Riverside South Development

[TLOZ Link5]

it's certainly a worthwhile reclamation of brownfields.

[Evan]

Any chance they would either submerge or relocate that highway in the second picture???

[JerzDevl2000]

Evan,

Here's the answer to your question

http://www.nycroads.com/roads/west-side/

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From the above link:

"North of West 57th Street, the urban boulevard ties into the rebuilt "Miller Highway" viaduct. Originally constructed as an extension of the West Side Highway, this elevated highway opened in 1936 to serve as a connector to the Henry Hudson Parkway (which officially begins at West 72nd Street). Throughout the 1990's, the Federal and state governments spent $80 million to bring the viaduct up to current operational and seismic standards. (Preliminary studies are underway for the relocation of the elevated "Miller Highway" section from West 72nd Street south to West 59th Street. The design studies, for which $17 million has been allocated, will be completed in 2003.) "

Keep your fingers crossed - I'd like to see Riverside Park connect seamlessly with this proposal and go right down to 57th St.
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[ZippyTheChimp]

There's no info yet on the website Edward posted. There is a
sign at the park construction site with drawings. The agreement between Trump and the city states that he pays for the construction and maintenance of the park. The project involves extensive road work. Fill is brought in to slope the land up to the level of the existing streets. Riverside Blvd is constructed on top, along with connecting side streets.

The Miller Highway would submerge at 72 St, run under Riverside Blvd, and return to grade at 57 St. The problem with the tunnel is money. The highway was completely rebuilt in 1996, and in 1999 Congressman Jerrold Nadler opposed "rebuilding a new highway that would only benefit Trump."
The financial picture has gotten a lot worse since 1999, so I think the odds of this tunnel getting built soon are slim.

The drawings on the site show a logical approach. The "interim" park is being built (basically the waterfront). There are two plans for a final park, one with a tunnel, and one with the existing highway. Maybe the situation will change by the time the project is complete.

[Kris]

June 12, 2003

New Park on Hudson Fills Gap in Greenery

By PATRICK HEALY

Malissa Liburdi remembers when the east bank of the Hudson River was a nest of rotting railways and a haven for drug dealers and addicts. The riverfront was unsettling in the daylight and unsafe at night, said Ms. Liburdi, 40, who has lived on the Upper West Side for 15 years.

But yesterday, Ms. Liburdi ambled along a newly opened section of Riverside Park South, her nephew and brown-and-white spotted dog in tow. As joggers and bikers zipped along the river, Ms. Liburdi said she was pleased to see the industrial riverfront evolving into parkland.

"We're very excited about this new park opening," Ms. Liburdi said. "The trees and the water and the grass — it's kind of a balance of nature."

Donald J. Trump gave a three-acre swath of land between 65th and 69th Streets to the city yesterday. It was another step in Mr. Trump's planned $3 billion development, which will add 16 apartment buildings and 29 acres of public park to the east shore of the Hudson River between 59th and 72nd Streets.

"When all the phases are complete, there'll be nothing to touch it," Mr. Trump said.

Riverside Park South will "close the gap" between Riverside Park on the north side and Hudson River Park on the south, said Henry J. Stern, the former Parks Department commissioner.

Lying in the shadow of the West Side Highway, the newest parcel of park features marsh grasses and boardwalks that curl like ribbons. Thomas Balsley, architect for the Riverside South project, said the park is designed to evoke memories of railroads, which once loaded and unloaded freight cars at piers that are now toppled hunks of burnt metal.

The $62 million Riverside Park South project is just one example of a citywide attempt to convert miles of waterfront to green space. The city is reviving the waterfront and marina at Flushing Meadows-Corona Park in Queens, parks on the Harlem and Bronx Rivers and a five-mile walkway on the northern shore of Staten Island.

"This is taking the decrepit industrial waterfront and returning it to a natural state," said Michael Bradley, executive director of the Riverside South Planning Corporation. "People are rediscovering the waterfront."

And at Riverside South, the city is paying nothing, said Parks Commissioner Adrian Benepe. As part of a 1992 deal that allowed the Riverside complex, Mr. Trump and his partners agreed to pay to renovate and maintain the park.

The new segment cost $8.5 million to renovate. Maintenance and security at all of Riverside South currently costs about $1 million per year, which is paid by Mr. Trump and his partners.

Parks department officials said construction on the third phase of the park will begin this September and be completed by 2004.

Copyright 2003 The New York Times Company

[czsz]

Photo found on flickr...they should have restored the old viaduct with its industrial-chic archways...

[vc10]

I was up there a week or so ago -- the connector from Riverside Blvd to 79th St has yet to be finished. What's the schedule for that or is litigation still stopping it?

[Peakrate212]

Any chance they would either submerge or relocate that highway in the second picture???

Evan - go read about the highway under the Thread on The Avery.....We talk all about it and how you have to blame the govt reps for the West side for our exposed highway......talk to Fat boy Nadler

[BPC]

I bicyle through their frequently and think the park and highway work well together. The combo creates a cool urban setting, with weather-protected BB courts and such underneath. If you want pristine green lawns, move to the burbs.

[czsz]

I guess we ought to divert the funds for Hudson River Park to soup kitchens then, and sell off Central Park to developers. Damned suburban intrusions.

[BPC]

"I guess we ought to bulldoze Rockefeller Center and Times Square then and put up green lawns. Damn urban intrustions."

See -- your argument works in both directions! Cities are about diversity and balance, not purity. The stretch of Riverside Park in front of the Trump buildings, IMHO, achieves that balance. The oinly real beneficiairies of a billion dollar project to bury that viaduct would be Donald Trump and his Asian investors, as the lower stories of those new buildings would be vested with river views. Congressman Nadler was right not to support federal funding for something that would only benefit a private developer.

[vc10]

Disagree. First of all, Trump and the Asian investors are out of there, so he's no longer the beneficiary.

Secondly, burying the traffic is its own reward -- making the park (and it's a public park...) far more useful and attractive.

The Westway was a good idea. Anything that makes the waterfront more accessible is a good idea. Long term, the city should seek to bury all of its waterfront highways, which were a really bad mistake (by among others, Robert Moses) when they were built.

The oinly real beneficiairies of a billion dollar project to bury that viaduct would be Donald Trump and his Asian investors, as the lower stories of those new buildings would be vested with river views. Congressman Nadler was right not to support federal funding for something that would only benefit a private developer.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Burying the viaduct would make sense in a world of unlimited funds, but given the present fiscal realities, it would divert money from other projects.

The viaduct has no impact on accessibility to the river. Unlike the FDR, it is about 6 stories high for much of its length, and does not have a roadway beneath it. That land is put to good park use, the viaduct providing a canopy for basketball courts.

Except near 72nd St, the roadway is far removed from the buildings, so the impact on residents is minimal. It blocks river views, so that should be a consideration when deciding what floor to live on - standard practice for Manhattan home-hunting.

Spending billions to bury a roadway that has not yet reached middle-age is a waste of money; it would be better spent burying the Gowanus Expwy, where the DOT is spending hundreds of millions just to keep it from falling apart.

[vc10]

That might be true, but saying that burying it would only benefit a private developer is wrong.

Spending billions to bury a roadway that has not yet reached middle-age is a waste of money; it would be better spent burying the Gowanus Expwy, where the DOT is spending hundreds of millions just to keep it from falling apart.

[ZippyTheChimp]

I didn't say that at all. Acknowledging fiscal limitations, I pointed out that this project would be a lesser priority than, among others, the example I cited.