NEW YORK | Hudson Yards; 40 msf of development

[Busy Bee]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

absolutely no. no crosstown surface rail in midtown. this isnt freakin portland or san diego. back to the yards...any news about the westernmost end of the rail yards? when will work start over there? all i've seen is staging and surveying.

In defense of surface rail, dedicated row with no vehicular traffic on 34 including synchronizing lights could and would in my opinion be a huge success.

[Crawford]

I am 100% against light rail or any surface rail in Manhattan.

Any rail needs to be underground and heavy rail. High capacity only.

[chris08876]

Light rail in Manhattan would not work. Maybe in parts of Queens or Brooklyn that do not have adequate subway coverage but not Manhattan. This is the city we are talking about. As Crawford mentioned, heavy capacity. That system would get overloaded in such a dense portion city. Its not just residents we have to worry about, its the 4 million plus daytime population that would overload that system on the first day.

Originally Posted by Busy Bee

In defense of surface rail, dedicated row with no vehicular traffic on 34 including synchronizing lights could and would in my opinion be a huge success.

Maybe if it was elevated I could see some potential. Almost the the train system in Chicago's Loop.

Anyways, this would make a good discussion in the transportation section or maybe the city discussion.

[spoonman]

Originally Posted by mrnyc

absolutely no. no crosstown surface rail in midtown. this isnt freakin portland or san diego. back to the yards...any news about the westernmost end of the rail yards? when will work start over there? all i've seen is staging and surveying.

San Diego wants to underground the existing surface rail downtown, so I couldn't imagine installing new surface rail in midtown.

[chris08876]

Some photo updates via YIMBY and Curbed:



Overview of the whole site, including the platform.


The new entrance to the 7 train.


Pavers on Hudson Boulevard

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http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2014/0...take_shape.php
https://www.flickr.com/photos/scottl...n/pool-curbed/

[NYguy]

http://www.bisnow.com/commercial-rea...ark-boulevard/

Sneak Peek: Hudson Park & Boulevard

Moinian, Related, and Brookfield are building so much on their combined 35 acres on the Far West Side, it's hard to wrap your head around it. That's why Bisnow is hosting a Future of Manhattan's Far West Side event on June 25 at Espace on West 42nd Street.

We got a sneak peek at the under-construction Hudson Park & Boulevard (conceptualized as the new Park Avenue, only wider) with Avison Young's Anthony LoPresti, and Moinian's Oskar Brecher (who will be a panelist at our event) and Aron Kirsch, and The LiRo Group's Felix Rubenstein and Dan Bradley.

The progress is stunning, and the first three blocks will open by the end of the year. We snapped the guys at 36th Street and Hudson Boulevard West, which already is paved and will run south from 38th into Moinian's 3 Hudson Blvd at 35th Street. The northbound Hudson Boulevard East will run from 33rd to 38th. The park will run between the boulevards (each will be 30 feet wide), and the 33rd to 36th stretch will deliver by the end of the year.




Also at 36th Street, a cafe/concession stand already is in the works. (No line! Now's your chance.) Oskar tells us the Hudson Yards/Hell's Kitchen BID, formed just weeks ago, likely will be active in the City's RFP and selection process.




Paving for the winding sidewalk has begun, and the Dickensian light posts that line it already are up. A playground will eventually replace the dirt mover (though it no doubt would be popular with the kids if it stayed). In the background, Related's first Hudson Yards office tower is going higher every day.




This may look like the beginnings of a streetlight, but it's actually an art installation designed by James Carpenter Design Associates. The installation will be 50 feet tall and will have 20 light sources, so both the pole and the surrounding ground will be canvases for the light show.




Just south of 35th Street, the 7 train's northern exit is taking shape. To the left of these stairs, four escalators will take passengers 40 feet down to the turnstiles, and then another set of escalators will go another 80 feet to the platform, which will stretch two blocks to the station's southern entrance at the foot of Moinian's 3 Hudson Blvd.




What we're about to tell you will change you forever. To create rolling hillsides, geofoam is cheaper than real dirt (leave it to the real estate industry to find something that actually is cheaper than dirt). Just stack a few tiers of foam like steps, cover with sand to make an even slope, and put down some soil.




We snapped Oskar and Anthony in front of the 3 Hudson Blvd site, which will become one of two office buildings that will sit directly adjacent to a park (not separated by a road). The office buildings on Park Avenue are on average 50 years older than the new ones rising on the Far West Side, Anthony tells us, and Oskar says that translates to 20% to 30% savings in operations, from energy-efficient elevators to column-free space to safety. And while the delay in rezoning Midtown East allows the local real estate market to deal with one thing at a time—the Far West Side and then Midtown East—Aron says the East Side has a significant role to play, as well. NYC needs 60M SF to 80M SF of new office space over the next 40 years, he says.




The southern 7 train entrance, just south of 34th, gives a closer glimpse at what the finished product will look like. Picone Contracting, which long has worked on government projects, is building the subway and may also build the foundation for build 3 Hudson Boulevard foundation, which would be its first major private-sector project. Aron tells us the 7 train stop at Hudson Boulevard is designed to handle 30,000 people an hour.




The park from 33rd to 34th shows off the almost finished product. Aron says there are 12,000 plants and trees on this block alone. (Who needs fancy oxygen bars when you've got an oxygen block?) Oskar tells us the park and boulevard were conceived as part of NYC's Olympics bid and a parking facility originally was going to lie under the park.




The days of lounging around on park benches are closer than you think!

[Perklol]

Anyone else worried?

Finally, I have some news on the 7 line extension and East Side Access. According to the latest MTA Board committee meeting materials, the 7 line may not open until early 2015, but the MTA is working hard to begin revenue service prior to the end of 2014. More on that on Monday, but clearly this is a mess. Meanwhile, the MTA has determined that they expect East Side Access to cost around $10.7 billion and be ready for passenger service before the end of 2022. I also expect flying cars and hover boards around then. Still no word on the definitive ribbon cutting for the Fulton St. Transit Center.

http://secondavenuesagas.com/2014/06...rvice-changes/

[chris08876]

No it will happen. The sarcasm in the article just points to the negativity. Theres always some sort of doubt on multi-billion dollar investments/developments. This mess pales in comparison to the WTC. Talk about a fiasco with the whole complex.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by chris08876

No it will happen. The sarcasm in the article just points to the negativity. Theres always some sort of doubt on multi-billion dollar investments/developments. This mess pales in comparison to the WTC. Talk about a fiasco with the whole complex.

"The sarcasm in the article just points to the negativity." -yes, it does. Most people have their own views and opinions. Besides his humor (a matter of opinion), he is pointing out the continually slipped dates on MTACC (Capital Construction) projects. Note that Tutor-Perini is one of the contractors on the overall MTACC ESA and is the prime for HY.

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by vkristof

that Tutor-Perini is one of the contractors on the overall MTACC ESA and is the prime for HY.

Who is that individual/entity? Is mentioned entity known for something? (good or bad)

Also more news on the subway.

Meanwhile, the escalators and elevators at the 34th St. site remain an open question. Testing will begin again next month, and the contractors have agreed to speed up work on these elements of the project. This sounds well and good, but while the MTA is remaining vague on the completion date, their independent engineering consultants are now predicting revenue service by February 2015, a full 14 months after then-Mayor Bloomberg’s ceremonial ride back in December. The IEC notes that the MTA’s own December 2014 date relies on accelerated contractor schedules that the contractors haven’t been able to meet. Any slippage will push the opening date back further.

http://secondavenuesagas.com/2014/06...n-for-service/

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

Who is that individual/entity? Is mentioned entity known for something? (good or bad)

Also more news on the subway.


http://secondavenuesagas.com/2014/06...n-for-service/

T-P is a major, well respected construction company which IIRC is growing. They are the prime (my term) contractor for the overall Hudson Yards development, which Related keeps plugging as the largest RE development in the USA.

And they are involved in at least two excavate & cover rail projects in NYC.

[Perklol]

^^Ahh ok now I know. Thanks.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

^^Ahh ok now I know. Thanks.

If you read between the lines I might be implying that they might have overcommited.
In addition, I certainly do not know when they (T-P) were told they were also "getting" the Amtrak gateway tunnel box concrete casing project. There are a bunch of inter-related priorities between the MTA/LIRR (the owner of the site), Amtrak, Related/Oxford, etc.

IIRC the tunnel box STUDY was dated December 2012.

[NYguy]

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/articl...sfp=3160509449

Real estate group to argue for 7 train to Secaucus





By Dana Rubinstein
Jul. 17, 2014

Michael Bloomberg may have left office, but one of his favorite transit projects still has legs.

On Thursday, the Real Estate Board of New York, which represents the city’s biggest developers, will testify before Governor Andrew Cuomo’s M.T.A. “reinvention commission” in favor of extending the Number 7 subway line to Secaucus, New Jersey.

“It has been more than 100 years since we have built a rail connection under the Hudson River,” board president Steven Spinola will argue, according to a copy of his testimony provided to Capital. “Since then, the city’s population has almost doubled and the population of the counties west of the Hudson has tripled. More significantly, almost a third of the city’s workforce is comprised of suburban workers, with a growing share coming from New Jersey.”

The city anticipates demand for transit between New Jersey and New York to grow 38 percent by 2030, even as existing facilities are at or near capacity.

After New Jersey governor Chris Christie unilaterally killed the federally backed tunnel project called Access to the Region’s Core, which would have doubled rail capacity under the Hudson River, the Bloomberg administration began studying the idea of extending the Number 7 train from 11th Avenue—where the M.T.A. is now completing another city-funded 7 train extension—to New Jersey, where it could connect with NJ Transit.

In 2012, then-M.T.A. chairman Joe Lhota said, “It's not going to happen in anybody's lifetime."

Nevertheless, in 2013, the city released a study finding that the extension was “physically and operationally feasible” and would allow a commuter to ride from Secaucus to Grand Central Terminal in just 16 minutes. The extension would accommodate an additional 128,000 commuters a day.

Asked for comment, M.T.A. spokesman Adam Lisberg said, "The M.T.A. has shown little interest in this plan in the past for a variety of technical and planning reasons. But the Transportation Reinvention Commission exists to consider a wide variety of ideas from a wide variety of stakeholders."

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by NYguy

http://www.capitalnewyork.com/articl...sfp=3160509449

Real estate group to argue for 7 train to Secaucus





By Dana Rubinstein
Jul. 17, 2014

Thanks for posting that. I have to note that Joe Lhota, a former admin NYC deputy mayor , resigned from the MTA to run for NYC mayor and lost. The MTA (a NY State agency) already has serious issues funding it's next capital construction plan w/o extending the IRT Flushing subway line to New Jersey. Note that IRT Flushing line also runs the shortest LENGTH trains (implication is least number of passengers/train in the NYC subway system. However, it does have a LONG history of calls for extension, according to Wikipedia:

Several calls for the resumption of the project [rail tunnel under East River] between 1893 and 1896, in addition to a proposed extension to New Jersey, were futile.[4][5][6][7]

The MTA graphic below illustrates the current, still-not-open, 7 subway extension:

MTA

In addition, the Amtrak Gateway tunnel box segment between 10th & 11th Ave might be completed next year and that tunnel box is at least pointed in the "right direction", ie, towards Jersey/the Hudson River.

IMHO, NYC/NY state will get the Amtrak Gateway project, not a 7 subway extension to NJ. If it gets anything this century.

[chris08876]

It could happen but the politics involved in such decisions is maddening. The subway extension to certain parts of NJ would allow for some great density support. It would be nice to get both projects though at once, but I can only wonder how insanely long that would take.

[Perklol]

Originally Posted by chris08876

It could happen but the politics involved in such decisions is maddening. The subway extension to certain parts of NJ would allow for some great density support. It would be nice to get both projects though at once, but I can only wonder how insanely long that would take.

So true. The last east river crossing was a disaster. Can't believe the stations + tunnel took almost 22 years to open.

Anyway here are some pics of the Hudson Yards from MTA's flickr page.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtapho...7646066046982/

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by Eveningsong

So true. The last east river crossing was a disaster. Can't believe the stations + tunnel took almost 22 years to open.

Anyway here are some pics of the Hudson Yards from MTA's flickr page.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/mtapho...7646066046982/

Yes that's a good point and lesson. But that delay occurred during the NYC-almost-went broke 1970s and very slow recovery 1980s. Hopefully that type of event will not occur again in our lifetimes.

And the lower level might be in revenue service in 2022? So full usage of the 63rd st tunnels would take ~half a century. Yeesh...

[599GTO]

Just read that pneumatic waste tubes will be installed at Hudson Yards.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...icle-1.1846588

No more trash sitting on the sidewalk, no more rats, no more foul smells, no ratty old garbage trucks rumbling through the neighborhood at 4 am. I have no idea why this system isn't installed throughout somewhere as wealthy and important as Manhattan to rid the image/blight of trashy and smelly sidewalks. A pity that modernizing crumbling infrastructure isn't a big priority in the city (or country).

Interesting that Roosevelt Island has it.

[vkristof]

Originally Posted by 599GTO

Just read that pneumatic waste tubes will be installed at Hudson Yards.

http://www.nydailynews.com/life-styl...icle-1.1846588

No more trash sitting on the sidewalk, no more rats, no more foul smells, no ratty old garbage trucks rumbling through the neighborhood at 4 am. I have no idea why this system isn't installed throughout somewhere as wealthy and important as Manhattan to rid the image/blight of trashy and smelly sidewalks. A pity that modernizing crumbling infrastructure isn't a big priority in the city (or country).

Interesting that Roosevelt Island has it.

The development of Hudson Yards will displace the "ratty old garbage trucks" that park on the 11th Ave viaduct. But those DSNY garbage trucks will just be parking someplace else...