Pier 42 Park on LES Waterfront Scores $12M in Funding from LMDC

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Pier 42, September 2015

Senator Chuck Schumer and State Senator Daniel Squadron announced this past Friday that the long-lingering park at Pier 42 just secured some additional funding. Six months after their testimony, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation awarded the project an addition $12 million to help jumpstart Phase I.

The duo has for years asked the LMDC to fund the project. Looks like all the politicking worked. Joint statement:

This gives all of New York 12 million more reasons to celebrate. We’ve worked together since 2010 to make a park at Pier 42 a reality. In 2012 we secured $16 million. And we have seen successful interim use the last three summers. This funding is a big step in our long push for a Harbor Park — a Central Park for the center of our city, and an emerald ribbon around Manhattan, which will be so important for the local community and the whole borough.

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This added funding is on top of the $16 million initially secured for the first phase back in 2012. More than half that amount – roughly $10 million – goes toward the following.

• Dismantling most of the warehouse structure, which was originally constructed in 1964. Its skeleton will remain.

• Removal of toxic soil.

• Remove asbestos and lead paint.

• Planting trees and vegetation.

• Grinding the current asphalt bed into fill for a knoll on the north end. It’s seven feet above the 100 year flood line with views of the Brooklyn Bridge.

• Repair bulkhead stone.

• Provide interim park lighting.

To say that Pier 42 is behind schedule would be an understatement. Phase I of the project was to have started later this spring. But that’s no longer in the cards. The project is reportedly delayed into 2017 due to “design and planning issues.” First announced in 2012, the initial timeline provided by landscape architect Mathews Nielsen was completion in 2016.

It’s unclear whether this added cash injection will speed up the process. Probably not.

In the meantime, the Paths to Pier 42 summertime program will continue this summer. It’s been operational as interim use since 2013.