Results tagged “hudsonriverparktrust”

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

A grandiose plan to turn Pier 40 on Manhattan's West Side into a riverside pleasure-dome was killed by the Hudson River Park Trust. The Trust objected to developer The Related Companies' insistence on a 50-year lease, because it had stipulated a 30-year lease.

Over the weekend, hundreds rallied for Pier 40's next transformation to be a park. This Thursday, the Hudson River Park Trust is meeting to discuss two existing bids for the pier located off Houston Street, but a more recent plan, from a group of local parents who hope their $120,000 study, has been gaining some recent momentum.

The fate of Pier 40, located at West Houston Street on the Hudson, was much discussed and debated last year, and 2008 seems to be a year of further reflection. At one point, there was a $625 million idea for it to become an elaborate entertainment venue with a Cirque du Soleil theater, restaurants, and more, while opposing forces wanted there simply to be more green space.

We've said before that Mayor Bloomberg's girlfriend (or companion, which is what the NY Times refers to her as) Diana Taylor seems like a classy lady, unlike some other mayor's girlfriends. But we don't know much about her, except that she went to Dartmouth (Mayor Bloomberg accompanied her on an alumni weekend there), she worked in senior management at Keyspan, she was the state's superintendent of banking under Pataki, she was shortlisted by President Bush to run the FDIC but then her nomination got nixed, and she was recently named to the Hudson River Park Trust.

Horse home, sweet horse home. Yesterday, Mayor Bloomberg opened the new stables for the NYPD's Mounted Unit at Pier 76, near 36th Street. The new stables had to move after being faced with eviction by the Hudson River Park Trust, which wanted to continue renovations to the park and take over the space near 23rd Street.

Development along the Hudson isn't letting up anytime soon. Now that Hudson River Park construction is well underway (and completed in some parts), proposals are being floated for refurbishing the hulking 14-acre Pier 40 terminal.

One much discussed issue in the comments following bicyclist Eric Ng's death last week is how to prevent motor vehicles from getting on the Hudson River Park bike path. The New York State Transportation Department is responsible for the path and the Times is reporting this morning that state transportation officials are considering installing bollards to keep cars away. The concrete and steel bollards are likely to replace the plastic pylons at major intersections and other locations where cars might enter the pathway.

Advocates warn that swimmers must stay out of the river for several days after rainfall -- when the city's drainage system dumps raw sewage directly into the Hudson. Within a three-minute walk from the proposed Hudson River Park beach site, muddy discharge is visible around one of the pipes.

The NYPD's Mounted Unit will be ensconced near the NYPD's Tow Pound as part of a move from its current Chelsea location. The Mounted Unit was stationed at Pier 63, right at West 23rd Street near Chelsea Piers, where they had a temporary lease on a space with an indoor riding trak and stables. But the Hudson River Park Trust wanted to take the land back for further renovations, leading some to worry the police wouldn't find adequate space for the equines. The new space at Pier 76 is near West 34th Street, right by the NYC Tow Pound. Gothamist expects to hear more about police horses dealing with tourists and rambunctious sports fans around Madsion Square Garden and Penn Station.

Today's NY Times article about the current shaping of Hudson River Park and how it was inspired by the failed Westway project. Westway would have meant a landfill extension into the Hudson along the West Side Highway much like Battery Park City (and with its mix of residential and commercial space) - and the highway would have been built underground, as the highway was crumbling. New York Voices has a good site explaining it, and opposition grew because some people thought it might be the Lower Manhattan Expressway - the battle between Robert Moses and Jane Jacobs - on the West Side. An Talk of the Town piece from 2004 revisited the project:

[Craig] Whitaker [a Westway planner] talked about some of the places where the city has had the wisdom to run highways under riverfront esplanades—the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Carl Schurz Park. “We thought New Yorkers would never accept sixty-five thousand cars passing daily between them and the waterfront,” he said. He nodded toward the six lanes of hurtling cars and trucks just outside the Pier 40 lobby. “But that’s what we’ve got out here. It was a tragedy for the city."

The NYPD's Mounted Unit will be homeless pretty soon, as the Hudson River Park Trust wants them to vacate their cushy digs. The NYPD had signed a three year lease for its temporary headquarters at Pier 63 (where they have an indoor riding track, enough room for unit training and exercises, plus the stables for the Midtown unit, according to the Post) but haven't been able to find suitable replacement space. The Trust is looking to start park renovations. Hmm, Gothamist wonders if the NYPD could lease some space from the MTA - maybe the West Side railyards?

Designed with sweeping windows, the aquarium will allow passersby to observe native New York Harbor fish, invertebrates and seaweed from outside, although visitors could also step inside the 1,000-square-foot structure, which might open to the public as soon as next summer. Greenery will cascade down from the rooftop and decorate the ground level as well.

The big news rocking the world of Democratic mayoral hopefuls is that Reverend Al Sharpton won't endorse a candidate this year. In other words, the Reverend Al is just like Gothamist and many other voters: Wondering if there are any strong messages in the Democratic candidates. He noted that this will be the first time in 20 years he will not be involved in a Democratic primary, but, of course, Sharpton did leave himself an escape chute, he'd reconsider if a candidate seemed to shape up. Sharpton also noted that former Bronx Borough President Fernando Ferrer's remarks about Amadou Diallo didn't help things. Gothamist is shocked that Manhattan Borough President C. Virginia Fields or even City Council Speaker Gifford Miller didn't try even harder to rise to the challenge of getting Sharpton's endorsement, because his support could have really helped solidify them in the race.

Just a couple blocks south of the much-coveted MTA railyards, two other rich dudes are fighting over the right to develop Pier 57. The Daily News calls it the "heavyweight real estate duel of the season" (we guess the DN thinks the Hudson Yards is the duel of the year), and gives some good background of the two developers, Roland Betts of Chelsea Piers (and Dubya crony) and Stephen Witkoff, a real estate developer, as well as which politicians they're tight with. The main difference between the two bids is the Betts would be expanding Chelsea Piers, while Witkoff's plan, "The Leonardo at Pier 57" would be putting in a ton of banquet space (hello, corporate holiday party; hello, bar mitzvah) as well as galleries and stores featuring Italian artists and retailers. The Italian theme goes further with accusations from the Betts team that the caterer Witkoff proposes has mob ties, which makes Gothamist eager to see what other mud will be slung/slinged.