NEW YORK | 30 Hudson Yards (North Tower) | 1,296 FT | 92 FLOORS

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by WestSideGuy

This is a great picture. As you can see on the right they have removed a few tracks that lead into the larger yard south of 11th ave. They have also put up a new fence between the trains and the future construction space.

I believe they are preparing to construct the tunnel box for the future new tunnel under the Hudson River.

Yes. The 1st major step on the ground is the demolition/deconstruction of the north end of the LIRR's Maintenance Of Equipment bldg. This is the white building the tracks are leading to on the right.

After that, AFAIK, they will have to demolish the vehicle ramp north of the MOE building to actually start excavating for the tunnel box

This photo from a 3/2013 Amtrak document shows where the tunnel box will go. The tunnel box construction should be quite "noticeable"
It will involve blasting in to the bedrock 35' below the train yard @ 1oth Ave and ~60' below the train yard at 11th Ave.

Note that at least part of what you see in the East Rail yard used to be Hudson River:
"One such pier was located at the foot of West 31st Street between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues on what is now Block 702 (Colton 1836). However, this location is currently occupied by subterranean tracks to Penn Station. After this block was filled in the mid- to late-nineteenth century it was developed, and then excavated for the tracks."


Image cut from Amtrak March 2013 Environmental Assessment

[NYguy]

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-08-26...ot-market-banal-towers-curvy-condos.html

Hudson Yards Offers Hot Market Banal Towers, Curvy Condos

By James S. Russell
Aug 26, 2013

..... Hudson Yards is big enough to incubate a truly 21st-century downtown. Related, which tends to default to the cookie cutter, isn’t going that far. The design is still a work in progress, yet could be much richer than the confused assortment offered in 2008 that looked like a graveyard of developer castoffs.

Related and Oxford currently are working on the eastern half of the site. Architect Kohn Pederson Fox will pair the tower rising now with a second, 69-story one, and run a multi-story mall (designed by retail specialist Elkus Manfredi) between them. The combination will make a long, intimidating wall along 10th Avenue, leavened by tall, glassy entry lobbies at the corners.

The cockeyed towers tilt and fold into knife-edge peaks as they rise from appendages in the shape of prisms and skinny wedges. These drop away as the towers go higher.

An observation-deck prow cantilevers 80 feet from the upper reaches of the taller building. Inside will be restaurants and a VIP club.

Related’s floor layouts are backward-looking, reflecting the energy-inefficient, low-ceilinged norm that’s claustrophobic in today’s high-density workplace.

By contrast, leather-goods retailer Coach Inc. (COH) signed on for 740,000 square feet in the first tower, and shows how the buildings should be done by slicing a dramatic 15-story atrium so its space could be filled with light.

Related and Oxford fill out the eastern superblock with two very tall residential towers that rise sheer, like bespoke missile silos, along 11th Avenue. David Childs, of Skidmore Owings & Merrill LLP, stacks stores, a giant fitness center, offices, a hotel and condominiums within a silkily rounded 60-story tower that telescopes into smaller sections as it rises.

The reflective-glass exterior is treated like tufted upholstery in the 72-story residential tower by Diller Scofidio & Renfro with the Rockwell Group. Metal straps cinch the upper half into rounded columnar forms. The skyscrapers could be finished by late 2017.

Unfortunately, all four towers collide jarringly. Their designs are veneered on, just like tower clumps in the instant downtowns of emerging global hubs.


....Related is hunting worldwide for a monumental artwork as the plaza’s focus. Landscape architect Nelson Byrd Woltz will redesign the plaza around it. I’m hoping for the sublime not the ridiculous.

Only tentative plans exist for the river-facing western superblock. Rectangular residential blocks and a school run in a much too rigid line on the north and south edges, while three rounded residential towers carve open space into a small internal park.

An elevated lawn opens toward the river, with a swath of it flowing down to slide beneath the High Line.

The scale of these spaces is more realistically human than the 2008 plan. If the designs are further refined to let sun, shadow and the tantalizing river view dance among the towers, Hudson Yards would make a surprising, gorgeous contrast with Manhattan’s dour grid.

[vkristof]

From
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...vy-condos.html

"The scale of these spaces is more realistically human than the 2008 plan. If the designs are further refined to let sun, shadow and the tantalizing river view dance among the towers, Hudson Yards would make a surprising, gorgeous contrast with Manhattan’s dour grid." - Let's hope so. They will spend many billions on this development.

[Blaze23]

I'm glad to see I'm not the only one who feels that way about HY. As much as I'm glad to see the project move forward, the complex just seem disorganized, like a mesh of buildings that don't complement each other ( tho I don't think the towers on their own are bad looking). Just compare it to the WTC where each tower is designed to stand on its own, yet they blend seamlessly and almost seem like they relate to one another. I hope they do better with the western half of the yards.

[JayPro]

Ye gods, enough with the damned tweaking, already!
What do you think they've been doing with the Big Four during the six-to-nine month period for which the refinement process has been going on?
I mean, now that building above grade is just starting, we wanna play with things some more so that the oh-so-pretty sunshine and that big, babbling brook that is the Hudson can dance with and make figurative love to the complex?
Spare me.
And someone tell these card-carrying Henry David Thoreau Fan Club members to spare their tripe for larger metropolises that
A) have the very sort of atmosphere wherein this sort of envisioned interplay is bound to happen most successfully,
B) actually have the funds and commericial attractiveness to build at this scale.
Or you can invite them to put their flowery rhetoric to the test by driving up the Jersey turnpike to the Apple during an August dog day with the power-windows fully open.
Better yet, give them lucky horseshoes to wear as necklaces so they can successfully outrun the local Frankenstein mobs of Connecticut NIMBY's armed with implements that could be quite difficult to remove from certain orifices should they wind up there.
Look, this is historically gruff, gritty, no-frills, and unapologetically so NYC. If we want big business, we'll make sure we get it, even if what gets built isn't the on the most attractive parcel, location- or square footage-wise.

The point I'm trying to make is that building tall with the intent to capitalize on natural beauty is all well and good if you're in, say, San Francisco or Vancouver. Believe you me that you'll have to travel at least 30 miles north on the Thruway/ I-87 or east on I-95 along the Nutmeg State's side of the Sound to even try that (in the latter case, watch out for those deuced NIMBY's I just talked about. The things they've been known to do with a gardening trowel are nasty...... ).

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by JayPro

Look, this is historically gruff, gritty, no-frills, and unapologetically so NYC. If we want big business, we'll make sure we get it, even if what gets built isn't the on the most attractive parcel, location- or square footage-wise.

There will always be something for someone to criticize, as far as design goes. But the critic has somehow lost the point that the buildings aren't meant to be the focal point, but the plaza itself is. Somehow we want to have buildings that blend into the Manhattan cityscape, and complain that they don't relate to each other. Forgetting for the moment that Manhattan's skyline is composed of mixed elements. Only the north and south towers were designed to play off of each other. Do we really expect the towers that will be built north along the Hudson Boulevard to somehow play off of those towers as well? Or do we expect them to rise the way skyscrapers do everywhere else in Manhattan. This is a massive development being built by a single developer (Related), it's on a largely unbuilt west side, where they are breaking new ground (in both senses of the word). This is not 5th Avenue, nor should it be. It's one of the very rare places in Midtown where you can build without the constraints of Midtown (streetwalls, etc.). So naturally what you see here will reflect that. The WTC is really no different in that regard.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by JayPro

Ye gods, enough with the damned tweaking, already!
What do you think they've been doing with the Big Four during the six-to-nine month period for which the refinement process has been going on?
I mean, now that building above grade is just starting, we wanna play with things some more so that the oh-so-pretty sunshine and that big, babbling brook that is the Hudson can dance with and make figurative love to the complex?
Spare me.
And someone tell these card-carrying Henry David Thoreau Fan Club members to spare their tripe for larger metropolises that
A) have the very sort of atmosphere wherein this sort of envisioned interplay is bound to happen most successfully,
B) actually have the funds and commericial attractiveness to build at this scale.
Or you can invite them to put their flowery rhetoric to the test by driving up the Jersey turnpike to the Apple during an August dog day with the power-windows fully open.
...
Look, this is historically gruff, gritty, no-frills, and unapologetically so NYC. If we want big business, we'll make sure we get it, even if what gets built isn't the on the most attractive parcel, location- or square footage-wise.

The point I'm trying to make is that building tall with the intent to capitalize on natural beauty is all well and good if you're in, say, San Francisco or Vancouver. Believe you me that you'll have to travel at least 30 miles north on the Thruway/ I-87 or east on I-95 along the Nutmeg State's side of the Sound to even try that (in the latter case, watch out for those deuced NIMBY's I just talked about. The things they've been known to do with a gardening trowel are nasty...... ).

FA!
As a proud NYer, I appreciate the spruced-dump that is the working bowels of the nearby Penn Station. Namely the LIRR spaces and the security theater that takes place in and around Penn. Midtown Manhattan near Penn was and is a working transportation nexus. Prettying it up with tall buildings and public space is a fine use of all that transportation infrastructure.

Plus it gives NYers something else to argue about.

BUT where are photos of any kind of construction work/demolition for the North Tower/Platform?

[j-biz]

Originally Posted by vkristof

BUT where are photos of any kind of construction work/demolition for the North Tower/Platform?

So far all they've done is remove some tracks going in to the MOE building that's slated to be demolished. If I have time later today, I'll go take a peek.

posted by SSC member Funkyskunk2

[JayPro]

THings going slow here is nothing to worry about.
Remember; this is an entirely new neighborhood rising out of pure blight, never mind logistic hell for those who regularly take advantage of the City's frequently exasperating mass transit system.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by JayPro

THings going slow here is nothing to worry about.
Remember; this is an entirely new neighborhood rising out of pure blight, never mind logistic hell for those who regularly take advantage of the City's frequently exasperating mass transit system.

Yah. "Pure blight" might be overstating it for construction tourists who might want to visit this area.

The foreground of the photos above also show that the tunnel box contractor TutorPerini is using the future location of Tower D as a staging area. I assume that it's for the tunnel box contract due to the fence arrangement, but TP might also be a contractor for actual Hudson Yards platform foundations.

Anybody know?

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by JayPro

THings going slow here is nothing to worry about.

Slow? This is an enormous project, they've just begun lining up permits to start working on the platform. There is a lot to be done here.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Slow? This is an enormous project, they've just begun lining up permits to start working on the platform. There is a lot to be done here.

Oh, yeah. Massive with a lot of coordination between contractors and many city, state agencies and Amtrak.

And the HighLine folks...

[NYguy]

Meanwhile, the centerpiece of the entire development is still in the works...


http://therealdeal.com/blog/2013/08/30/stephen-ross-sees-hudson-yards-as-new-heart-of-the-city/

Ross: $100M Hudson Yards sculpture will be NYC’s Eiffel Tower
Cost of still-to-be-designed artwork could top $100M


August 30, 2013
Mark Maurer

Related Companies founder Stephen Ross is predicting that a still-to-be-designed sculpture at Hudson Yards will be New York’s Eiffel Tower and more symbolic than the Christmas tree at Rockefeller Center — and will be key in making his megaproject “the new heart” of the city.

Ross is putting the gigantic piece of artwork in the public plaza of the 13 million-square-foot neighborhood, which is being developed jointly by Related and Oxford Properties Group. [b][color=blue]The companies are holding a contest — six famous sculptors, including Richard Serra and Anish Kapoor, have been invited to submit drawings — and are putting the cost at nearly $100 million, Fortune reported.

“This sculpture will be the greatest tourist attraction in New York,” Ross told the magazine. “It will be more than the Christmas tree in Rockefeller Center, but 365 days a year. It will be to this city what the Eiffel Tower is to Paris.”

THe 72-year-old Ross is the only developer willing to helm a project of Hudson Yard’s scope, according to Dan Doctoroff, a former city deputy mayor who now runs Bloomberg LP.

Related has a $20 billion portfolio of largely retail and residential buildings, and according to a Fortune estimate, several hundred million dollars a year in free cash flow. The Midtown West project will span 26 acres, making the largest U.S. private real estate project ever.

“You’re looking at something that will be far greater than Rockefeller Center — that will be the new heart of New York City,” Ross said.

http://money.cnn.com/2013/08/29/leadership/related-stephen-ross.pr.fortune/

The man behind the largest real estate project in U.S. history




Ross stands on an unfinished section of the High Line park in Manhattan. The 17 buildings in the Hudson Yards project will be built on massive concrete platforms on top of the rail yards behind him.


By Shawn Tully
August 29, 2013

Stephen Ross is pitching the dream, with an extra dollop of hyperbole. The founder and chairman of Related Cos. is standing on a dilapidated branch of an ancient elevated railway, known as the High Line, that runs through the Chelsea neighborhood on the West Side of Manhattan near the Hudson River. Below him is a bleak industrial landscape -- a vast rail-yard complex packed with the trains that feed Pennsylvania Station, surrounded by a patchwork of parking lots and auto-repair shops.

"This is not how New York should look!" exclaims Ross over the drone of the locomotives on a sunny morning. "We will change that. You're looking at something that will be far greater than Rockefeller Center -- that will be the new heart of New York City."

[hunser]

A supertall sculpture? I say go for it.

[King DenCity]

Originally Posted by hunser

A supertall sculpture? I say go for it.

A supertall sculpture would be quite grand

[chris08876]

I wonder what it could be?. Especially if its that tall. Maybe a statue of Bloomberg idk. Maybe a 1000ft roller coaster. Now that would be a tourist magnet.

[King DenCity]

Maybe a big giant... ummm... um... uh... a big giant... thing.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by hunser

A supertall sculpture? I say go for it.

It's not going to be a supertall sculpture. It will be large, in the way that the Statue of Liberty is a large statue, but it doesn't need to be a supertall sculpture to be the focal point.


The generic idea shown here...

http://www.hudsonyardsnewyork.com/arts-parks/gallery/public-square-12

[reencharles]

Originally Posted by chris08876

I wonder what it could be?. Especially if its that tall. Maybe a statue of Bloomberg idk. Maybe a 1000ft roller coaster. Now that would be a tourist magnet.

LOL. A statue of Bloomberg was funny.

[King DenCity]

^cool concept