A Look at the Future of Pier 57

Back in July, following many years of debate over its future, some new plans for Pier 57 were unveiled.

The NY Post talks to Greg Carney, of the Youngwoo & Associates firm that will be developing the Pier, who confirms that the plans include an education center, a rooftop park, art galleries, cafes, an art library and auction house, and of course a restaurant with a view. He told the paper, "We saw a real opportunity to extend what is happening in the Meatpacking District and West Chelsea. It's an extension essentially of 15th Street to create a city street environment in the pier structure."

Overall, the Hudson River pier, located off 15th Street, will become an arts and entertainment center, even housing an outdoor cinema run by the Tribeca Film Festival. The paper notes that "The project, recently approved by the Hudson River Park Trust, will convert the historic shipping terminal into a $210 million cultural complex, including an artsy, indoor market with shops housed in refurbished steel shipping containers." (Full press release and video after the jump.) Should be ready in, like, three years or so.

From the Pier 57 press release, some highlights:
YWA’s plan for Pier 57 includes a 170,000 square-foot covered, open-air public market - to be programmed and managed by Urban Space Management (USM) and housed in part in recycled and creatively refitted shipping containers. The market will be New York’s first large-scale concentration of year-round, affordable work/sell space for artisans and other small businesses. USM operates the holiday markets in Grand Central Station and Union Square, as well as several of the biggest, most popular public markets in London, including Camden Lock.

The Tribeca Film Festival (TFF) will establish a permanent outdoor venue on the roof of the pier, offering a mix of film, music and arts-based programming and promoting cultural connections between New York’s artistic community and the general public. In addition to hosting parts of the annual film festival itself, the Pier 57 “Sky Park” will be the year-round backdrop for a variety of exhibitions and performances conceived by TFF and YWA to educate, entertain and inspire independent artists and audiences alike.

The plan also calls for a “Contemporary Culture Center” of approximately 90,000 square-feet on the ground floor, envisioned as a unique mix of auction, exhibition, gallery and entertainment space centered around the contemporary arts. Seasonal docks will be provided for kayaks, canoes and other small craft. Other features include a two-acre rooftop park, restaurants and an “Underwater Discovery Center” in one of the pier’s historic caissons. Redevelopment of the pier, a National Historic Registry structure containing approximately 375,000 square feet of buildable waterfront space, is estimated to cost a total of $210 million.

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By Jen Carlson in News on August 11, 2009 4:48 PM

Comments [rss]

schizofriendly

Supposedly, scientists are have created an underwater biosphere under the dijks in The Netherlands, so when when Earth's surface becomes uninhabitable, a handful of people will submerge and live down there. And then die out, eventually. The top illo reminds me of that.

Tpooh2

I don't see any sense in making that floor below the water surrounded by glass. The Hudson is murky and nasty, on a bright day you may get 6 feet of visability.

It would be a waste of time, money and resources..

resa

I hope that this doesn't turn into another South Street Seaport. I hate that place.

24gotham

I do hope they got the Royksopp blessing before putting this vid out there...

schizofriendly

I hope Royksopp got Bobby Vinton's blessing before recording that song. :D

They did it justice...

[mis]inheritance

Between P57 and Brooklyn Bridge Park, NYC is going to have some interesting new things in the next few years.

NannyState

A "Culture Center for the Meatpacking District"? Will it include a vomitorium?

[mis]inheritance

You can ask "them" to add one. Tell "them" its a must have for the site.

birdmechanical

This is awesome, but I'm a jaded enough New Yorker to think this will cost at least 3x times as much as anticipated and take 5 years longer than planned, if it happens at all.