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March 20 - April 2, 2013
Gottfried agrees Pier 40 housing ‘should be off the table’ BY L I N CO LN A ND E R SON It’s looking increasingly like Pier 40 won’t become the Lower West Side’s new residential hot spot — at least not anytime soon — as the number of key local politicians opposing, or at least currently uncomfortable with, the idea continues to snowball. Last week, Assemblymember Richard Gottfried, who the only local politician who had been receptive to the possibility of allowing housing at the West Houston St. pier, declared the residential option now should be “off the table” because of “adamant opposition.” In a statement March 12, Gottfried said, “The Hudson River Park needs more open park space and fewer obstructions to views of the river. We need to support completion of the park’s construction and capital maintenance with revenue that comes from projects that have strong community support….” He wants the Hudson River Park Act to be ‘‘opened up” to allow for more uses to be considered on Piers 40 and 76 (at W. 36th St.). “Some advocate highrent offices and stores on those piers. However, allowing housing in that mix, at least at Pier 40, has adamant opposition, so I think it should be off the table. To protect the whole park’s future,” he said. “We all need to focus on achievable
sources of revenue.” Gottfried, whose district includes Chelsea and part of the Village. coauthored the 1998 park act, which expressly prohibits housing in Hudson River Park. But with the park now mired in a cash crisis and Pier 40 needing costly repairs, Gottfried last summer became a convert to the idea of allowing of allowing housing. Two competing design concepts for the pier — one by the Pier 40 Champions youth sports leagues group and the other by developer Douglas Durst — would each require a modification of the park act to be allowed. The Champions plan, with an estimated cost of $691 million, includes two 22-story residential towers that would be built at the foot of the pier, whose existing athletic fields would be doubled in size. Durst’s plan, slated at $384 million, calls for an adaptive reuse of the pier’s existing three-story shed structure, transforming it into commercial office space for high-tech companies and retail space, while the fields would be kept at the current size and raised one level to prevent future flooding by Sandy-like superstorms. Both Champions and Durst say their plan’s costs include fixing up Pier 40, would generate $10 million annually for
the park and would be the least disruptive of use of the pier’s athletic fields. Hudson River Park is supposed to be financially self-supporting, and pressure is ratcheting up on the 15-acre Pier 40 to be even more of a cash cow for the park than it has been already; Pier 40 historically has provided about 35 percent of the park’s annual revenue, but the cost of repairing the pier’s aging infrastructure is now becoming a financial drain on the park. However, ever since the option of residential use in the park was broached by the Hudson River Park Trust last year, Assemblymember Deborah Glick — whose district contains Pier 40 — has vigorously opposed it, making passage of the necessary legislation highly unlikely. She is amenable to office use, however, for the Durst plan. Last week, the news that City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose district includes Pier 40, has come out strongly against residential use at the pier sent shockwaves rippling up and down the waterfront. She also said she would work toward expanding field space on the pier. The day after Quinn’s statement, she joined other key housing opponents — Continued on page 8
Palm Sunday
Sunday, March 24 Holy Eucharist 8am • St. Paul’s Chapel 9am • Trinity Church Palm Sunday Liturgy and Procession 10:45am-12:30pm • Begins at St. Paul’s Chapel and processes to Trinity Church Webcast from Trinity begins at approximately 11:15am.
Tenebrae
WedneSday, March 27 6pm • Trinity Church (audio webcast only)
Maundy Thursday
ThurSday, March 28 6pm • Trinity Church Friday, March 29 Liturgy of Good Friday and Veneration of the Cross 12-3pm • Trinity Church
Assemblymember Richard Gottfried.
Easter Eve
SaTurday, March 30 The Great Vigil of Easter with Holy Baptism 8pm • St. Paul’s Chapel
Easter Day
Sunday, March 31 Eucharist 8am • St. Paul’s Chapel Service For Families with Children 10am • St. Paul’s Chapel Festive Eucharists 9am and 11:15am
• Trinity Church
Watch live webcast at trinitywallstreet.org
TriniTy church Broadway at Wall Street ST. Paul’S chaPel Broadway and Fulton Street
Good Friday with Children, Youth, and Families 4:30pm • Trinity Church
Leah Reddy
Holy Week and Easter at Trinity Wall Street
Good Friday
Photo by Fern Luskin
The Liturgy of Good Friday 6pm • St. Paul’s Chapel
an Episcopal parish in the city of New York