New two-acre rooftop public park opens at Pier 57 in Chelsea
Photo Credit: Brett Beyer
More than 10 years and over $400 million later, an 80,000-square-foot public park is now open on the rooftop of Pier 57 in Hudson River Park. Formerly a maritime port and bus depot, the pier has been transformed into a mixed-use development with office space for Google and a new food hall curated by the James Beard Foundation. The new two-acre green space, the largest of its kind in New York City, will be open to the public daily from 7 a.m. and 10 p.m.
Pier 57 Rooftop Aerial.Photo Credit: Brett Beyer
Constructed in 1952, Pier 57 was listed on the National Register of Historic Places for the innovative engineering techniques used that allowed the structure to stay afloat on the Hudson River. First operating as a terminal for Grace Line followed by becoming the Hudson Pier Depot for the New York City Transit Authority, the pier has been shuttered since 2003.
The Hudson River Park Trust issued a request for proposals in 2008 seeking a partner to convert the historic pier into a section of the waterfront park.
Photo Credit: Jakob-Dahlin
Sky Park Bleachers. Photo credit: Google
Developed collaboratively by RXR, Young Woo Associates, and The Baupost Group, the new Pier 57 retains its historic features but now holds 350,000 square feet of office space for Google, the building’s anchor tenant, and a new flagship venue of City Winery that opened in 2020.
This fall, a food hall with 17 vendors curated by the James Beard Foundation will open at the pier, along with ground-level community space, a “public living room” with sweeping views, and environmental tech classrooms, all overseen by Jamestown.
Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the rooftop park on Monday, both pointing to the project as a symbol of New York City’s ongoing recovery.
“By bringing workers back to the office and creating new green space all New Yorkers can enjoy, this project is helping revitalize our city,” Adams said. “We are reimagining our communities, so everyone benefits from our prosperity. And with partnerships like this one between the city, the state, and our nonprofit and private sector partners, we are showing New York how to ‘Get Stuff Done’ and do it together.”
Pier 57 is the latest piece of the Hudson River Park puzzle. Last year, the Trust opened a new public park at Pier 76, a former tow pound, and the offshore park Little Island at Pier 55. Pier 26 opened in 2020 with indigenous plants, recreation fields, a man-made rocky tidal marsh, and a cantilevered walkway. Up next, a resilient “beach” will open at the Gansevoort Peninsula.
Photo credit: Google
“Hudson River Park is a tremendous example of the extraordinary things that can happen when government, the private sector and local communities work together,” Noreen Doyle, the president and CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust, said. “Pier by pier, section by section, we are transforming four miles of Manhattan’s shoreline, and spaces like Pier 57 shape not only the waterfront, but also how people see and experience New York City. Today, Pier 57 becomes part of our success story.”
In recent years, Google has greatly grown its New York City footprint. The company acquired a 325,000-square-foot building in Chelsea for $600 million in 2019. Google’s headquarters are located at 111 Eighth Avenue and the tech giant owns the apartment buildings across the street, as well as the Chelsea Market building, which it bought in 2018 for $2.5 billion. Plus, Google announced last fall plans to buy St. John’s Terminal at 550 Washington Street in Hudson Square, currently undergoing a major renovation and addition as part of the company’s new 1.7 million-square-foot campus.
RELATED:
