The Trust’s decision to work with the Camp Group, Urban Dove, and Pier 40 Partnership was a huge victory for the citizens of the city of New York. The proposal by Related Companies for a major entertainment attraction including Cirque du Soeil was not right for downtown and not right for Hudson River Park.
Pier 40 Partnership is enthusiastic about the prospect of being asked to help develop a better project for the pier.
We look forward with great enthusiasm to working with the Trust Board members Paul Ullman and Joe Rose, the staff of the Hudson River Park Trust, CampGroup/Urban Dove, and our community and local elected officials. We know this is not an easy project. The pier needs a lot of expensive repairs. But we have always believed that once all the parties are fully engaged and pulling in one direction, the challenge will be met.
The community will need to keep an open mind to new uses that may be proposed and the Trust and elected official will have to keep an open mind to creative concepts that will make enable all of us to work together to deliver on this tall order. We are optimistic and ready to get to work.
1 year ago
Yesterday, the board of directors of Hudson River Park postponed a decision on redevelopment of Pier 40 until their March 27 meeting.
The events of the last few days have been mixed. We were exceedingly pleased that all six of our local elected officials wrote letters to the Trust (see the links below) to affirm there will be no amendment to the Hudson River Park Act to allow a 49-year lease for a project the community rejects. We were delighted that they all expressed openness to the idea of non-profit stewardship of the pier and the use of IDA bonds to finance its redevelopment, in keeping with concepts developed in the feasibility study prepared by HR&A Advisors. We were glad that the Trust has again withheld support from a Related Companies’s mega-entertainment proposal that at one time seemed to have the inside track. We were proud that the selection of Related has been prevented by the unified stand of our entire community. However, we were somewhat disappointed that the Trust was not persuaded that the time has come to close down the RFP.
The Trust said that neither developer has met the basic requirements to be designated to develop the pier. We agree. Related has stated it cannot provide the pro forma for a 30-year lease required by the RFP and the Park Act. We think now is a moment of opportunity to move the Pier 40 project forward, and that the effort would have been better served by creating an even playing field for all participants. Whatever path forward the Trust chooses, we believe it will be best served by first closing out the RFP, thereby enabling all concerned to engage fully in the enterprise.
We are pleased that the Trust understands there will be no change in the Park Act to accommodate a proposal that has no community support. But we are still concerned that some on the Trust board see this as a debate between “people who want no change on the one side and people who understand the park needs income on the other.” To the contrary the community clearly understands that there will be commercial activities on Pier 40 to pay for repairs and support the Trust. Criticism of the Related plan has focused on the impacts of the intensive nighttime entertainment uses. In fact, the study prepared for the Partnership by HR&A pragmatically addresses the need for revenue while the Related plan depends on a fantasy: an amendment of the Act that has no support among legislators. A closer look at the community’s concerns and the concepts proposed by the Partnership will ultimately help the Trust overcome the difficult challenges ahead.
We are hopeful that the time between now and the next Trust board meeting can be used productively and that we can continue to work together to craft a plan to redevelop the pier in a way that benefits the park and the community.
1 year ago
Pier 40 Partnership is comprised of community, business, and civic leaders who live in downtown Manhattan. We are very concerned about the future of Pier 40, the largest and most expandable available space for active recreation in our part of town. The group formed after a public hearing on May 3rd, 2007, attended by 2000 people who share our concerns, to help explore alternative approaches to those proposed thus far for repairing and improving the pier and enhancing and expanding its uses.
Our group believes the two proposals submitted in response to the Pier 40 RFP are sub-optimal for the Hudson River Park Trust and the city, and detrimental to the park and nearby communities. So we have offered to fund an analysis, in the form of a land use feasibility study, to find an approach to redevelopment of the pier that will create new open space for active recreation as well as enjoyment of the waterfront while also generating more revenue to the Trust than the current proposals.
Pier 40 Partnership also plans to raise significant private funds for building out a plan that meets the needs of the Trust and the city and the wishes of our community. To that end, we have already obtained initial pledges of $10 million.
1 year ago
