Give it up to the Federal government for finding yet another way to spend our hard earned tax money. Case in point is the new Federal Security Pavilion that is nearing completion downtown at the Javits Federal Building along Broadway. This one is not to be confused with the other Pavilion we told you about a few months back, which is still under construction across the block at the International Court of Trade on Foley Square. That one is just a little glass box. This one is big and expansive. Not to mention expensive.
The classic old Lincoln Center campus has been under re-construction for over a year now and what a mess they've made up that way. The big reflecting pool in front of the Vivian Beaumont Theater has lost both its water and its Henry Moore sculpture, Reclining Figure, all in anticipation of a big sloping growth of green grass. The huge platform that covered most of 65th Street has been ripped out, and construction there is forcing all the passers-by out into the street. Meanwhile, over at the building which houses Alice Tully Hall and the Juilliard School, everything from entryways to bookstores have been "temporarily relocated." Happily a few of the finishing touches from the design team of Diller Scofidio + Renfro have started to emerge, with big expanses of glass reflecting the work still underway.
· Lincoln Center Construction Update: Trailer Time [Curbed]
· Transforming Lincoln Center: Construction Images [Lincoln Center website]
Given the turmoil on the Far West Side about the property that was supposed to be used for the expansion of the Javits Center, it's no surprise that it's revived interest in moving the center a bit to the east. Well, a lot to the east. Like to Willets Point next to Citi Field. Followers of big New York City projects will no doubt note that the big plan for the 61 acre Willets Point site, which is renowned for its Tijuana-like atmosphere and car-related businesses, is also the subject of serious ongoing turmoil. In any case, the Willets Point strategy includes a convention facility of 400,000 square feet. Hence the natural interest in making it a possible Javits East. The other possible location is the Sunnyside Yards site near Long Island City, but like all good huge NYC development sites it would require an expensive deck over rail yards. Maybe they could call it the ChopShop Center?
· Javits Expansion May Decamp to Queens [Sun]
· Willets Point Plan Hits More Bumps on Road to Hotels, Etc. [Curbed]
· iTri Plan Closer to Junking Chop Shop Row? [Curbed]
There's nothing like a cold and snowy day in February to get a New Yorker wishing for some sun and fun. And that's just what the landscape design crew from Thomas Balsley Associates have got in mind for Phase IV of Riverside Park South, which runs north from 59th Street along the Hudson River. They're bringing us some grassy play areas for the little ones and, for kids of all ages, a restored 1940s Alco S-1 switcher locomotive. Not to mention plenty of spots to get away from it all, whether gazing up at clouds, looking out across the rusty old piers or checking out the look-alike row of residentials rising in the east. All in all, not a bad place for playin' hookey.
· Waterfront Parks & Development [Thomas Balsley Associates website]
· The Collapsed Piers of Riverside Park South [figure-ground.com]
· Extell's Riverside South Will Rule the West Side [Curbed]
Various West Side groups are trying to sue the West 30th Street heliport into oblivion, because it's way too noisy and pollutey for a park. Plus, the Hudson River Park is only permitted to have a heliport for non-tourist/non-recreation purposes, and this one is pretty much all tourists, all the time. Heliport operator Air Pegasus knows the chips are stacked against it, so the company has a plan: While the Hudson River Park Trust figures out where to stick them, why not move the heliport 100 feet offshore onto a pair of barges? This idea is totally awesome, if only because it birthed the rendering seen above. Has the West Side Highway ever looked more adorable?
· Heliport floats barge idea, but critics not onboard [Villager]
A while back, the Municipal Arts Society unveiled its dreamy vision for a waterfront park within developer Sheldon Solow's massive East River project just south of the UN. Yesterday, they went all official with it, as the new Coalition for an East Side Waterfront Park held a press conference to re-unveil the renderings and show off the future site of the proposed park in all of its rubble-strewn, freezing-winds-off-the-river glory.
Given the costs involved, the East Side Waterfront Park is a long shot, but Coalition members were optimistic as they discussed the steps they need to take to make the plan a reality, and positively giddy when bantering about the idea of gearing up and riding bikes together (yeah, we were confused, too). The steps involve getting Solow to grant an easement, raising around $100 million, and working out the simple matter of getting the Department of Transportation to realign the FDR Drive so a big ol' deck can be built over it for optimal frolicking. The Coalition folks seemed pretty confident that Solow would grant the easement, but all seemed wary of the bureaucratic mess inherent in asking the DOT to move a highway.
Not much has been heard from Planning Commissioner Amanda Burden about the controversial rezoning of 125th Street--you know, the one that has been bitterly opposed by local community boards and community organizations. Some say the rezoning will speed gentrification. Others argue that it will allow developers to build buildings that are too tall. Well, Ms. Burden tells the New York Times that she's spent more time thinking about the 125th rezone than about any other project including Atlantic Yards and the huge Columbia University expansion. Of the current state of 125th Street, she says, "It’s not what it was." Ms. Burden says she just wants to restore the street to its former glory, but opponent say the rezone "would be signing Harlem’s death warrant." It's always interesting to know how ideas come about and, in this case, Burden said the notion of redeveloping 125th St. hit her after a Roberta Flack concert at the Apollo when she and a friend went downtown to eat. "There should be a million different eateries around there, and this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to frame and control growth on 125th Street," she says. The Planning Commission should vote in a few weeks.
· City’s Sweeping Rezoning Plan for 125th Street Has Many in Harlem Concerned [NYT]
· Detailed Opposition Ordered in Battle of 125th Street [Curbed]
One of the few bright spots in the mess of Coney Island issues and bitter fighting has been the proposed radical remake of the New York Aquarium. Some renderings of a winning proposal from Philadelphia-based Wallace, Roberts & Todd and Barcelona-based Cloud 9 were released almost a year ago, but nothing has been heard since. Now we know why. Sarah Ryley reports in a Brooklyn Daily Eagle story (reposted on the Coney Island Message Board) that there are money issues and that the cool looking remake, which featured illuminated mesh around new buildings, may not survive. A new shark exhibit that might cost $64 million will probably get priority, leaving the exterior renovation, which could be priced at more than $125 million, way short on money. A source says it could be "pared down to something more affordable." How about draping the buildings with blue LED Christmas lights from a 99 cent store?
· Proposed Shark Exhibit Could Kill Aquarium’s Flashy Makeover [BDE via Coney Island Message Board]
· More Coney Island Aquarium Redo Renderings [Curbed]
The jostling to get a replacement space for big concerts that have been held at McCarren Pool, and possibly garner a few hipster votes in the process, has started. Daily Intel reports that a member of Community Board 1 who's also running to replace City Councilman David Yassky is interested in snagging some waterfront property. The city is trying to put together 28 acres for a waterfront park that would stretch from the existing East River State Park to north of the Bushwick Inlet, but there are a boatload of issues ranging from legal to environtmental. The the future of concerts has been a sore point with some supporters of the big pool remake. Thies sent a proposal to the Parks Department and says there is "a lot the city can easily acquire and clear in eighteen months," meaning concerts in the summer of 2009 before the municipal election.
· New Outdoor Concert Space Could Replace McCarren Pool [Daily Intel]
· McCarren Pool Plans: Where Will the Concerts Go? [Curbed]
· Redone McCarren Pool Fully Revealed [Curbed]
What can happen when the city tries to rezone a neighborhood, but the rezone takes a long time? In the case of part of Long Island City known as Dutch Kills the answer is: it leads to a hotel boom. Today's Daily News offers up a rundown on the eleven hotels--yes, eleven--that are going up as the city works on a rezone that would allow residential development, but ban tallish hotels. (Click on the image to see all the hotel goodness in detail.) One resident, who is apparently not a fan of the hotels says, "It's like fiddling while Rome burns. They're allowing all the hotels to come in and destroy the neighborhood they are trying to save." The city started working on the rezone almost three years ago. All the hotels have broken ground since then. There's some sense, though, that the developers will convert some of the hotels to condos. Or maybe they won't. There's a separate Japanese hotel boom underway on Jackson Avenue near Court Square that has nothing to do with Dutch Kills. Either that, or our tourist friends will be wandering around some far flung spots.
· Rezoning delay in Dutch Kills draws ire [NYDN]
· Dutch Kills=Hotel Land [OuterB]
