As this long weekend Saturday gets underway, check out a selection of some of the top stories on Curbed this week.
1) West Village: NYU's Plan 2031has been re-rendered and it has a little something to make everybody a little insane. This time around, it includes new high-rises within Washington Square Village and I.M. Pei's Silver Towers, and a "zipper loft" design to replace the Coles Gymnasium.
2) FiDi: There are additional models and renderings of the SHoP Architects plan for General Growth Properties to makeover the South Street Seaport.
3) Everywhere: Are things up, down, turning around or have they hit the ground? There were many market reports this weekindicating many things.
4) Brooklyn Heights: It's unclear when the entire Brooklyn Bridge Park will be funded and built, new renderings were released this week and some segments will be done by next. year.
5) Long Island City: The Crescent Club turns out to have a fitness center designed by Madonna babydaddy Carlos Leon.
6) Central Park: To us, the turkey wandering around the Ramble like he owns the freakin' place is definitely the story that rounds out the pack.
Here is a big new set of renderings of Brooklyn Bridge Park, some of which have been trickling out for the last week or so and some of which haven't been seen before. In any case, it's been quite a while since new renderings were released. Land clearance for the park is underway and two sections (at Pier One and Pier Six, at opposite ends at Fulton Ferry Landing and Atlantic Avenue) are supposed to be finished late next year. Entire park will stretch for 1.3 miles. The original budget was $150 million, but it has climbed to $300 million, with the trouble being that only $225 million is funded. The Brooklyn Bridge Park Development Corp. estimates that about 2/3 of the park will be done by 2012.
· Brooklyn Bridge Park Update: A Park for All Seasons [Curbed]
For those who aren't ready to move on to the next big public art project, here's a few seconds of Olafur Eliasson's waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge via the magic of moving pictures. All that's left now are the evening and views, which we will chronicle over 75 posts tomorrow. Just kidding. Maybe.
· The Freakin' Waterfalls Are On: The Press Conference [Curbed]
· The Freakin' Waterfalls Are On: Brooklyn Bridge Edition [Curbed]
Folks, we have now been living in the company of the NYC Waterfalls for six hours, and feedback on Olafur Eliasson's frothy foursome has been...mixed. The comments have pretty much run the gamut of emotion, from "This is the stupidest thing I've ever seen. Its some water flowing over the top of a pipe scaffold," to, uh, "Cancel my plans to Niagara Falls, y'all, cuz this is the shiznitz!!" We heard from people who complained about the underwhelming flow and the small size of the waterfalls. We heard from one Waterfall watcher who told us that it looks like River Café patrons may get a little shower if the wind deems it so. We even heard from one person who was annoyed that Bloomberg made a big deal about going to great lengths just to protect fish from harm. Yep, we've heard it all, but can we get a darn consensus, or what?
So, here's this summer's little Brooklyn waterfront surprise: the Pop-Up Park designed by dlandstudio that was only officially announced a couple of weeks ago. It occupies the northernmost part of Pier 1, which until very recently was occupied by a warehouse. To its south is more land that's been cleared for Brooklyn Bridge Park. The little park features pavement painted to look like sand, a bunch of picnic tables, four trees, an outpost of the restaurant Rice, promotional banners for the future park and a close view of the waterfall under the Brooklyn Bridge with a distant view of the other three. It was quiet and cool there this morning, but both of those conditions are sure to change soon.
· The Freakin' Waterfalls Are On: Brooklyn Bridge Edition [Curbed]
· Parts of Brooklyn Bridge Park Will Open Next Year [Curbed]
Olafur Eliasson's waterfalls were switched on this morning and we hit up the one under the Brooklyn Bridge from both Fulton Ferry Landing and from the new Brooklyn Bridge Pop-Up Park. (More on the latter later.) Right now, it's pretty low key, with only a handful of people milling around to take a look at the falls and a few people taking photos. The Pop-Up Park offers distant views of all of the falls. Among other things, they make a dramatic backdrop for the River Cafe.
· The Gates Who? The Freakin' Waterfalls Are On [Curbed]
There's a lot of empty space there now, and there isn't enough money to pay for the whole thing, but parts of Brooklyn Bridge Park will be open by 2009. Today's Daily News says there will be "a sloping lawn overlooking the Brooklyn Bridge," an "elaborate playground at Atlantic Ave." and "a grand public plaza at Old Fulton St." (That's a brand new rendering above.) Come 2012 there will be "a 30-foot wide greenway from Old Fulton St. to Atlantic Ave." and other completed segments. The estimated park cost was $150 million when it was announced in 2002, but the cost has doubled since then. The park has been more controversial than others because of the 1,200 condos planned to finance it (like this guy right here). Some Destructoporn of its current state coming up later today.
· Work to start, but funds still short for Brooklyn Bridge Park [NYDN]
And according to our advanced scientific research, the above is the FIRST EVER FLICKR PHOTO of the "official" Waterfalls. Of course, we've seen all these babies on before. So, are your little minds blown yet? We'll have complete photo coverage coming up shortly. Cower at our feet, Niagara!
· Waterfall!!!!! [Flickr/Alaina B.]
· All Curbed Waterfalls Coverage [Curbed]
DIFFERENT LOCATIONS—Tomorrow is Waterfalls Turn On Day, and there will be a press conference featuring the Mayor and Olafur Eliasson at 10AM followed by the first boat tour of the turned on falls and, oh, about 500,000 flickr photos by this time next week. The falls are on from 7AM-10PM every day through October 13. Meanwhile, the Brooklyn Bridge Pop-Up Park also opens tomorrow. It'll be there through Labor Day from 10AM-10PM at Fulton Ferry Landing. Happy waterfalls watching. [CurbedWire Inbox]
UPPER EAST SIDE—An Upper East Side group called the 93rd Street Beautification Association, which is angry about some recent demolitions on E. 93rd Street among other things, is starting a drive to get a zoning change that would require the city to review whether any building is "historically significant" before issuing demolition permits: "Currently, unless a structure is within a designated historic district, a demolition permit can be issued without a public hearing and without a thorough review of the historic significance of the subject structure or alternatives to its demise. This obvious gap between the community's integrity and the city's readiness to hand over the wrecking ball must be rectified posthaste." They're proposing a "demolition review" that would require a process to consider alternatives to demolishing buildings deemed "historically significant." [CurbedWire Inbox]
The Brooklyn Bridge Pop-Up Park is getting ready for its big day when the Olafur Eliasson waterfalls get turned on Thursday. We passed by them from the water side and found that a fence is up, four trees have been moved in, a small tent has been put up and several little raised mounds of sod have been put in place. We're still not sure how it's going to match up in a Rendering vs. Reality way, but then again, everybody's probably going to be looking at the waterfalls anyway rather than contemplating the meaning of four little trees and painted pavement.
· A Brooklyn Bridge Pop-Up Park for Waterfall Watching? [Curbed]
The set, ladies and gentlemen, is now complete. Gothamist has a photo of artist Olafur Eliasson's Brooklyn Bridge waterfall being tested this afternoon, after reports circulated this morning that the last remaining untested spectacle was gushin' like a mutha. The Governors Island, Pier 35 and other Brooklyn waterfall can all be seen in action in the archives. As of now, we can't decide if Brooklyn Bridge or Governors Island is our favorite. Not that you asked. [Gothamist]
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