Green Dreams: Bill Champions Pier 76 Transformation into Parkland — but Commercial Use Rankles

Pier 76, the former home of a notorious NYPD tow pound , has passed another hurdle towards becoming green parkland, thanks to a bill approved in Albany that will allow for its redevelopment.

Assemblymember Tony Simone, who sponsored the new bill along with local pols Assemblymember Linda Rosenthal, and Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, has lived close to the river in Hell’s Kitchen for nearly three decades. “I always went south. I’d like to stay up here and enjoy the park,” he told us. “I’d like to be able to take Radar [his dog] to the park here.”

The pier, in front of the Javits Center, currently sits mostly empty, save for an industrial-style frame on top. While most of Hudson River Park south of the 30s is filled with luscious green space for locals and tourists alike to enjoy, the Hell’s Kitchen waterfront is largely inhospitable. Cruise ship terminals and a heliport shape the scenery — with the exception of Pier 84, Clinton Cove and the soon-to-be fully opened Pier 97 .

“We’ve gotten the brunt of all the commercial piers,” Simone said. “We should have more green too.”

Under Simone’s bill, up to 50% of the park could be used for commercial purposes, including office towers up to 185 feet (roughly 18.5 stories) not including building mechanics, the same height as the Javits Center. The legislation explicitly prohibits casinos, hotels and residential use on the pier.

“My desire would be that it would be as much as 75% park,” Simone said. He chose not to mandate 75% parkland in his bill, however, because “I don’t think politically it would have been able to pass, I think we would get opposition from the [Hudson River Park] Trust.”

The argument for commercial development, Simone said, is that since the park is a private-public partnership, unlike a city-controlled park, it needs to raise funds for its own upkeep. That includes an estimated $150 million necessary to rebuild the pier and repair its underwater pilings. Many, if not most, piers along the river have some form of commercial development, whether it be a floating restaurant or an entertainment venue like City Winery.

At a meeting in January, Hudson River Park (HRPK) CEO Noreen Doyle told Community Board 4 that commercial use was necessary at Pier 76 to “fill the gap” in its budget, and that “a pizza shop is not going to do it.”

Simone said, “I wouldn’t mind if this pier had lots of green but also had maybe a beer hall, maybe had a nice restaurant with some sort of money-making entity, and I hope it takes up a very small percentage of the pier.”

In a statement, the HRPK told W42ST: “Following an extensive public engagement process begun by the Trust last summer, this legislation would provide the Trust with additional flexibility as we pursue a redevelopment of Pier 76 that prioritizes high-quality public open space and supports the overall care and maintenance of Hudson River Park.”

Tom Fox, the founding president of the Hudson River Park Conservancy, called the legislation “a big disappointment” and compared it to “cutting your right arm off to save your left,” given that in his opinion, any commercial development would be a detriment.

Fox has long advocated for capturing revenue from property owners near the park through a Neighborhood Improvement District, a plan that the Trust itself briefly favored back in 2008.

“I don’t think there should be any commercial, maybe hot dog stands or food concessions,” Fox said. “Especially if you look across the street and you have 26 million square feet of built space in Hudson Yards that are providing nothing for the Hudson River Park. One would think it’s in their interest to get involved and to spend money in the park.”

The same legislation that allows Pier 76 to be redeveloped also mandates the formation of a task force if the Trust initiates a request for proposals for a new heliport, or to move the one currently between 29th and 33rd Streets.

Originally, the plan was to eliminate helicopters from the river entirely, but that ultimately wasn’t possible, Simone said.

“We didn’t want the legislation to get bogged down at the end,” he said, “because we wanted to make sure that the park didn’t lose another year.”

Added Simone, “I firmly believe, along with my colleagues, that a heliport does not belong in a public park.”

The legislation now heads to Governor Kathy Hochul’s desk for signing. If it is enacted into law, it could take several years before Pier 76 is fully redeveloped, Simone said, and there will be chances for the public to express their priorities for its future.

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