An Artificial Beach Could be Coming to the Hudson River in 2016
Will New York City be taking a cue from Paris Plages?
Living in the city doesn’t mean giving up the pleasures of nature — at least that’s how Blayne Ross sees it. The entrepreneur, along with his buddies Matt Berman and Andrew Kotchen of workshop/apd and Nathaniel Stanton of Craft Engineering, have conjured up a plan that will bring an artificial beach to a site on the Hudson River by 2016. The new “beach” would boast a food court, retail, and apparently a surf shop in case you forget your bathing suit (assuming you’re brave enough to take a dip in the Hudson).
The trio plan on building their beach and its amenities on a river barge with a “chip”-like shape rising 16 feet at its highest point. The space below will provide space for services like a kids history and marine science lab (complete with marine touch tank and interactive kiosks where they can learn about the history of the Hudson River), a restaurant with a double height dining room, and a “sunset bar” to “watch the sun fade into the horizon”. The beach will also offer sunscreen, luxury lounge chairs, and towel rentals for those who don’t want to schlep a lot of stuff en route.
The design may be a little off point, but idea itself isn’t so crazy when you think about it: Faux beaches have popped up all over the world — including Paris, Berlin, Hungary and Copenhagen. But the difference is that these are government backed projects that work in tandem with larger river cleanup and conservation efforts.
The team is hoping to raise $200,000 for feasibility studies. You can see more of their proposal over at Thuderclap which will officially launch a Kickstarter campaign on  June 19th —  yes, you are part of making this a reality. And as Ross says: “It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to see Manhattan needs a beach, it’s an island surrounded by water, but with no sand. ”
[Related: Camp Rockaway: Queens Designer Kent Johnson Wants to Bring Luxury Camping to Far Rockaway]
[Via New York Observer]
