VOLUME 5, NUMBER 24
THE WEST SIDE’S COMMUNITY NEWSPAPER
JULY 31 - AUGUST 13, 2013
The Hurricane Next Time: Post-Sandy Preparations
Photo courtesy of Hudson River Park Trust
Suspended from the ceiling in the South Head House of Pier 57, architect Josemaría de Churtichaga’s “The Magic Carpet” allows for multiple configurations of its 36 shipping containers — and the creation of a unique space for hosting a multitude of events.
From Holding Pen to Hot Spot: Pier 57 has Bustle, Before Construction Begins BY WINNIE McCROY Among the many changes coming to Chelsea is the renovation of the historic Pier 57, located at 15th Street at Hudson River Park. Although developer Young Woo & Associates won’t break ground on renovations until this October, they have already begun ramping up the retail and entertainment components of this project to get people accustomed to heading across the highway in search of diversions. “It is going to be a large, multiuse complex with retail, food, cultural programming, public park space and a lot going on,” said Felice Jiang, of the public relations firm Nadine Johnson & Associates. “We are restoring much of the pier, and we are adding an outdoor venue on the roof, for
the Tribeca Film Festival.” You may more easily recognize Pier 57 as the cool mint-green building at 15th Street that was the former Marine & Aviation center. The 444,000-square-foot structure was built in 1952 on floating concrete caissons in the Hudson River and designed by Emil Praeger — who designed floating piers for Allied landings in World War II. Until 2003, it served as the Hudson Pier Depot for the New York City Transit Authority. (It also gained dubious infamy when it was used during the 2004 Republican National Convention as a police holding pen for protestors, earning it the nickname “Little Guantanamo on the Hudson.”) “The façade will remain the same,” said Jiang, who noted that while they are restoring and redeveloping the
entire pier, “Much of it is landmarked, so the north and south façades will not change very much. We will be restoring a lot of the original structure. We are building on top of the roof to create the public park and extend the promenade, but not too much past its original footprint.” The structure is built on three underwater caissons, which Jiang said will be used for unique retail opportunities yet to be decided, noting that, “One will be used for staff parking and cargo storage, but we are offering the other underwater spaces to be leased, perhaps as retail space or a gym.” In 2009, developer Young Woo & Associates won a public Request for Proposal by the Hudson River Park
BY HEATHER DUBIN Hurricane Sandy caught the city — and many New Yorkers — off guard last October. While anything can happen during an emergency, a little preparation goes a long way. In fact, hurricane season officially started nearly two months ago, on June 1. Last Monday evening, Graffiti Community Ministries, a Baptist church on East Seventh Street, held a seminar to help New Yorkers learn the basic steps to take before disaster strikes. Also participating in the program were representatives of the Project Hope Crisis Counseling Program, a community support and networking group formed after Hurricane Irene and Ready New York, a campaign of the city’s Office of Emergency Management. The evening began with a discussion group facilitated by three Project Hope counselors from Henry Street Settlement on the Lower East Side, with 10 people from the neighborhood, who were all affected by Hurricane Sandy. They shared stories about their experiences, swapped cleanup tales and talked about how they feel now.
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Sylvia Mandel, who lives on East 10th Street near Avenue B in a homesteader building, recalled how she was on the phone with a friend last October as Sandy hit the city, and then suddenly saw a gush of water come down her street. “I saw water go up to nine feet,” she recalled. “We had to replace the boiler in our building and all the electricity. Fortunately, we run the building ourselves. We had to spend all our money in our checking account for repairs.” Even after the replacement of the building’s vital services, the recovery process continued for a long time. There was mold to contend with, along with the loss of telephone and Internet service. Project Hope counselors urged community members to voice their concerns about future potential storms. “I’m still anxious about the building,” said Mandel. “The boiler is still in the basement, and we’re still very vulnerable. We have a good bunch of people in the building, but
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