NEW YORK | Pier 76 Redevelopment

[NYguy]

I liked the idea of the pier just becoming a permanent park (its in interim stage currently). But the state has more plans for the pier.



https://secretnyc.co/future-of-pier-76-nyc/

Amusement Park Rides, Floating Restaurants & More May Be Coming To NYC’s Pier 76
As new legislation was just passed to expand the commercial uses of Pier 76, New Yorkers could see amusement park rides, floating restaurants and more take over the pier in the near future.





Justine Golata
August 7, 2024

NYC’s Hudson River Park, the nation’s longest riverfront park, not only offers some of the best views in the city, but provides a place for all New Yorkers to come together.

Specifically, Pier 76 was introduced into park boundaries in 2021, after the city replaced a former tow pound building with the 245,000-square foot recreational pier. In fact, the conversion only took a shocking 81 days to complete. The pier currently features public benches, a propeller from the S.S. United States passenger liner, and maybe soon amusement park rides!

When Pier 76 first opened, it was to be a “interim open space” until it would host “public parkland and a revenue generating use.” According to new legislation, the future of Pier 76 can include commercial office development, floating restaurants, facilities for waterborne transportation activities, amusement rides and tourist attractions to fulfill its original mission.

The law was introduced to amend the Hudson River Park Act to add permitted commercial uses on Pier 76. It also states that Pier 76 “faces $150 million in repair and reconstruction costs that must be faced in the near future to avoid the complete removal of the pier for any public use.”

[NYguy]

https://thevillagesun.com/clearing-t...0th-st-helipad

Clearing the way for a park on (part of) Pier 76; trying to clear out park helipad





July 26, 2024
BY LINCOLN ANDERSON

The governor has signed legislation by state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Tony Simone to amend the Hudson River Park Act to allow redevelopment of Pier 76 with at least 50 percent parkland, plus “create a process” to kick the W. 30th Street helipad out of the park.

“We’re elated that Governor Hochul signed our legislation to develop new open space and commercial uses on Pier 76 in Hudson River Park and create a community-led process to facilitate, once and for all, moving the W. 30th Street helipad off of the parkland,” Hoylman-Sigal and Simone said in a joint statement.

The bill (S.9408C/A10224C) modifies the Hudson River Park Act to create a structure for a request for proposals, or R.F.P., to provide revenue to complete construction of Hudson River Park, new green space on the West Side and “a path forward” to free up parkland that the helipad has occupied for decades.

“The new vision of Pier 76 is one of a green space for the entire community to enjoy, while simultaneously providing the revenue needed to bring the pier to the beautiful standard that New York City is accustomed to,” the two West Side lawmakers said.

https://www.nysenate.gov/newsroom/pr...-hoylman-sigal

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal and Assemblymember Tony Simone said: “We’re elated that Governor Hochul signed our legislation to develop new open space and commercial uses on Pier 76 in Hudson River Park and create a community-led process to facilitate, once and for all, moving the West 30th Street helipad off of the parkland.

Our new law creates a structure for an RFP that will provide funding for the completion of Hudson River Park, new green space for the West Side community, and charts a path forward to free up parkland that has been compromised for decades by the presence of the helipad.

The new vision of Pier 76 is one of a green space for the entire community to enjoy, while simultaneously providing the revenue needed to bring the pier to the beautiful standard that New York City is accustomed to.

https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation...08/amendment/C




https://www.change.org/p/preserve-ny...velopment-plan

[NYguy]

https://w42st.com/post/what-does-the...epairs-needed/

[NYguy]

New York Unicycle Club



































Lori Hillsberg

[Busy Bee]

That looks like a good time. I've always been a little jealous of those who can unicycle.

[NYguy]

^ I was jealous of the skaters there, so I got a pair. Usually on a bike when I pass by there though.



There was a good piece in the NY Times about the city's reclamation of its piers...


https://www.nytimes.com/2024/08/31/n...piers-nyc.html

New York City’s Piers, Once Abandoned, Are Now Full of Life


By Liam Stack
Aug. 31, 2024

When the sun comes out, New Yorkers flock to the city’s piers. They bring picnic blankets and coolers, sunscreen and speakers, to places where decades ago longshoremen unloaded goods from cargo ships.

New York has changed since then, and so too have its piers.

The city was once a major industrial center, producing everything from Pepsi-Cola to World War II munitions. The waterfront brought those goods to the world, and New York’s piers buzzed with the loading and unloading of ships.

But the decline of manufacturing left the piers derelict and unused, both a symbol and a symptom of the city’s changing fortunes.

[NYguy]

One guy's proposal...


https://w42st.com/post/pier-of-dream...sform-pier-76/

Pier of Dreams: National Sports Museum Proposal Aims to Transform Pier 76





by Dashiell Allen
August 9, 2024

A museum dedicated to the history and cultural impact of sports could rise from Pier 76 on the Hudson River under a new proposal — but only after millions of dollars in repairs are completed.

Adam Slocum, founder and chief visionary officer of the nonprofit National Sports Museum, told W42ST he thinks the pier in front of the Javits Center could be an ideal location to realize his vision for an approximately 100,000-square-foot, four-story museum. It would occupy a roughly 25,000-square-foot footprint, a fraction of the pier’s 5.6 acres.

“It’s a museum not just about athletic achievement,” Slocum told W42ST, “but more about what sports can do for us off the field — whether that’s the foundations that athletes have created to promote various causes, or the cultural identity of sports for Americans.”

It’s bound to be a long road ahead for the National Sports Museum, or any other party interested in building on Pier 76. The pier, a former NYPD tow pound, opened to the public in 2021 and is currently largely empty. A state bill, signed into law last month, will allow it to be built into parkland, with up to 50% used for commercial purposes (including office towers but excluding casinos, hotels or residential units).

Before any development can commence, an estimated $150 million in repairs must be completed to the pier’s underwater pilings. In November 2023, plans were floated to return the historic ocean liner SS United States to the Hudson River, regenerate Pier 76 and connect the High Line to the ship transformed into a 1,000-room hotel.

The Hudson River Park Trust, which oversees the pier, told W42ST in a statement: “There have been and will continue to be a wide variety of proposals, ideas and concepts for Pier 76 as we work towards its redevelopment, which will host both public parkland and a revenue-generating use that will help support the care, maintenance, and operations of the Park as a whole.”

The Trust met with a representative of the National Sports Museum, the statement said, following a Community Board 4 meeting that Slocum attended.

“We followed up with him as promised, explaining that we are not able to entertain any long-term use absent a competitive Request for Proposals (RFP) process, although we appreciate the interest in Hudson River Park,” said the statement. “Pier 76 requires substantial funding for core infrastructure – we do not anticipate advancing an RFP prior to identifying a strategy for funding the reconstruction of future public portions of the pier.”

[NYguy]

https://w42st.com/post/save-our-sacr...ier-76-meetup/

Save Our “Sacred Place” — Roller Skaters Take a Stand for Under-Threat Pier 76 Meetup


by Lena Grotticelli
9/10/2024

Roller skaters have found a new home by the water in Hell’s Kitchen — but with their “sacred place” under threat, they’re rallying around in the hope of keeping the wheels turning.

The unlikely coveted concrete haven is Pier 76 at W36th Street and 12th Avenue, and at first glance, looks like an empty lot with a few benches and planters. But head down just before sunset on a Friday night and you’ll find an energized mix of citygoers using the spacious hub for pickup pickleball games or recording dances and music videos. Others can be seen prepping for events like this month’s NYC Unicycle Festival and New York Latin Food Fest — or in the past for popups and Tribeca Film Festival openings.

And without fail, you’ll see skaters on four-wheel quads and inlines, like me, who religiously flock to the smooth mecca for its perfect pavement and unique 245,000-square-feet sans obstacles or traffic. Breezy nights on the open-air space see the Pier 76 Skate community host free meetups, skating group RollerDynamic give classes, and skaters-turned-friends trading turns, tips and tricks.

City skaters recently launched a petition after Governor Kathy Hochul signed legislation in July paving the way for future redevelopment of Pier 76 as a hybrid park and commercial space. It “will eventually host both public parkland and a revenue-generating use that will help support the care, maintenance and operations of the Park as a whole,” the Hudson River Park Trust says, as the pier is in need of $150 million worth of structural repairs.

...“In addition to being a setting where we can safely practice our art and sport, Pier 76 has organically become a place of community for us,” the skaters’ petition reads. “It has become the go-to spot for meetups and rollouts, for lessons and dancing. It is no exaggeration to say this pier, in its current state, has become a sacred place for skaters.”

Bash, an inline skater and the founder of Pier 76 Skate, said, “There’s not a lot of places in the city you can come to as a skater for free to relax and enjoy, especially at night. A lot of places are dark and dangerous and not very safe, as opposed to the pier, where the lights come on before it even gets dark. So we have that security.”

The Pier 76 legislation approved by the state this June is an amendment of the Hudson River Park Act sponsored by local Assemblymember Tony Simone and state Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, promising to redevelop the space with at least 50% parkland and up to 50% commercial use.

“It’s early on so we don’t fully know what’s happening,” Bash said. “But from what we’re getting wind of, it doesn’t seem like we’re going to have a place with everything that’s going to be planned.”

So what’s in store for Pier 76? Its exact design plans and a timeline for changes are still far off. Potential new additions floated in the past have included restaurants, offices, a transit hub, event venues and tourist attractions like a National Sports Museum or an ocean-liner turned hotel. The legislation prohibits casinos, hotels and residential use, but opens up discussions for moving the existing heliport at W30th Street.

Senator Hoylman-Sigal said, “The new vision of Pier 76 is one of a green space for the entire community to enjoy, while simultaneously providing the revenue needed to bring the pier to the beautiful standard that New York City is accustomed to.”

But green space doesn’t necessarily mean a smooth place to roll for skaters, who want to make part of it inclusive, accessible and similar to Venice Beach skate park in Los Angeles.

“We ask for an area of flat and leveled, smooth and continuous poured concrete, spanning more than 15,000 square feet, that is preferably well-lit and partially covered, to facilitate free year-round use for skaters of all ages, skill levels and physical abilities,” the petition states. A bathroom also wouldn’t hurt, they say.

Other proposals that have been unofficially floated for Pier 76 include a National Sports Museum and the SS United States ocean liner converted into a luxury hotel.