NEW YORK | (Staten Island) New York Wheel | 625 FT

[NYguy]

They're making progress through the City's review process...


http://www.silive.com/opinion/editorials/index.ssf/2013/03/staten_islands_wheel_will_with.html

Work crews have already begun to test the soil next to the Richmond County Bank Ballpark in anticipation of groundbreaking for the New York Wheel on 2014.

Currently. the project is undergoing the city's Uniform Land Use Review Process (ULURP).

"We are continuing to make great progress on our ULURP application," Mr. Marin has said. "We have gotten the support of major agencies as we've gone through this by answering all of their questions and changing a few things here or there. We are still expecting to be on target for ULURP certification in April and to have our ULURP approval by a November time frame."

He has been meeting with elected officials, community boards and civic groups to keep them updated. Our expectation is that city officials will enforce the highest standards for the development, which is projected to lead to an economic boom on the North Shore. The New York Wheel is scheduled to open for business on Dec. 31, 2015.

Sounds like something from the gloried past of New York icons.

[NYguy]

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/03/a_refined_vision_for_the_new_y.html

New photos: A refined vision for the New York Wheel on Staten Island






By Jillian Jorgensen
March 31, 2013

A rolling green roof atop an elegant all-glass facade, with both a white-table-cloth restaurant and a spot for a laid-back picnic on the grass 70 feet above the harbor, with a view of Manhattan through the center of a tremendous observation wheel.

That's the latest vision for the New York Wheel and it's terminal building, shown in updated renderings provided by Wheel CEO Rich Marin.

"This design is not final-final but it's at least one final," Marin joked.

The design includes many modifications made as a result of consulting with different city agencies in pursuit of Uniformed Land Use Review Process certification, and of repeated meetings with the city's Design Commission.

"We've made a lot of changes to the design to meet their suggestions and hopefully we're down to the sort of the short strokes," Marin said.

While plenty of people have a pretty good idea of what the giant observation wheel will look like, the new renderings show a sleek glass terminal building that will allow people have a view from the harbor both inside and out, and the building is designed to flow as such.

"People can actually walk over to the side and enjoy a seat on the beach, and it's almost sort of stadium-like seating," Marin said. "That becomes a very nice, contemplative place to sit and ponder the (Postcards) Memorial and the waterfront and our plaza." 

[NYguy]

http://www.trespa.com/us/event/visionaries-new-york-wheel

Visionaries: The New York Wheel

Lecture.
May 21, 2013 - 6:30pm to 8:00pm.
62 Greene Street (Ground Floor) New York, NY 10012



Trespa Design Centre in SoHo welcomes Richard Marin, President +CEO, New York Wheel LLC; Navid Maqami, Perkins Eastman; Rick Parisi, M. Paul Friedberg + Partners; Penny Knops, Design + Sustainability Management, for one of the first-ever presentations on the proposed New York Wheel project.

The New York Wheel promises to become one of the City’s great landmark attractions. Located on the north shore of Staten Island (St. George), the 630-foot, or roughly 60-story attraction will be the tallest observation wheel in the world and the only one in New York City. The site is planned as a world-class sustainable venue emphasizing the visual history of New York, advanced technology and state-of-the-art sustainability elements. The Wheel will accommodate up to 1400 people per 38 minute ride, welcoming as many as 30,000 visitors per day and an anticipated 3-4 million visitors per year.

http://ny.curbed.com/tags/staten-island-observation-wheel

[TechTalkGuy]

Good first design.
The indoor enclosed space has so much potential.
I just hope it's not going to wind up as a tourist trap surrounded by street vendors.

[NYguy]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

I just hope it's not going to wind up as a tourist trap surrounded by street vendors.

Street vendors help to make the streets more active. The tourists shops themselves are often overpriced. There should be vendors here as well, to fit the New York experience.

[TechTalkGuy]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Street vendors help to make the streets more active. The tourists shops themselves are often overpriced. There should be vendors here as well, to fit the New York experience.

I'm not talking about the typical street vendors you'll find at certain venues, but the over-crowded circus trap you'll find at Lower Manhattan when the Statue of Liberty ferry returns.

Seriously, you can't get back to the subway without being completely surrounded by too many street vendors blocking your path.

The street vendors need to be spaced out so you are not trapped.
If your vision is Times Square, then you can have it!

[CoolCzech]

Originally Posted by TechTalkGuy

Good first design.
The indoor enclosed space has so much potential.
I just hope it's not going to wind up as a tourist trap surrounded by street vendors.

Well if a giant ferris - uh, "viewing" - wheel is not a tourist trap what do you think it will be? A cultural monument?

It's being built specifically to attract tourists and generate local tourist business.

[NYguy]

Yeah, it will definitely be full of tourists, and touristy things, like vendors. We don't want it to be a too sterile environment.

[TechTalkGuy]

Originally Posted by NYguy

Yeah, it will definitely be full of tourists, and touristy things, like vendors. We don't want it to be a too sterile environment.

My vision is similar to the boardwalk at Coney Island.
We need delicious food!

Nathan's is the first to come to mind.

[NYguy]

^ You know there will be food. The masses have to be fed! But they'll also shop...


http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2013/04/developer_staten_island_retail.html

Staten Island retail outlets to include Nike, Adidas, Coach, developer says





By Judy L. Randall
April 24, 2013

Nike, Adidas and Coach are expected be among the retail giants at Empire Outlets-New York City, the developer of the planned St. George shopping mecca slated to sit next to the New York Wheel said Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Wheel's new opening date is July 4, 2016, said Wheel CEO Richard Marin.

Marin and Don Capoccia of BFC Partners, developers of Empire Outlets, gave overviews of their projects, as did Elysa Goldman of Triangle Equities, developer of the Lighthouse Pointe Project, which will feature smaller-scale shops, at the 15th Annual Staten Island Economic Development Conference. The all-day event was held in the Hilton Garden Inn, Bloomfield. Real estate broker John Pitera of Casandra Properties, the leasing and marketing agent for Empire Outlets who was in attendance, declined to hint at who the retailers might be, despite SIEDC pitching it as an "unveiling" of the shops.

But during a brief question-and-answer session, Capoccia revealed it would be "All the retailers you would want to see, Nike, Adidas," before abruptly stopping, saying he was being signaled to go no further. "It will be all the right retailers," Capoccia added to laughter. "You will have Coach purses!"

Capoccia said the Empire Outlets, slated to open Thanksgiving 2016, will mean 800 construction jobs and 700 permanent jobs, and said subcontractors and employees will be pulled from Staten Island.

"There is room for Staten Island businesses that want to get involved in this space," he added.

The property will include 300,000 square feet of outlet space, 30,000 square feet of restaurant space, 20,000 square feet of banquet space and a 200-room hotel, said Pitera.

Marin said the Wheel will move into the Uniform Land Use Review Process phase by May, with final approval expected by year's end and ground-breaking of the site next spring.

He said it would drive jobs, tourism and local real estate, quipping it would mean "dollars, euros, yen." The Wheel, 630-feet, or roughly 60-stories, high, would be the tallest observation wheel in the world, "simple in its elegance," said Marin. "We are not trying to create a circus," said Marin. "Think the Washington Monument, the arch in St. Louis, than Coney Island."

In addition to a waterfall, open spaces, pathways, retail and restaurants, Marin said a five-story "beautiful lighted icon" of a utility tower will "make sure everything is safe," should another Sandy-like storm surge hit. Said Marin: "We think this is going to be a beautiful, iconic site and draw a lot of attention around the world. It will make a big difference in letting people know what a great place Staten Island is."

Meanwhile, Lighthouse Pointe's Ms. Goldman said the historic site will include 75,000 square feet of retail and restaurant space, 164 hotel rooms and 96 units of residential space. "Our vision is more of a village," said Ms. Goldman, including boutique and artisan shops and utilizing the historic vaults for coffee houses and wine and cheese shops. Space for outdoor concerts and greenmarkets will be another component, she said.

Ms. Goldman said city and state Landmark Commissions are weighing in on restoration requirements for the site, including the brick wall along Bay Street. She said while a portion of the wall will be "penetrated ... to create access," it will be restored in accordance with Landmark rules and city Planning regulations.

That's 3 major developments for the area. I don't see how anyone could be against this, especially with the jobs they will bring.

[mrnyc]

wheel ceo? whuddatitle!

[NYguy]

http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/180977/opening-of-si-wheel-now-expected-to-be-july-2016

Opening Of SI Wheel Now Expected To Be July 2016


By: NY1 News
4/24/13

A seven-month delay was announced Wednesday for the completion of what will be the world's largest ferris wheel and an outlet mall on Staten Island.

The project was set to be finished on New Year's Eve 2015, but New York Wheel president Rich Marin now says a more realistic date is July 4, 2016.

Planners say the city's first outlet mall will open several months later, around Thanksgiving 2016. They say they're on track to have 15 to 20 percent of the space rented by this summer, which will also include a catering hall and hotel.

The wheel will take people over 600 feet into the sky in a ride lasting 38 minutes. A ticket is expected to cost $25 per person.

http://statenisland.ny1.com/content/top_...porate-multimedia-into-s-i--ferris-wheel

Developers Want To Incorporate Multimedia Into S.I. Ferris Wheel


By: NY1 News
4/23/13

Creative minds are spinning with ideas on how to combine technology with the planned Ferris wheel on Staten Island.

One year before construction begins, planners are looking at ways of turning the giant New York Wheel into a multimedia experience. Initial plans include adding touchscreens, cameras, tablets and an app that can provide information on the site and the city.

Developers are also in early talks with Google to possibly incorporate technology like Google Glass, which is essentially a tiny computer mounted on eyeglass frames.

All this added visual space gives companies more places to advertise.

The Ferris wheel is expected to open in 2016.

http://adage.com/article/media/york-whee...letter&utm_campaign=adage&ttl=1367259045

New York Wheel Could Create New Outdoor-Ad Opportunities
Developers Seeks Sponsors by Touting Attraction's Technology, Social Media Potential

By: Jeanine Poggi
April 22, 2013

The New York Wheel could usher in a new era in outdoor advertising when it joins other iconic structures along the New York harbor in 2016. The Ferris wheel, which will be erected in Staten Island near the ferry terminal, is expected to attract up to 4.5 million visitors per year, according to developers. If current plans materialize, the wheel will be bigger than the London Eye and the world's largest, Singapore Flyer.

Sponsors will get more than just their name slapped on the New York Wheel, said David Taggart, managing partner at M4 Media & Marketing, which is assisting in selling the naming rights. The 625-foot structure is being designed as a social experience that extends beyond the actual 38-minute ride.

"The old sponsorship model, where a brand's name is just associated with a structure, is disappearing," he said. "The wheel is a hybrid play beyond just an outdoor-naming opportunity."

Technology and social media are playing a crucial role in the design of the wheel. Developers are in talks with Google to use its technology, like Google Glasses, to offer riders an augmented-reality experience. Carts will feature touch-screen glass to add to the multimedia experience, which could incorporate brand messaging. A New York Wheel app will provide information on the structure, as well as on the metropolitan area, and could serve as another advertising platform.

But developers are most focused on the social aspects of the New York Wheel. The site will be wired and equipped with all forms of technology, including cameras and tablets. "By allowing riders to share their experience, we are extending the reach globally," Mr. Taggart said.

He expects the wheel to generate billions of impressions annually for its sponsors. New York Wheel is in talks with potential naming partners in the financial services, beverages, telco, airline and consumer-electronics/technology sectors for what would be a multimillion-dollar sponsorship deal, though the seller would not be specific on prices. Most prospective partners are household brand names, Mr. Taggart said.

Mr. Taggart expects to have some committed sponsors by the beginning of the third quarter. Construction of the wheel is slated to start in mid-2014 with a target opening of mid-2016.

[TechTalkGuy]

If electronic advertisements are going to work, it would need to emulate the success we have in Times Square (the most advertised space in the city).

As for Google, I personally don't trust that idea for privacy concerns.

Offering a free app is one thing, but forcing users into a Google world is another.

[NYguy]

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/re...berg_adding_space_9OlunH9pW9Z36hWInqBGAP




May 21, 2013
By Steve Cuozzo

Reps for high-end stores lined up at the ICSC conference in Las Vegas yesterday to check out a presentation for BFC Partners’ Empire Outlets project, even as the $250 million-plus “value retail” complex in Staten Island began its trek through the city’s public review process (ULURP).

Our spies spotted suits from Coach, Restoration Hardware, Michael Kors, Nordstrom Rack and Brooks Bros. scoping out the BFC suite. The first images of the planned shopping/dining/hotel complex near the St. George ferry terminal were shown on nypost.com yesterday.

Empire Outlets’ 340,000 square feet will include 125 designer outlet stores, a 200-room hotel, a banquet facility and a 1,250-space parking garage. Designed by SHoP Architects, it’s to feature open water view corridors.

It would stand on the other side of the Richmond County Bank Ballpark from the New York Wheel, a 600-foot-high Ferris wheel to be erected by a development team led by Wall Street titan Richard Marin. The Wheel also takes the ULURP plunge this week. The projects are the heart of Mayor Bloomberg’s effort to bring new life to the neglected St. George waterfront.

BFC Partners managing principal Donald Capoccia said he doesn’t expect Empire Outlets to have a hard time getting through ULURP — “Staten Island elected officials have totally embraced this project.” The job requires a zoning change and certain special permits.

Capoccia pegged the development cost between $250 million and $275 million, up from previous estimates of $230 million. For construction financing, he said, “We’ll explore what’s available later,” but noted “a lot of interest from the New York City Regional Center, which locates capital for economic development through the federal EB-5 Visa Program.

EB-5 encourages participation by immigrant investors and has drawn over $250 million to city enterprises, including Steiner Studios and the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corp. A hotel operator will be chosen later.

The stores come first: “The success of our project lies in core retail tenancy — the first 50,000 to 100,000 square feet will tell the story,” Capoccia said.

He was heartened that BFC Partners’ retail team, including his partner Joseph Ferrara, was at ICSC “making order out of chaos,” Capoccia said with a laugh.

Ferrara would not discuss specific tenants, but he did note, “We actually have had to turn some people away because we want a certain brand level. There are outlets and there are outlets.”

He said Empire Outlets and the Wheel, although they are entirely separate, bring synergy to one another. The two developers plan to set up a joint marketing display in the St. George Ferry Terminal in July.

Capoccia expects to break ground next winter or spring and complete the project by 2016. The $300 million Wheel also hopes to start construction next year and open by July 4, 2016.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/business/exclusive_first_look_at_staten_island_5nyjnRIHqRbbH36BO8HYBL









http://photos.silive.com/4499/gallery/ne...ten_islands_empire_outlets/index.html#/0

[NYguy]

http://www.silive.com/northshore/index.ssf/2013/05/post_63.html

Gridlock-busting plans laid for New York Wheel on Staten Island




By Jillian Jorgensen
May 24, 2013

The New York Wheel and Empire Outlets project would cause delays at 16 intersections on Staten Island — but developers say they’ll add lanes or update signal timing to keep things moving smoothly at all but three of them.

Harder to fix, however, will be a ferry logjam: Eighteen ferry trips are expected to run over their functional capacity once the Wheel is built.

“You can’t add this many people to the ferry service without having some concern,” New York Wheel CEO Rich Marin told the Advance earlier this week.

Those findings are part of the Draft Environmental Impact Survey that was completed earlier this month.

It lays out plans to mitigate traffic caused by the development at 13 intersections. But it notes that conditions at three others, the Richmond Terrace and Staten Island Ferry viaduct car lane, the bus lane there, and Richmond Terrace and Hamilton Avenue, will make it impossible to avoid an increased wait time.

And while developers can propose changes to keep most traffic moving, keeping ferryboats moving is another story.

The number of people trying to board certain boats is expected to be up to 1,593 passengers over the boat’s functional capacity — that is, how many people can be herded aboard in the 6.5 minutes before the boat is scheduled to leave, according to the impact survey.

The document offers three potential solutions — though it notes that even without the projects being built, the ferry is already slated to be over capacity during some sailings by 2016.

Since there are enough seats on the boats for even 1,593 extra passengers — it’s just a matter of being unable to board them quickly enough — one potential solution is increasing the width of the boarding aprons to get folks aboard faster. Ferries, too, would have to be modified to fit the slips.

“According to NYCDOT, this measure would take approximately 8 to 10 years to implement and would require significant capital investment,” the survey found.

Perhaps an easier fix — and one that has already been proposed by the Staten Island members of the City Council delegation — would be increasing the frequency of ferryboats. That would reduce the number of people on each boat, but it would require money to recruit and train more workers, according to the document.

Both developers expressed support for that idea earlier this week.

[NYguy]

http://www.dnainfo.com/new-york/20130604...cking-from-staten-island-community-board

New York Wheel Gets Backing from Staten Island Community Board


By Nicholas Rizzi
June 4, 2013

The New York Wheel is a step closer to spinning on Staten Island's waterfront. The world's tallest Ferris wheel and the city's only outlet mall, planned for St. George, were backed unanimously by Community Board 1's Land Use committee at a Monday night meeting. The board agreed to the zoning changes required for both projects.

Before the vote, the developers told the standing-room-only crowd at Brighton Heights Reformed Church about changes to the project made during an environmental study. They included LED lighting on the wheel that will now only face out into the harbor.

"Our objective here is to have the wheel generate business activity for New York City, for St. George and for all of Staten Island," said Rich Marin, CEO of the New York Wheel.

Many residents in the crowd echoed the board's support of the project, but also had concerns about parts of the projects. Members of the building trade union urged Don Capoccia of BFC Partners, the developers of the Empire Outlets, to use union builders. "It's not enough to create a job, it has to be a good job," said Robert Holst, a union worker from Mariner's Harbor. "I can't go to this wonderful wheel with my family and spend a day there when no one's going to pay me a salary to do so." Holst, like many in the audience, stressed that they wanted the jobs to mainly go to local Staten Island union workers.

Capoccia said his company has met twice with the president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and would look to bring on union work for Empire Outlets, formerly known as Harbor Commons. "We're happy to accommodate and we're looking to find a sustainable, substantive role for them in this project," he said. Marin has already committed to using union work for the construction of the wheel.

Aside from labor, a major worry for many in the audience was traffic added by site visitors. While the project's Draft Environmental Impact Statement calls for changes in traffic directions in several nearby streets to help mitigate the increase, some in the audience didn't feel that was enough.

Lynn Kelly, CEO of Snug Harbor Cultural Center, said she was in favor of the project — which she hopes will increase the number of visitors to Snug Harbor — but felt the plans would still leave many intersections at a "D" grade. "We all know what D is, that's one level above F, and that's not acceptable," Kelly said. "I ask that the city takes a hard look at mitigating those impacts, and those intersections that have that level of service."

Others asked the city to put money made from the project into improvements in the borough. Theo Dorian, president of the St. George Civic Association, said the city should use the funds for increased service of the Staten Island Ferry, something borough council members have fought for recently, and to restore the North Shore Railroad. The board suggested a dozen ways the city could use revenue gained by the wheel to help the borough, including the railroad, a greenway and better traffic conditions for Richmond Terrace.

The vote on Monday night was the first in the long process of the wheel and mall's Uniform Land Use Review Procedure, the city's public review process for land use. The application will go for a vote in front of the full Community Board 1 on June 11.

The application will then go to the borough president, the city Planning Commission and the City Council for its final approval.

[Duck From NY]

The "traffic" on Bay St./Richmond Terr. barely exists now. I had figured if there would be any concern it would lay a few miles away at major intersections near the highway.

[uaarkson]

Real solution: get a subway line out to SI, ASAP.

[Duck From NY]

Originally Posted by uaarkson

Real solution: get a subway line out to SI, ASAP.

My impression is that most Staten Islanders would be against a direct route to Brooklyn or Manhattan.

[Roadcruiser1]

Nope. A poll showed that roughly 75% of all Staten Islanders want some sort of subway on their island.

http://www.silive.com/news/index.ssf/2011/11/a_case_of_staten_island_tunnel.html