HomeDiagramsDatabaseMapsForum About
     

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Global Projects & Construction > General Development


Reply

 
Thread Tools Display Modes
     
     
  #1  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2006, 8:21 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
Smile NEW YORK | New East River access

NY Times

Temporary Roadway for Cars May Be Transformed Into Permanent Refuge From Them



Looking south near the F. D. R. Drive at the outboard detour. It may be used for pedestrian and bicycle paths.




Large ships passing beside the detour are required to use tugboats.



By TIMOTHY WILLIAMS
December 26, 2006

A temporary detour route on the Franklin D. Roosevelt Drive that extends 25 feet over the East River would be remodeled into a waterfront park under a plan being studied by the Bloomberg administration.

The Outboard Detour Roadway, completed in 2004 from roughly 54th to 63rd Street while that section of the drive was being refurbished, had been scheduled to be dismantled last month. Now, though, city officials are pressing to use the abandoned 2,500-foot strip of roadway to extend the esplanade around Manhattan to a portion of waterfront currently inaccessible to pedestrians and cyclists.

The plan, in its very early stages, calls for demolishing all but the roadway’s westernmost underwater support beams and building a new structure that would not extend as far over the river.

The new park would probably be at most 20 feet wide, city officials said, enough room for bicycle lanes and a narrow pedestrian walkway. Advocates say the result would be akin to the High Line park being developed out of an abandoned elevated railway line on the West Side, although it would be much smaller, and over water.


“It is on the water, it is already built, and we would like to have a nice bikeway, a nice walkway that would connect to the rest of the esplanade,” said Lyle Frank, chairman of the local community board. “This is a tremendous opportunity to do it.”

The plan faces substantial obstacles. The Coast Guard and the Army Corps of Engineers have expressed concern that the design would interfere with shipping traffic, and the State Department of Environmental Conservation has voiced fears that the park would disturb fish habitats because of the permanent shadow it would cast on the water.

“It’s something we are very interested in, but a lot more work has to be done to make sure it is feasible,” said Daniel L. Doctoroff, the deputy mayor for economic development. “We’re trying to find as many creative ways as we can to give people access to the waterfront.”

The Bloomberg administration has made it a priority to complete an uninterrupted greenway around the waterfront of the five boroughs, particularly in Manhattan. While there is generally contiguous riverfront access along the West Side except for a stretch from approximately 81st to 91st Street, there are several significant gaps on the East River esplanade. Among them are the Consolidated Edison site from 34th to 41st Street and the United Nations headquarters at 42nd Street.

The site of the proposed park also lacks waterfront access because the F. D. R. Drive extends to the river there.

When a plan to refurbish the drive was proposed in the 1990s, some residents of the adjacent neighborhood worried that vehicles seeking to avoid highway delays would clog its streets, creating noise and safety problems.

Because the drive, which carries about 150,000 vehicles daily, is among the city’s busiest arteries, state and city officials ruled out closing a heavily used section of the highway for several years of repairs or even blocking off a few lanes at a time for weekend and night work.

Instead, the Outboard Detour Roadway was designed. The detour, which cost $139 million in federal money, is essentially a bridge built parallel to the existing F.D.R. Drive. The section from 53rd to 60th Street alone, which is entirely over the river, cost about $40 million to construct.

Because the detour extended so far over the river — which at that point is particularly turbulent and only about 800 feet wide — engineers had to figure out how to ensure that the 2,100 vessels a year that pass through that stretch of water would not strike the roadway.

So they designed a system of floating guardrails held in place by four anchors drilled into the bottom of the river, some as deep as 120 feet below the surface.

The anchors are secured to one another by a heavy chain with links that weigh more than 150 pounds each. They keep the system in place during changing tides and currents, which moved water levels up and down by as much as six feet a day during construction. For the last two years, even with that safeguard in place, large ships have been required to have tugboats help them navigate that stretch of river.

When the detour was completed in 2004, it won engineering awards for its innovation.

Now, even as sections of the detour are being dismantled to allow ship traffic unimpeded access in the river, advocates for a new esplanade are wondering whether spending the estimated $50 million it would cost to build a base for a park would make sense.

“We have to decide if the structure is worth the cost,” Mr. Doctoroff said. “It is too early to give odds, but if I could give odds — outside of cost — based only on our desire, they’d be pretty high.”

“But,” he added, “desire is not the only factor involved.”
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #2  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2006, 8:28 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
There are others who want to push for beachfront along the east river...
http://newyorkharborbeaches.org/main.htm











__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #3  
Old Posted Dec 31, 2006, 8:48 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
Meanwhile, the City has its own plans for the lower Manhattan secion of the east river waterfront...

(lowermanhattan.info)



Multiple city agencies, along with world-renowned architects Richard Rogers Partnership and SHoP Architects, are producing a comprehensive master plan for the redevelopment of the East River waterfront, stretching from Battery Park to East River Park. Images courtesy of Richard Rogers Partnership and SHoP Architects for the City of New York.




The Battery Maritime Building: The space in front of the Battery Maritime Building (BMB) is one of two critical gateways to the new East River esplanade. The proposed plan calls for moving the Battery Tunnel entrance 350 feet to the northeast, clearing the way for a new plaza in front of the BMB.







Pier 15: The pier will be rebuilt to provide open public spaces and a better environment for marine life.




New Market Building: The existing building and pier will be rebuilt to be used for community, maritime, and commercial activities. A new transient boat marina will provide a location for visiting vessels, boating enthusiasts, and amateurs to anchor.







Pier 35: This large pier will be opened to the public and will provide access to new waterfront amenities, including a boat launch, a place for family gatherings, new picnic tables, and outdoor grills.













The Esplanade: The new esplanade will consist of a recreation zone along the water's edge with seating and plantings, a program zone under the FDR Drive for pavilions and outdoor activities, and a bikeway along South Street. A system of consistent paving, seating, railings, and plantings will be used throughout.




Burling Slip: The current parking lot at Burling Slip will be transformed into a playground.




East RiverPark Connector: The area in front of Pier 42 is a crucial link to East River Park. Exiting barriers will be removed to create a wider, safer entrance into the park. Planted berms will screen the esplanade from noise and traffic generated by the FDR Drive. In the future, Pier 42 could be rebuilt to make way for a new urban beach floating above the East River.




View of the waterfront at night.
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #4  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2007, 2:08 PM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
New York Magazine

2/9/07

Beware of Riprap in Greenpoint and Williamsburg



A section of the Greenpoint/Williamsburg East River waterfront under the new plan.



The city presented its latest plans for redeveloping the Greenpoint-Williamsburg waterfront Wednesday night, and — believe it or not — local activist groups liked the proposals.

The new plans include boat launches, picnic grounds, wetland preserves, which are all things — like a more natural-looking waterfront, a bit of which is shown in the rendering above — community groups have been asking for. "I believe they are making a true effort to tune the plan into a community vision," said Laura Hoffman of the Greenpoint Waterfront Association for Parks and Planning. She gave props to how the plan integrates Greenpoint Terminal Market artifacts — like old ropes and bricks — into the park's design. (We like this new rendering not least because landscapers call the sort of rocky water-edge depicted "riprap.")

How'd things get so lovey-dovey? Team Bloomberg persuaded three developers of waterfront high-rises to turn over open space to the city, and then the city designed with local priorities in mind. The impending towers still give some Williamsburgers the willies, and earlier renderings of the waterfront, warned Jasper Goldman of the Municipal Art Society, "looked like San Diego."

But gritty riprap? That's so New York.


—Alec Appelbaum
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #5  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2007, 2:16 PM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
curbed.com

New Boss for Williamsburg Waterfront Parks, McCarren Pool?



Friday, February 9, 2007, by Robert

Someday, maybe 2030, there will be a 1.6 mile "esplanade" along the East River in Williamsburg and Greenpoint, built by developers putting up all those waterfront highrises.

If developers build the open space per city guidelines and if they turn it over to the city to run, it looks like the city, in turn, will hand it off to a conservancy run by the Open Space Alliance for North Brookyn. Or something like that. That same conservancy will also run McCarren Pool, starting next year. A deal is in the works to channel "any money from concert promoters" staging events at the pool (we take as a hint that more big shows are coming this summer) into a fund to "improve the green space in Williamsburg and Greenpoint." The Alliance has been looking for a new director, too. Job duties listed include managing "newly acquired park properties" and designing plans "for interim uses of McCarren pool for the duration of its reconstruction." Interesting bit of information.


_____________________________________

A look at Williamsburgh's new waterfront (posted on curbed.com)




__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #6  
Old Posted Feb 10, 2007, 6:26 PM
STERNyc's Avatar
STERNyc STERNyc is offline
Landmark Restored
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Posts: 1,407
Just looking at this picture:



And knowing for how many years the The Battery Maritime Building sat abandoned and now its going to be revitalized and an expansive park is going to be put infront to boot. Everything Bloomberg touches turns to gold, everything he does is good for the city, and the city has never been better for it. If Guiliani was still in office I'm sure there would be no East River Park, he probably would have petitioned the Battery Maritime Building to be demolished as well. I really wish Bloomberg could run for another term, he in my opinion is the best mayor in the city's history.
__________________
Somewhere between Child's clarity and Libeskind's dazzle lies the future.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #7  
Old Posted Mar 17, 2007, 1:30 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
Probably the most significant of the East River developments, Brooklyn Bridge Park has been in the works for a while...
http://www.brooklynbridgepark.org/in...FFCF51D62FC0BF

The future 85-acre park will stretch 1.3 miles along the East River from north of the Manhattan Bridge to Atlantic Avenue. The Park includes Piers 1 - 6, each approximately the size of Bryant Park, and their uplands. Brooklyn Bridge Park will transform this underused and inaccessible stretch into a magnificent public space filled with lawns, recreation, beaches, coves, restored habitats, playgrounds and beautifully landscaped areas.

The Park will connect visitors to the waterfront and NY Harbor in extraordinary ways with floating pathways, fishing piers, canals, paddling waters and restored wetlands. This is the most significant park development in Brooklyn since Prospect Park was built 135 years ago.






















__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #8  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2007, 11:42 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
amny

New life pouring into the waterfront



A development just south of the UN, looking east across the East River.



By Michael Clancy and James Fanelli
March 30, 2007

Short, blue-collar and industrial, the East River has always been outshined by the majestic Hudson River. It's not even technically a river, but a brackish strait connecting the Long Island Sound and upper New York harbor.

But second billing for the East River may soon change. Its banks -- on both the Manhattan and outer borough sides -- are undergoing a profound transformation from underutilized industrial shoreline to the city's new Gold Coast.

"There is more land available and being developed now than perhaps any time in the city's history," said Kent Barwick, president of the Municipal Art Society.

"More than urban renewal. More than Robert Moses. It's just an unbelievable amount of change."

More than 1,000 acres of East River shoreline are being redeveloped or slated for change as housing, parks and office space, creating millions of square feet of commercial, retail and office space along the river.


The sweeping changes represent an enormous opportunity to reclaim the waterfront -- a hallmark of the Bloomberg administration -- but advocates warn there is only one chance to get it right, to create an accessible waterfront that the whole city can enjoy, not just residents of luxury developments.

East River Waterfront Plan

A beach on the East River? That's just one of the new amenities planned for two miles of the neglected East River waterfront, from the Battery Maritime Building on the southern tip of Manhattan to the Lower East Side, which is slated to be revitalized with $150 million of federal 9/11 aid.

Parking lots, dilapidated piers and Department of Sanitation depots will give way to esplanades, walkways and even a sandy beach on the East River as the city reconnects the South Street Seaport, the financial district and Chinatown with the East River.

The city is working to get access to some of the properties, designing other portions, and moving other parts through the public review process, said Rachaele Raynoff, spokeswoman for the Department of City Planning.

Raynoff said to expect an announcement in the coming weeks that one of planned recreation spots will be open this summer.

Even the FDR drive, which hugs the East River, will get new lighting and sound-dampening material attached to its underside so that it looks and sounds a little better as New Yorkers pass under it to get to the river.

Pier 17

While the new leaseholders of South Street Seaport's Pier 17 haven't unveiled any final plans for the riverside site, it is nearly definite that some type of larger structure -- perhaps a high-rise -- will be proposed for the pier, which sits in the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge.

Meeting with Community Board 1 for the first time earlier this month, General Growth Properties outlined a rough vision for the pier and the former Fulton Fish Market buildings, which would include razing the mall, relocating the landmark Tin Building, shoring up the pier, and building a new mixed-use structure -- possibly a tower that rises 50 stories tall.

East River Science Park

A California-based firm that specializes in laboratory spaces, Alexandria Real Estate Equities plans to break ground next spring on the $400 million East River Science Park, a 1.1 million-square-foot complex that will house laboratories and office space for life sciences businesses and researchers.

The lot currently houses a Bellevue Hospital Center building and a parking lot. The science park will be built on 3.5 acres of city-owned land between 28th and 29th streets and First Avenue and the FDR Drive.

It is envisioned as an incubator for pharmaceutical and biotech businesses, which would find natural partners with NYU Medical Center, Columbia University, and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center among others.

The first tenants are expected to occupy the facility by 2009. The city is expected to kick in about $14 million for infrastructure improvement, and the developers, who have a 49-year lease with two 25-year options, are expected to get tax breaks and other incentives worth more than $250 million.

Con Edison plant area

Along three empty parcels of East River waterfront, stretching from 35th to 41st streets, eight skyscrapers, some as tall as 69 stories, are planned as part of Manhattan's second-largest development after the World Trade Center site.

Developer Sheldon Solow seeks to build 3.54 million square feet of residential space, 1.3 million square feet of commercial space, 28,000 square feet of retail space and 120,000 square feet of 'community space' on the tracts, one of which used to be the site of a Con Ed power plant.

Renowned architects Richard Meier and David Childs are working on designs for some of the skyscrapers. A total of 3,000 new units is envisioned. The developer is preparing his final proposal to begin the zoning approval process.

After hearing Solow's initial plans, Community Board 6 asked that the development be scaled back and include more open space, commercial space, affordable housing and a school.

"It's a question of scale and what is overdevelopment," said Community Board 6 land-use chair Ed Rubin.

United Nations Renovation

Long delayed by bureaucratic red tape, political wrangling and the search for temporary office space, a new building should begin to rise this year as a $1.9 billion renovation gets underway on the iconic United Nations landmark Secretariat and General Assembly buildings.

After unsuccessfully searching for temporary 'swing space' in Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens, the U.N. chose to build that swing space on the northern part of its own campus.

The specific dimensions of the new building are still being hashed out, said U.N. spokeswoman Soung-ah Choi.The renovation, to be done in phases and completed in 2014, presents an opportunity to allow better public access to the waterfront -- a move lauded by open-space advocates but which poses security challenges.

BROOKLYN

In Elias Kazan's 1954 film classic, "On the Waterfront," Marlon Brando plays a guilt-stricken dock worker in a corrupt union who does nothing to prevent a mob rubout.

During the course of his torment, Brando's Terry Malloy delivers an elegiac speech about his washed-up boxing career, indelibly whispering, "I could have been a contender."

Malloy never got that chance at the title, but the inspiration for the film's backdrop, the gritty Brooklyn waterfront once filled with bustling wharves and smoking factories, has a shot at the big time.

Multiple projects are breathing life into miles of fallow land along the East River's edge, ultimately transforming the rundown piers and vacant factories into a tantalizing waterfront destination for thousands of residents and park-goers.

Fueled by sweeping city and state incentives and unprecedented public-private partnerships in Williamsburg, Greenpoint and land near the Brooklyn Bridge, the projects will bring as much as 12,210 units of new housing and 121.1 acres of parkland and esplanades to the borough's waterfront and surrounding area.

Though no time frame has been hammered out, the city also envisions an interconnected series of parks, esplanades and bike paths on the waterfront that will stretch between Newtown Creek in Long Island City and Owl's Head Park in Bay Ridge.

"We do have a vision for a continuous connection of parks and greenways," said Joshua Laird, assistant commissioner of planning at the city Parks Department.

The Herculean overhaul is not without its opponents. Critics have scrutinized some of the city's deals as too favorable to developers. Others like the Manhattan-based Project for Public Spaces, a nonprofit that has consulted on waterfronts around the world, warn that the emphasis on residential developments will ultimately keep people away from the parks.

"It's the suburbanization of Brooklyn," said PPS vice president Ethan Kent. "Residential buildings, especially high rises, are not really compatible with a waterfront. It may look nice and preserve a lot of parkland, but because of the residential adjacencies, they are preventing the parks from being used by the public."

But in an age where tight budgets and few dollars are readily available for public projects, city and state agencies argue that private housing is the most cost efficient and least intrusive way to spur the river's revitalization.

Here's a look at few of the projects:

Williamsburg-Greenpoint:

In May 2005, the city green lighted a wholesale makeover of two miles, or about 175 blocks, of Williamsburg and Greepoint. Its inlands already rife with development projects, the neighborhoods' waterfronts were now open game to the real estate boom.

The rezoning of land to mixed-use will bring luxury condos where weeded vacant lots, old warehouses and factories now stand. Further rezoning also allows for residential developments in the neighborhoods' upland area. In total, 11,000 new housing units will be created, according to the city's Housing Preservation and Development.

There is a tradeoff to allowing 30-story-plus high rises on the waterfront.

Of the 11,000 units, 33 percent will be affordable. On the waterfront, 1,563 of the housing units will be for middle and low-income residents.


Twenty-three months after the rezoning, the waterfront vision is taking shape, with 459 affordable units that have begun or are about to begin construction, according to HPD. L & M Equities has already started work on the first phase of its development, Palmer's Dock, which will bring 294 units, with more than a third of them affordable.

The other community benefit of the rezoning is the creation of 44.1 acres of esplanades and parkland. Among the amenities will be boat launches and stone edges that slope into the water, allowing closer access to the East River.

Though each waterfront developer will build their own section, the Parks Department said it's working with the developers to a make a seamless, interconnected esplanade.


"We want to ensure that it not just be a daisy chain of unrelated esplanades," said assistant Parks Commissioner Laird.

Further incentives make it favorable for developers to deed over the esplanade in exchange for the city taking on liability. The city will also collect fees from developers that will pay for the parkland's upkeep.

While the city has insisted it has been updating the community on its progress, some Community Board 1 members and neighborhood groups say they've been left out of the loop about the rezoning and land being gobbled up by developers.

"There should be greater input in our end," said Christopher Olechowski, the Community Board 1 liaison to the mayor's advisory board on the Brooklyn and Williamsburg rezoning.

Other critics have voiced concern about the indefinite timeline for the creation of esplanades and parks since

"The esplanade won't be developed until the developments are completed," said Marisa Bowe, economic coordinator at Neighbors Allied for Good Growth, a North Brooklyn advocacy group. "That could be 20 years before it's completed."

Brookyn Bridge Park:

After more than 20 years of debating what to do with 1.3 miles of unused piers and empty land between Jay Street and Atlantic Avenue, the city and state agreed in 2002 to give $150 million to help create a scenic park that cuts under Brooklyn Heights' bluff, through the Brooklyn Bridge and ends at the Manhattan Bridge.

But the final product, which includes a marina and a bike path, hasn't settled well with some of the residents in the borough's toniest section or its surrounding neighborhoods.

While the Brooklyn Bridge Park will have 77 acres of parkland, eight acres will be set aside to develop as much as 1,210 luxury condo units, a hotel and other retail space.

Brooklyn residents had expected a portion of the park's upkeep to be paid for with private development, but some had expected it to be in keeping with a 2000 planning document that limited commercial space to restaurants and retail stores.

"This is the first time in the history of the state that private housing has been allowed inside the park borders," said Judy Francis, president of the Brooklyn Bridge Park Defense Fund, which is currently appealing a judicial ruling that upheld the project.

She said the earlier park plan provided for a skating rink, a pool and other amenities that have been scrubbed. She added that the 2000 plan would have had an annual operating cost of just over $9 million. Those costs would have been covered by a mixture of philanthropy and small commercial space, she said.

But the Brooklyn Bridge Development Corp., the state agency in charge of executing the plan, said costs would run higher. The state has pledged $85 million and the city $65 million to build the park, but annual maintenance and operation costs will be $15.19 million.

"The uses included in that 2000 Plan could not have covered the annual maintenance and operations of the Park," said agency spokesman Errol Cockfield. He added that out of all the self-sustaining park plans that BBDC examined, a mix of housing and a a small hotel was the most cost-effective.

"Housing occupies the smallest amount of land while generating the highest return," he said.

Domino Sugar Factory:

The Greenpoint-Williamsburg may have been a sweet deal for housing along the waterfront, but it does have its sticking points, including the preservation of a historic building in the neighborhood.

Built in 1884 and shuttered in 2004, the Domino Sugar factory remains an icon in Williamsburg for its illuminated curlicue sign. But because of its historical significance, the building has spawned a housing battle as its current owner, CPC Resources, determines how to turn the former factory into a residential development.

While some advocates want CPC Resources to build the maximum amount of affordable housing, others want the developer to preserve the factory as much as possible.

"We're trying to develop something that's responsible in terms of affordable housing and in terms of preservation," said Richard Edmonds, a spokesman for the CPC Resources, a subsidiary of Community Preservation Corp., an affordable housing developer.

Edmonds said the developer will unveil its plans in the coming weeks.

However, he did say that more than 20% of the development's units will be affordable housing.
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #9  
Old Posted Mar 30, 2007, 12:05 PM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
More images from the AMNY article...



Panorama of East River, looking toward Queens.




Looking east across the East River.







Looking west at the East River




Looking across the East River to the Kent Ave development in Williamsburg.







Kent Ave development in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.










Looking east at the Kent Ave development in Williamsburg, Brooklyn from East River Park







South Street Seaport area along the East River.
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #10  
Old Posted Mar 31, 2007, 11:33 PM
phillyskyline's Avatar
phillyskyline phillyskyline is offline
Monomania w/ Skyscrapers
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: In the sky with other skyscrapers
Posts: 2,572
I'm extremely impressed with NYC being able to conserve and create public access to the waterfront - it goes a long way in quality of life for residents, especially when you consider how expensive that piece of land is.
__________________
"OK gang, you know the rules, no humping, no licking, no sniffing hineys."
Harry Dunne
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #11  
Old Posted Apr 1, 2007, 2:19 AM
the urban politician the urban politician is offline
The City
 
Join Date: Jul 2004
Location: Chicago region
Posts: 21,375
Creating public access to the waterfront is one of the most important liveability issues in New York right now, as far as I'm concerned.

All of these visionary plans are great news
__________________
Supercar Adventures is my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4W...lUKB1w8ED5bV2Q
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #12  
Old Posted Apr 2, 2007, 11:30 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
The many waterfronts have always been the city's greatest asset, so it's good to finally see it being turned over to the public with such great projects.
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #13  
Old Posted Apr 14, 2007, 5:58 PM
Scruffy's Avatar
Scruffy Scruffy is offline
low-riding
 
Join Date: Aug 2005
Location: Bronx
Posts: 1,966
I have seen no movement of Brooklyn Bridge Park. What's the deal? Is there a groundbreaking thats still to come?
__________________
My name is Steve
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #14  
Old Posted Apr 16, 2007, 3:06 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
Quote:
Originally Posted by Scruffy View Post
I have seen no movement of Brooklyn Bridge Park. What's the deal? Is there a groundbreaking thats still to come?
It's the biggest issue in Brooklyn, after Atlantic Yards. More so than the Coney Island revitalization...
http://www.brooklynpaper.com/section...n_bridge_park/
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #15  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2007, 11:18 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
http://www.nysun.com/article/55880

Six Architects To Compete For East River Esplanade Design Rights

By ANNIE KARNI
June 5, 2007

As the city mulls an expansion of the United Nations campus onto city park space and the state moves forward with plans to rebuild the Midtown segment of the FDR Drive next door, elected officials and community members are seizing the opportunity to open up access to the East River with a new waterfront esplanade.

Six prominent landscape architects, including the architect of the High Line, the architect of the Museum of Modern Art roof garden, and the architect of the Brooklyn Bridge Park, will participate in a design competition on Friday to create a sweeping vision for a waterfront park that would stretch to 63rd Street from 34th Street along the East River.

The proposed 35-story U.N. office tower would be built on the current site of the 1.3-acre Robert Moses Playground. The loss of parkland would require the creation of more open space nearby, and officials have said a new waterfront esplanade would be an appropriate trade.
A new tower would require approval by the state Legislature, and the esplanade would require approval from the developer of the former Consolidated Edison power plant site just south of the United Nations, Sheldon Solow, who owns the land. Officials from the state's Department of Transportation and from the city's parks department, as well as representatives from Mr. Solow's office, are expected to meet on Friday for a briefing on the proposed waterfront esplanade.

The 12-hour design competition is being sponsored by elected officials who represent the Upper East Side, including Assemblymen Jonathan Bing and Brian Kavanagh, state Senators Liz Krueger and Thomas Duane, and numerous civic groups. The winning design is expected to be unveiled to the public on Sunday and would serve as a makeshift blueprint for future construction.

State support for the city's plan to expand the U.N. campus has been hard to come by. "I don't believe the Senate's there," a state senator of Brooklyn, Martin Golden, said in an interview. "One would have thought the city would have moved on at this point. The U.N. doesn't curry favor with us. They are a useless group that is at best anti-American."
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #16  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2007, 2:02 PM
CGII's Avatar
CGII CGII is offline
illwaukee/crooklyn
 
Join Date: Sep 2002
Location: rome
Posts: 8,518
How important/active are the ports that Brooklyn Bridge Park would replace?
__________________
disregard women. acquire finances.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #17  
Old Posted Jun 5, 2007, 5:58 PM
Patrick's Avatar
Patrick Patrick is offline
Desert Dweller
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Posts: 4,611
Quote:
Originally Posted by STERNyc View Post
Just looking at this picture:



And knowing for how many years the The Battery Maritime Building sat abandoned and now its going to be revitalized and an expansive park is going to be put infront to boot. Everything Bloomberg touches turns to gold, everything he does is good for the city, and the city has never been better for it. If Guiliani was still in office I'm sure there would be no East River Park, he probably would have petitioned the Battery Maritime Building to be demolished as well. I really wish Bloomberg could run for another term, he in my opinion is the best mayor in the city's history.
A $58 million dollar restoration has been in the works since 2001, when Guiliani was still in office. Even if he was still in office, the building is a National Landmark, since 1967, so he couldnt really demolish it.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #18  
Old Posted Jun 6, 2007, 7:39 PM
zilfondel zilfondel is offline
Submarine de Nucléar
 
Join Date: Mar 2006
Location: Missouri
Posts: 4,477
Which 6 architects are going to compete??? I know that the high line is being done by Diller Scofidio + Renfro, but which are the other ones?
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #19  
Old Posted Jun 8, 2007, 10:55 PM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
Quote:
Originally Posted by CGII View Post
How important/active are the ports that Brooklyn Bridge Park would replace?
They haven't been active for years now...
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
  #20  
Old Posted Jun 11, 2007, 11:15 AM
NYguy's Avatar
NYguy NYguy is offline
New Yorker for life
 
Join Date: Jul 2001
Location: Borough of Jersey
Posts: 51,692
http://www.nysun.com/article/56250

Plan Envisions Park Along East River

By ANNIE KARNI
June 11, 2007


East Side residents could soon enjoy close to 30 blocks of new park space along the East River, under a new plan unveiled yesterday by the Municipal Art Society.

While the United Nations seeks to expand its campus into what is now a local park and the state rebuilds the Midtown segment of the FDR Drive next door, community members and their elected officials are using the opportunity to lobby for park space in their dense neighborhood.

The park would stretch between 34th and 63rd streets, on the site of the abandoned Consolidated Edison waterside plant. The plan unveiled yesterday includes an elevated urban terrace over the FDR Drive, a wooded hill that would offer a new vista of the river, a ferry terminal, modern commercial development space, and waterfront access.

The blueprint provides the first unified vision for development of the area and was created by six architects in a 12-hour closed-door brainstorming session organized by the Municipal Art Society and Council Member Daniel Garodnick, who represents the district where the park would lie.

"It's not a substitute for a planning process, but it's a way to show people some really exciting ideas," a staff member of the Municipal Art Society, Jasper Goldman, said of the speedy design session. The plan would need approval from the developer and owner of the Con Edison site, Sheldon Solow, to move forward.

The landscape architects — including a designer of the High Line, Ricardo Scofidio, the designer of the Museum of Modern Art roof garden, Ken Smith, and an architect of the planned Brooklyn Bridge Park, Matthew Urbanski — worked together to create the first coordinated vision for a park that could make up for the loss of Robert Moses Playground, a 1.3-acre space on which the United Nations is seeking to erect a new office tower, with the city's support.

While strong opposition in the Legislature is likely to hold up the expansion of the U.N. campus, officials said the new esplanade project could move forward independently. Construction on the former Con Edison site could begin within months, according to officials from the Municipal Art Society.
__________________
NEW YORK is Back!

“Office buildings are our factories – whether for tech, creative or traditional industries we must continue to grow our modern factories to create new jobs,” said United States Senator Chuck Schumer.
Reply With Quote
     
     
This discussion thread continues

Use the page links to the lower-right to go to the next page for additional posts
 
 
Reply

Go Back   SkyscraperPage Forum > Global Projects & Construction > General Development
Forum Jump


Thread Tools
Display Modes

Forum Jump


All times are GMT. The time now is 6:28 AM.

     
SkyscraperPage.com - Archive - Privacy Statement - Top

Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.7
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.