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. The Related Companies was willing to pay $625 million for the longer lease to create a permanent venue for the Cirque du Soleil as well as the Tribeca Film Festival. The Trust's......

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. Previously, the Related Companies had proposed an elaborate plan with a Cirque du Soleil theater and restaurants, while......

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. In the waning weeks of December, another......

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......

Tonight, there's a public meeting and hearing to discuss what will happen with Pier 40 on the Hudson River. The plan on the table is a $626 million proposal called "Pier 40 Performing Arts Center," which includes a Cirque du Soleil performance space, a 12-screen movie theater, a banquet hall and much more. Detractors call it "Las Vegas on the Hudson," and this has set up what the Times calls a "potential showdown between......

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. The city was able to relocate the mounted unit fairly easily by redesigning the Tow Pound. Basketball City, though,......

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. The Villager has a thorough, if skewed, examination of the dualing Pier 40 visions. One, a joint venture of The Related Companies, Cirque du Soleil and the Tribeca Film Festival, calls for a Lincoln Center-style performing arts center. The......

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......

Ooh, could it be - a beach along the Hudson River? State officials and environmental groups are interested in creating a beach on the West Side, near the Meatpacking District, with the idea that people would actually swim in the Hudson. Currently, there's a sanitation depot where the trucks rae parked. One person was skeptical, telling the AP, "Haven't they found bodies out here? Who would jump in there?" Well, that's the East River, but,......

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......

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,......

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......

Now here's an idea that we can get behind. With the renovation of Segment 3 of the Hudson River Park a bunch of things along the water had to be temporarily displaced. That includes the 19-year-old River Project which was previously located at the end of Pier 26. But don't fret, it's not like they've just sitting around twiddling their thumbs until they can move back to their home. Oh, no. They've been given......

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......

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......

Brilliant! It looks like Pier 57, aka Guantánamo on the Hudson, aka the holding pen for protesters during the Republican National Convention, may have been used by the police without permission! The Hudson River Park Trust is saying that the NYPD said Pier 57 would only be used as a secondary facility, but the NYPD says that the primary holding area at 100 Centre Street was in fact overwhelmed and that the NYPD did......