St. John’s and Pier 40— Win Opens Door to a Hospital

By Arthur Z. Schwartz

Nineteen years ago, Tobi Bergman and I stood on the south side of Pier 40, with then-New York Governor George Pataki, and announced the settlement of a lawsuit brought by the Greenwich Village Little League and the Downtown United Soccer Club. The settlement would see NYS build a $2.5 million ball field on the roof of Pier 40 by the following fall. The opening of the field predated the construction of Hudson River Park but facilitated the migration of people across Route 9A to the Pier and provided the impetus for passage of the Hudson River Park Act and the construction of the Park. In 2003, with another lawsuit forcing its hand, the Hudson River Park Trust added fields at the core of the building, turning Pier 40 into the public sports center it is today.

Despite the thousands trooping to Pier 40 every week, that corner of the Village remained a barren area, punctuated by a strip club at the corner of Clarkson and West Streets. Meanwhile, Pier 40 began to collapse, requiring an emergency roof repair and lots of angst about how to repair the Pier’s piles.

Then, in 2013, Assembly Member Glick sponsored a secret bill, voted on the last night of the legislative session, which allowed Hudson River Park to sell the “air rights” from its commercial piers to projects across Route 9A. This poorly thought out move finally bore more legitimate fruit when the City Council, on December 15th, approved a series of zoning changes which will allow the construction of residential buildings on what is now the St. John’s Terminal.

This is not just another real estate deal. The project is being built with air rights purchased by the developer from the Hudson River Park Trust for $100 million (yes, $100 million), all of which is supposed to finance needed repairs on the Pier.

Through a combined effort—an amazing effort—by City Council Member Corey Johnson, Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and outgoing Community Board 2 Chair Tobi Bergman, this project will not only help fix the Park, it will (if the project moves forward), transform this dark corner of our community into a vibrant area which could serve as a model for future projects. Here is what we (the community) won:

Pier 40 will receive its money immediately.
The City will add $14 million to the Pier work.
30% of the project’s residential units (476 apartments) will be rent-regulated at various levels: 10% will be allocated to those making 60% of the Area Median Income (AMI), 5% to those making 80% of the AMI, 5% to those making 110% of the AMI, and a final 10% to those making 130% of the AMI (see the box explaining AMI).
1,755 of the rent-regulated apartments must go to seniors.
The Hudson River Park Trust will be prohibited from selling any more air rights from Pier 40, and must use those development rights on the Pier (which opens up the amazing possibility that I discuss below).
The new project will have a 15,000-

square-foot indoor public recreation center.
A new crosswalk will be built at Spring Street (a few blocks south).
A new supermarket will be built on the site; all other big-box retail establishments will not be allowed.
The South Village Historic District will be expanded by 10 blocks, encompassing 160 buildings.
While this new community is created, with wealthy and working people, and maybe even some people of color, living side by side, the area to the east will be protected from development, and Pier 40 will be repaired.
What’s Next on Pier 40?
A Hospital!
The Hudson River Park Trust must now decide how to develop 340,000 square feet on the Pier. For 15 years, the Trust has been seeking ways to develop the Pier. The two plans favored by the Trust Board—first an aquarium, then a mega-entertainment complex—were shot down by community opposition. Other plans have been floated, including expanding the recreational area, but they all rely on risky financial projections.
Anyone who has visited Pier 40 knows that on its north and west sides, there are huge cavernous spaces, sometimes used for events and construction equipment. The space is the length of one City block, or about 900 feet. (A 900-foot-tall building is at least 60 stories tall.) A much-needed hospital could be built within the space equivalent to a 60-story building. (The Pier is already two stories tall.) If, after the piles are fixed, another unobjectionable story were added, a decent-sized hospital and community health center could be created. Due to existing internal roadways, all levels of the hospital would be easily accessible; an extension of the West Houston Street bus route would also make it easy to reach by mass transit.
Is this a fantasy? A pipe dream? That’s what they said about the original plans to build sports fields on Pier 40, but we got it done, and eventually expanded.
We know, from reports in DNAinfo, that Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen has reached out to Madelyn Wils, President of the Hudson River Part Trust, about executing some commercial projects on the Pier quickly, now that it can’t sell the air rights. This is a mayoral election year, and we have a mayor who has yet to deliver on his promise of stopping the decline in hospital care in NYC, so there is potential.
Our community, and the entire Lower West Side, desperately needs a new hospital, and if Beth Israel closes, the crisis will get worse (with 1,500 new apartments, it will get worse). Pier 40 offers available space, on government controlled “land.” All it requires is political will. Let’s get it done!