup.html

brianac

April 9th, 2008, 09:24 AM

See posting here,

http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showpost.php?p=224547&postcount=96

Derek2k3

February 10th, 2009, 01:44 AM

On the improved waterfront: City floats less-restrictive development rules

BY Lisa L. Colangelo
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER

Monday, February 9th 2009, 12:39 AM

Barren and remote waterfront areas in Queens could become lively parks, cafés and playgrounds under new regulations being proposed by city planners.

The new Waterfront Text Amendment, which is being reviewed by Queens community leaders, would allow developers who build along waterfront areas to provide more lush promenades, better seating and improved lighting.

Advocates are hailing it as a "quantum leap forward" for waterfront access and usage.

"We have this incredible waterfront," said City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden. "These new regulations will help make these spaces more inviting, more beautiful and more fun."

The new rules could have a big impact on formerly industrial and commercial sections of Long Island City and Flushing that are attracting large residential developments.

City planners are set to explain the new rules to members of the Queens Borough Board Monday night.

For the past 15 years, developers who have built certain structures along the waterfront have been required to provide access areas. But those regulations forced them to follow a series of rigid guidelines.

In some cases, the results have been waterfront areas that are tough to get to and have little to offer.

Under the new regulations, developers would have more flexibility. They would even be allowed to open cafes and boat launches.

Burden said she envisions tree-lined streets that draw people to the water.

"We want to make sure a lot of people use the waterfront," she said. "Having more people there will also make the area safer."

Roland Lewis, president of the Metropolitan Waterfront Alliance, a group dedicated to making the waterfront more accessible, called the plan "a quantum leap forward."

"It's needed to improve our waterfront," he said. "Now we have very straightforward and nonflexible zoning."

Lewis would like the new regulations to go a step further and require developers to build bollards to anchor boats and barges.

"These can be used for recreation and emergencies," he said. "It's amazing how few places there are to moor a boat along the waterfront in the city."

The plan needs final approval by the City Council.

lcolangelo@nydailynews.com

ZippyTheChimp

March 21st, 2009, 02:31 AM

03.19.2009

Ship Shape

SHoP's new East River pier gets LPC go-ahead

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/image/img1422.jpg

On Tuesday, Gregg Pasquarelli and his partners at SHoP Architects moved ahead on a much-anticipated project when New York's Landmarks Preservation Commission voted 7-1 in favor of a new pier and promenade for the South Street Seaport district, part of the firm’s larger East River Esplanade (http://www.archpaper.com/e-board_rev.asp?News_ID=206). It was the last major regulatory hurdle for the project, a portion of which began construction last fall near Wall Street.

It’s been rough sailing for the SHoP crew of late, given the firm's struggles with the commission over its plans for a mixed-use project at the adjacent Pier 17. That design was rejected as out-of-touch with the district's maritime history, but for Pier 15, the commissioners largely agreed with Pasquarelli, who emphasized its antecedents in the multistory working and recreational piers that once lined the New York waterfront.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/img1452.jpg

The pier, with boats docked alongside, as seen from the promenade.
All images courtesy LPC

“While I don’t agree with every detail of this, I think the overall approach is an appropriate, 21st-century interpretation of its historic forebears,” commission chair Robert Tierney said. Some of his colleagues even argued that it was not so much the design as the reactivation of the waterfront that was the project’s focal point—the return of New Yorkers to the shore.

“The most important preservation part of this effort is pulling people to the pier, pulling them underneath the FDR and to the water,” commissioner Margery Perlmutter said. “Whatever you have to do to achieve that is appropriate.”

The plans for Pier 15 have not changed much since they were unveiled in November 2007. The major components remain a new pier constructed upon the site of one that collapsed decades ago—a sign of just how far the waterfront had fallen in the city. On the main level, there will be fendering and bollards for the Seaport Museum's historic ships to dock, as well as a small boat launch and a maritime-themed pavilion, all of which were major demands from the maritime community.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/img1472.jpg
SHoP used examples of historic two-story piers, many of them
built for similar recreational purposes, as precedents for its design.

Local residents had called for ample open space, which SHoP delivered by adding a second level to the pier, a feature the firm found was once very common on the waterfront and which helped win support for the idea from the commissioners, who especially admired the use of a hull-like wooden shape for the base of the second level.

What did not impress them was the inclusion of three grass plots atop the pier. “The green space is not within the historic character of the district,” vice-chair Pablo Vengoechea said. “There was once a green edge on the water, but it is long gone, especially within the seaport.”

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/img1442.jpg
Neighborhood groups applauded the project's upper-level plots of grass,
but commissioners deemed such green spaces anachronistic.

Preservation groups remain divided by the project. “The architects have done a good job of balancing the many different viewpoints of what the East River waterfront landscape should be, and we believe this pier design should be approved by the LPC,” Melissa Baldock, a fellow at the Municipal Art Society, told the commission. But Nadezhda Williams, preservation associate at the Historic Districts Council, disagreed. “HDC supports the rebuilding of a pier originally in the district and lost," she said. "We strenuously object, however, to the gussying up of a pier with a structure designed for leisure in a district defined by its working history.”

That working history, however, is so far gone from Lower Manhattan that the commission seemed eager to leave it in the past. “Although it is not a recreation of a historic pier, it is a modern interpretation that serves the needs of the community,” said commissioner Diana Chapin. And that, her colleagues agreed, was appropriate enough.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/img1462.jpg
A drawing shows the multilayered nature of the pier.

Copyright © 2003-2008 | The Architect's Newspaper, LLC.

Derek2k3

May 1st, 2009, 11:54 PM

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3637/3493163812_6ed74d9171_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3315/3492347825_952679f369_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3416/3493165884_a2d53a2395_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3552/3493163818_5ddf452ebf_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3406/3493163808_b858d3eeaa_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3593/3493163784_fda89fbcdb_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3202/3493163766_ceee4b14cb_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3556/3493163760_2216faffd7_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3569/3493165888_11d3f94fb1_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3623/3493165896_722d6c05b9_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3545/3493165898_3a4662098e_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3660/3493165900_743730edc2_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3312/3493165902_a8d69b9be0_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3492347801_65ee36b9a2_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3557/3492347799_785e699e5d_o.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3393/3492347809_eb26e06d8d_o.jpg

ramvid01

May 2nd, 2009, 02:17 AM

Is this upper Manhattan facing Jersey?

And whats the deal with the abandoned looking waterfront walkway with all the weeds growing through the pavers?

Thanks for the pics btw.

ablarc

May 2nd, 2009, 09:55 AM

Neglect? Difficult access? Not much demand?

Could it use a cafe?

Derek2k3

May 2nd, 2009, 11:17 AM

There was a working marina, cafe, dance floor, and a marine science center. They were in the process of overhauling that but the developer ran out of funding. The pier is still heavily used though.

http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_your_park/historical_signs/hs_historical_sign.php?id=11989

...Years of abandonment followed. Land including the Marina was assigned to Parks in 1966. In an arrangement with Parks, the Dyckman Marine Venture made plans in 1987 to develop the marina, construct a pier, and open up a restaurant on the site. Parks agreed to let them use the land rent free in exchange for their investment. A federal grant funded the $420,000 pier. Within two years, the operators had completely overhauled the marina. With its brand new docks and fishing pier, the marina now thrives. Permanent bathrooms are now available. The foot of Dyckman Street was added to the park in 1995, further increasing the use of this section of waterfront park. The marina also features Tubby Hook Café and Bar, a full service café with lovely sunset views overlooking the Hudson, and the George Washington Bridge glistening to the south. Tubby Hook Café has become a popular live music venue, specializing in Latin American Rock performances.

Saturday, Nov 17, 2001

antinimby

May 2nd, 2009, 11:30 AM

Closest thing to a beach in Manhattan.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3345/3492347801_65ee36b9a2_o.jpg

ramvid01

May 2nd, 2009, 04:55 PM

^^ So true.

Ablarc I think the argument that there is not enough demand would be hard to prove, being that this is waterfront located in some of the densest areas of the country. And parkland in Manhattan is at a premium.

I guess that walkway i mentioned was probably from the previously mentioned ferry terminal. Thanks for that article btw.

ablarc

May 2nd, 2009, 10:51 PM

There was a working marina, cafe, dance floor, and a marine science center. They were in the process of overhauling that but the developer ran out of funding.
When? Recently?

Derek2k3

May 2nd, 2009, 11:27 PM

Yes, about a year or 2 ago.

http://www.nytimes.com/1995/07/07/nyregion/oasis-appears-dyckman-street-boat-bum-who-reads-fine-print-building-pier-marina.html

Merry

August 21st, 2009, 07:33 AM

Pier work begins on East River waterfront

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_330/er.gif
Rendering of the new design for Pier 35 near Clinton St.

A new waterfront park that is meant to do for the East Side what Hudson River Park did for the West Side broke ground at a ceremony Tuesday morning.

With swiveling cranes in the background, Mayor Michael Bloomberg said the timing could not be better to start construction of the East River Waterfront, a project he promised to build four years ago. The $150 million park, funded mostly by the Lower Manhattan Development Corp., will create about 400 construction jobs during the recession, Bloomberg said.

Bloomberg stood alongside the governor, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Borough President Scott Stringer and State Sen. Daniel Squadron to describe the first phase of the project, which will stretch 2 miles from the Battery Maritime Building up to Pier 35, connecting the West Side greenway to East River Park. That work is slated to finish in 2011.

The award-winning design by SHoP Architects includes retail and community-use pavilions under the elevated F.D.R. Dr.; amphitheater steps descending toward the water; wider paths for cyclists and pedestrians; and bar-stool seating along a rebuilt esplanade.

The East River Waterfront will be “as innovative and exciting as the High Line,” City Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden said.

A second phase, which does not yet have funding or a timeline, would convert Pier 42 to public use with an urban beach and would create a plaza in front of the Battery Maritime Building.

At the groundbreaking, the mayor highlighted plans for a new double-decker Pier 15, whose concrete piles are already rising from the East River. The pier will include a marine education center, concessions and space to dock boats on the lower level, and an open lawn and plantings on the upper level.

The city also unveiled new plans for Pier 35, at Rutgers Slip, which will become an “eco pier” featuring flora and fauna native to the East River shoreline.

The mayor first mentioned the possibility of improving the East River waterfront in 2002. Part of the reason the East River Waterfront project it took so long to get off the ground was because of the many permits required, Deputy Mayor Robert Lieber said. The project also underwent an extensive public review, with more than 70 community meetings.

Borough President Stringer thanked Bloomberg for consulting Community Boards 1 and 3 so extensively.

“You’ve done something I didn’t think was possible,” Stringer said to the mayor. “I think you’ve tired them out.”

http://www.downtownexpress.com/de_330/pierwork.html

ZippyTheChimp

October 1st, 2009, 12:40 PM

Two weeks ago.

Began drilling caissons along the bulkhead at the Battery Maritime Building. Area from Pier 13 to the Seaport is fenced off. Piles for the new pier.

http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/325/eastriverwaterfronnt01c.th.jpg (http://img525.imageshack.us/i/eastriverwaterfronnt01c.jpg/) http://img525.imageshack.us/img525/401/eastriverwaterfronnt02c.th.jpg (http://img525.imageshack.us/i/eastriverwaterfronnt02c.jpg/) http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/7564/eastriverwaterfronnt03c.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/i/eastriverwaterfronnt03c.jpg/) http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/323/eastriverwaterfronnt04c.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/i/eastriverwaterfronnt04c.jpg/)

Yesterday

http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/1158/eastriverwaterfronnt05c.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/i/eastriverwaterfronnt05c.jpg/) http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/417/eastriverwaterfronnt06c.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/i/eastriverwaterfronnt06c.jpg/) http://img242.imageshack.us/img242/189/eastriverwaterfronnt07c.th.jpg (http://img242.imageshack.us/i/eastriverwaterfronnt07c.jpg/)

infoshare

October 17th, 2009, 05:38 PM

Photos taken this Friday evening: at about west 25th street on the Hudson River Waterfront. This was about two blocks away from the recent Wiredny meetup event. (http://wirednewyork.com/forum/showthread.php?t=21414)

BTW - What that chair doing way up there! (third photo)

http://img15.imageshack.us/img15/1549/dscn0077u.jpg (http://img15.imageshack.us/i/dscn0077u.jpg/)

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/8/dscn0078b.th.jpg (http://img291.imageshack.us/i/dscn0078b.jpg/)

http://img42.imageshack.us/img42/4236/dscn0079v.th.jpg (http://img42.imageshack.us/i/dscn0079v.jpg/)

Merry

October 20th, 2009, 07:23 AM

Fighting Waterfront Gentrification With Colorful Renderings!

October 19, 2009, by Joey

http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2487/4026349308_055aef2505_o.png

http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2487/4026349308_e6726ec4fc_s.jpg (http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2487/4026349308_055aef2505_o.png) http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2459/4026349370_ab852249ca_s.jpg (http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2459/4026349370_0bcab68842_o.png) http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2567/4025596265_249b17053e_s.jpg (http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2567/4025596265_d37b7150e5_o.png) http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2795/4026349432_63ea693edf_s.jpg (http://cdn3.curbednetwork.com/cache/gallery/2795/4026349432_a0af9ea435_o.png)
(click thumbnails to enlarge)

With the ongoing expansion and overall awesomeness of Hudson River Park, the East River waterfront has become more and more of an unsightly embarrassment. Total. Amateur. Hour. But all that is set to change, of course, with the long-promised and now actually happening(!) (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/08/18/fidichinatownles_waterfront_ready_for_its_makeover .php) remake of over two miles of pavement and piers crawling up the Manhattan coast from Battery Park to the Lower East Side. Celebrate good times, c'mon! But not everyone is pumped for the city's plan. Nay, over the weekend a group of nine community organizations calling themselves the OUR Waterfront Coalition held a press conference (http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2009/10/valasquez-community-groups-press-city-to-revise-waterfront-plan.html) to unveil their "People's Plan for the East River Waterfront," the results of a long "visioning process" that included town hall meetings and surveys of hundreds of Chinatown/LES residents. What's their beef?

The coalition argues that the city's Economic Development Corporation has "not sufficiently included community input in their plan," and that the northernmost section of the East River Waterfront reboot—the strip of piers and sheds just north of the Manhattan Bridge—"has the potential to exacerbate gentrification of the Lower East Side and Chinatown."

That's a no-no in their book, and so the "People's Plan" includes recommendations from the group on how the "development can better meet the needs of current residents," basically by adding more low-cost recreational space and social services on the waterfront.

What really has the locals riled up is the impending construction of the new Basketball City on Pier 36, a for-profit athletic facility that is leasing the property from the city. The OUR Waterfront Coalition opposes Basketball City, but realizing that they're not likely to stop it, they designed two versions of the "People's Plan"—one with Dunksville (that's what we would've named Basketball City, fwiw) and one without. Check out the people's will in the photo gallery above.

FiDi/Chinatown/LES Waterfront Ready For Its Makeover (http://curbed.com/archives/2009/08/18/fidichinatownles_waterfront_ready_for_its_makeover .php) [Curbed]

http://curbed.com/archives/2009/10/19/fighting_waterfront_gentrification_with_colorful_r enderings.php

Valazquez, Community Groups Press City to Revise Waterfront Plan

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YY1QCrWDnKs&feature=player_embedded

Community groups fighting to influence the city's plans for the East River waterfront have a new ally: Representative Nydia Valazquez. This weekend, she vowed to take their concerns to city officials, "fighting every step of the way," and to seek additional federal funding for the project. Valazquez made her remarks at a press conference to release the results of a comprehensive survey and a detailed alternative plan to the city's blueprint.
The groups, led by the Urban Justice Center, focused on the NYC Economic Development Corporation's proposals to rehabilitate Piers 35, 36 and 42.

The coalition, "Organizing and United Residents" say the plans are "not responsive to the needs of the surrounding community and did not include any mechanisms for community input or participation." Noting that the median income in Community Board 3 (which includes the Lower East Side and Chinatown) is scarcely over $32-thousand, the report said, these "two neighborhoods... have gentrified rapidly in the last decade, and the EDC’s plan (has) the potential to increase the pace of gentrification."

http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a64c3651970c-500pi (http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a64c3651970c-pi)

The City's rendering of the Pier 35 restoration

In August, we reported (http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2009/08/wednesday-news-links-1.html) on the city's plans to renovate Pier 35 at Rutgers Slip "to provide much-needed landscaped space along the waterfront" and to construct "an innovative habitat restoration park, which will recreate the native plants and wildlife of the East River." We have also been following (http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2009/07/community-resumes-battle-for-access-to-pier-36.html) the community's struggle for access to Pier 36, which will soon be the home of a private facility, Basketball City. In their report, the groups continue to put pressure on Basketball City for discounted fees and other concessions.

They are also want the section of the pier not being used by Basketball City to be transformed into a community center and, perhaps, a farmer's market.

http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a64c39c1970c-500pi (http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a64c39c1970c-pi)

But the coalition appears to be devoting most of its energies to Pier 42. The city has said it will one day be converted into an "urban beach and boat launch." But in meetings with the groups, the EDC has insisted there's no money for that part of the project now. The "People's Plan" unveiled Saturday proposes turning the pier into a park, with open space, basketball courts and playgrounds.

http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a64c3f14970c-320wi (http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a64c3f14970c-pi)

The Pratt Center for Community Development analyzed the city's plans, relying in part on city documents obtained through the Freedom of Information Act. The Hester Street Collaborative then produced architectural renderings, and a detailed budget was drawn up. According to the report, their plan (for all three piers) would cost $52 million, compared to $138 million already budgeted by the city.

Valazquez, noted that most of the money being used for the project came from the federal government. This, she said, puts her in a strong position to fight for changes. Saying "our community deserves better," she told the coalition members it's unfair that the city has spent lavishly on the West Side waterfront, while neglecting the East Side:

There has already been one meeting with the Economic Development Corporation. The coalition, now joined by Rep. Valazquez, hopes for a second meeting soon with the EDC, as well as the Transportation and Parks departments.

The report released Saturday included the results from 800 surveys, community visioning sessions and a town hall meeting. It indicates the respondents were both demographically and economically diverse, but it does not include a breakdown. Residents surveyed expressed an overwhelming desire for open space, recreational facilities, affordable food vendors and a cultural center reflecting the diversity of the community.

They were opposed to high end residential development and upscale stores. One resident speaking at the press conference, said the lack of community centers and social services is one reason for the recent upsurge in youth violence.

On the city's web site, the Department of City Planning makes a point of highlighting community involvement in the planning process. "Over 70 meetings were held with community boards, tenant associations, civic leaders, maritime experts and local elected officials," it states. But "for the most part," the coalition contends, "the EDC’s planning has taken place without wide-spread community support or approval."

The coalition is made up of the Urban Justice Center, the Hester Street Collaborative, The Two Bridges Neighborhood Council, Organizing Asian Communities, Good Old Lower East Side. Jews for Racial and Economic Justice, University Settlement and the Lower East Side Ecology Center.

You can read the full report on the Urban Justice Center's web site (http://www.urbanjustice.org/).

http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2009/10/valasquez-community-groups-press-city-to-revise-waterfront-plan.html

Merry

October 23rd, 2009, 08:38 AM

East River Park Opens Another Section of Esplanade

(click images for larger versions)

http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a66a2680970c-320wi (http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a66a2680970c-pi)

A new stretch of the ongoing East River Park Promenade (http://www.nycgovparks.org/sub_about/parks_divisions/capital/parks/east_river_park_promenade.html) project opened yesterday. The new esplanade continues south behind the running track for another 2200 feet down behind the ball fields. We were told by the Parks Department that another 400 feet or so, stretching to the tennis courts, should be open by next week. They have just been waiting for the rain to stop so they can lay some sod.

http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a6131be5970b-320wi (http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a6131be5970b-pi)

http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a6131b6a970b-320wi (http://www.thelodownny.com/.a/6a01127920a5dc28a40120a6131b6a970b-pi)

http://www.thelodownny.com/leslog/2009/10/east-river-park-opens-another-section-of-esplanade.html

Ninjahedge

October 23rd, 2009, 10:39 AM

Amazing how people want everything to be clean and nice, just not "too" nice (gentrified). They want things to be rennovated, but they do not want to PAY for it (Free everything!)

I wonder how they proposed to pay for all these improvements....

I can understand the fear of displacement, but complaining that replacing the waterfront storehouses with something nice is a threat? C'mahn!

Merry

November 7th, 2009, 03:30 AM

East River Ruckus

Community groups present own plans for southeast waterfront

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/image/Pier35_D_05-copy.jpg
SHoP's official plans for Pier 35, which is basically a pastoral, passive pier.

A coalition of community groups released a proposal on October 17 that calls on the city to rework part of its plan for Manhattan’s southeastern waterfront, a portion of which is being designed by SHoP Architects for the city's Economic Development Corporation

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/PeoplesPlan.jpg
A community proposal calls for a public park from pier 35 to pier 42, including sports facilities (B), a river pool (c), and community centers (D).

The group, calling itself OUR (Organizing and Uniting Residents) Waterfront, unites nine other member groups whose concerns range from the Two Bridges housing complex to the entire city. The organization claims to have collected 800 surveys continued on page between July and November 2008 and hosted three visioning sessions with 150 participants. The Hester Street Collaborative guided the group through design workshops, and the Pratt Center for Community and Economic Development analyzed the economics of the proposal that these workshops produced.

At a sparsely attended rally, OUR Waterfront leaders explained that a majority of neighbors in public sessions had called for free open space and venues for sports, and that many were worried about the East River waterfront offering instead more bars and restaurants.

The proposal argues that the city’s plan to develop piers 35, 36, and 42 on the stretch of East River waterfront north of the Manhattan Bridge shortchanges a neighborhood where nearly 85 percent of residents live in rent-regulated buildings. In fact, the New York City Economic Development Corporation (EDC) has targeted the corner of South Street and the FDR Drive for a 55,000-square-foot home to Basketball City, the private concern for up-market leagues and special events.

The coalition proposes three alternatives, including a $55 million scheme with public courts, a floating pool, open space, and a community center. Anne Frederick of the Hester Street Collaborative said the most realistic course entails some private use by Basketball City or another vendor.

http://www.archpaper.com/uploads/scenario3_for-press.jpg
A rendering of the community's proposal.

At the presentation, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez huddled with organizers before the event to promise “some money” toward the project cost and spoke forcefully about its rationale. “On the West Side, nobody would tell the community: You can have a nice park but it has to be self-sustaining,” the congresswoman said. She proposed a meeting among “public officials, the community, and the EDC” to tweak the plans.

The coalition’s preferred plan would demolish all buildings and establish a range of recreation options, including a filtered “river pool” and ramps for putting in kayaks. A recreation center would host leagues, children’s supervised play, and games popular with older Chinatown residents.

As the presentation showed, the city’s promise of $138 million in funds from the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation has wavered since it released a plan in 2005: Pier 42 has no budget, the Pier 36 home for a gym needs structural repair, and Pier 35 has funds to create a “green wall” obscuring the maintenance shed that Basketball City would replace.

Basketball City’s representatives did not speak at the meeting, but the organization knows local politics, having discovered the East River spot after losing a perch on the Hudson River in the development of Chelsea Piers. It won the new site as part of the settlement of an unrelated lawsuit after answering a city request for proposals in 1996. Negotiations with the city will continue this month.

A version of this article appeared in AN 18_11.04.2009 (http://archpaper.com/past_issue.asp?i_db_id=220).

Alec Appelbaum

http://www.archpaper.com/e-board_rev.asp?News_ID=4012

MidtownGuy

November 7th, 2009, 03:36 PM

I'm an East sider with park envy...the West side has gotten so much green space along the river while the East side has a crap waterfront. I wish this would get moving.

Stroika

November 7th, 2009, 06:43 PM

1) A coalition of community groups released a proposal on October 17 that calls on the city to rework part of its plan for Manhattan’s southeastern waterfront, a portion of which is being designed by SHoP Architects for the city's Economic Development Corporation

2) At a sparsely attended rally, OUR Waterfront leaders explained that a majority of neighbors in public sessions had called for free open space and venues for sports, and that many were worried about the East River waterfront offering instead more bars and restaurants.

3) The proposal argues that the city’s plan to develop piers 35, 36, and 42 on the stretch of East River waterfront north of the Manhattan Bridge shortchanges a neighborhood where nearly 85 percent of residents live in rent-regulated buildings.

At the presentation, Congresswoman Nydia Velázquez huddled with organizers before the event to promise “some money” toward the project cost and spoke forcefully about its rationale. “On the West Side, nobody would tell the community: You can have a nice park but it has to be self-sustaining,” the congresswoman said. She proposed a meeting among “public officials, the community, and the EDC” to tweak the plans.

Ugh.

1) SHoP's plan is great, if you ask me. Start letting every schmo tinker with it, and it becomes an incoherent mess.

2) There's hardly any place to have a drink on the water in NYC. For millions of NYers and tourists, that's a big negative. Most world-class cities with any waterfront open it up for dining/drinking and other ways for people to enjoy the water. NY NIMBYs rightly lament the post-industrial uselessness of much of our waterfront but have a bizarre desire to turn it all into lawns. That's great, if you want to sit down for 20 mins before moving on on an August day. But it provides nothing to actually do, and 7 months of the year, it's too cold to enjoy. :mad:

3) This is the real problem. Too often, "community" groups in NY demand that developments such as this be made more "public." That's a flat-out lie. The "community" groups here really just want to rope off what could/should be public space for their own use. If you actually built a nice promenade with some restaurants, cafes, bars, bike-rental shops, etc., people from crappy areas of the city (like Harlem, where I am) but who pay the same taxes as everyone else, could actually come and enjoy that waterfront.

You fill it with playing fields -- as most of the various constructions on the waterfront (i.e., the areas that aren't just strips of grass/lawns) contain -- and it's pretty much useless for anyone but the immediate neighbors. If I went down to one of these parks with a soccer ball on a Saturday, what's the chance I'd be able to play? Nil. The locals' kids would be using it. And even if you are a local, it's only the residents with kids of a certain age, or who are kids of a certain age, that can really make any use of the endless soccer and baseball fields along the waterfront. I love the beauty of Hudson River Park, but other than the funky steamboat pier, what on earth is there to do? You walk up and down for an hour, look at the river a few times, and then you head for your destination, since there's nothing to do there. (I realize that Piers 57 and 40 have the potential to change that, no thanks to "community" groups.)

So what do we have? Well, we have areas near the water where 85% of the people are getting our tax dollars to subsidize their "right" to live near the waterfront (where's my right to live near the water?!), and they want that waterfront to be roped off so that only their kids can use it.

Moreover, since, as Rep Nydia demands, those parks would not be self-sustaining, it means our tax dollars will be committed indefinitely to bail out a horribly expensive park that anyone else who doesn't live there has no use for. So we continue to throw our income at a park used only by those whose rents we're already paying.

For those of us taxpayers who are too employed to get subsidized housing but far, far too poor to live anywhere but Harlem or Crown Heights, the uses of the waterfront that would make it available to us are somehow considered "private" or "anti-community." I love New York, but it's a small wonder people continue to flee the city for Jersey, Connecticut, etc. when you're told that a huge chunk of your income has to provide luxuries for people who want ever more of it and aren't so willing to share the fruits of your own dollars with you.