By now, many WestView readers have read about Pier55, a spectacular new public park that we hope to open as part of Hudson River Park in 2019.
But how did we get here?
The story of Pier55 really dates back 40 years, when activists faced off with public officials who were determined to build Westway – an underground superhighway in the river. After a lengthy standoff, the courts ruled against the Westway project and many in the community began a long struggle driven by an ambitious vision rooted in a democratic spirit: an open shoreline for all to enjoy, and a green ribbon along the Hudson, replete with lush pathways, lawns and play spaces on rebuilt piers where existing ones were decaying.
In the 1990s, the community weighed in on what the park should look and feel like, and each neighborhood helped shape plans for the mix of passive and active activities desired for their portion of the park. As a member of Community Board 1 at the time, I was involved in neighborhood discussions about what we wanted to see in our park-starved community.
That public process culminated in 1998 with the Hudson River Park Act and a master plan informed by community input. In 2005, that plan was made more specific as designers and the Trust worked through the community on a design for Pier 54 that was mostly a hardscape envisioned to host the park’s performances and events. The Trust subsequently secured permits for that pier.
In 2011, having just taken over as President and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust, I was faced with a suddenly pressing challenge: how to find the funds to rebuild the now-crumbling Pier 54. And, as a park that is legislatively mandated to fund our own maintenance, how to pay for it.
First, we wanted to see if we could develop a more flexible shape for the pier and make it a more beautiful, useable and greener park space – especially given that Pier 54 is the narrowest pier in the park. We presented that basic idea as part of a series of community meetings, and ultimately gained the support of Community Board 2 for a different pier footprint that would allow both kinds of spaces – park and cultural programming – to coexist.
Having won that support, and without any public funding available to rebuild the pier, we worked to leverage public funding through private philanthropy – just the type of public-private partnership our governing legislation had intended. We approached Barry Diller and Diane von Furstenberg, a couple whose civic generosity has already helped transform the city’s vibrant cultural core – from Carnegie Hall to the Signature Theater, the High Line to the Whitney. We discussed our shared vision with them. As our discussions evolved, we never wavered from our underlying goal: to build a public park that would be usable by the community, whether for sun bathing, strolling or listening to music. And, critically, unlike the previous design, we wanted to make absolutely sure that even during performances, the park in most cases would remain open to anyone who wants to just sit on a bench or watch the sunset.
The result of our discussions is “Pier55”: a space with more parkland – and greener parkland – than the previously planned Pier 54. Pier55 will be a space maintained and operated as a public park, just as the rest of Hudson River Park is, but it will be largely paid for by the Diller – von Furstenberg Family Foundation. And, just like the rest of Hudson River Park, Pier55 will be a space that teems with a neighborhood energy that honors the vision of those of us who fought so hard for it.
