By Kim Velsey 2/26 4:51pm

Greensward

Pier 41, in better times. (NYPL)

Not Quite a Continuous Ribbon Of Green Yet, But a Chunk of Pier 42 Will Open This Spring

The abandoned banana warehouse on Pier 42 isn’t going anywhere in the coming months, nor is the parking lot stretching out in front of it, but New Yorkers will be able to get a little closer to the East River starting May 4. A piece of Pier 42—about a third of the total footprint—will be open to the public for the first time ever.

The Lower East Side pier and its decaying banana warehouse are slated for better, greener things—namely, a $16 million makeover whose appearance has yet to be decided by the public and Mathews Nielson landscape architects.

But State Senator Daniel Squadron and U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, who secured the funding for the redevelopment, have described the future park as being the missing section needed to create “a continuous green ribbon around Lower Manhattan, connecting the East and West Sides and providing the Lower East Side and Chinatown communities with much-needed open space.” Read More

By Kit Dillon 10/01/12 5:30pm

Greensward

Pier 42.

Day-O! Squadron and Schumer Go Bananas for Pier 42

The final piece in the continuous green ribbon that has wound its way around the Lower East Side is one step closer to realization with the imminent rehabilitation of Pier 42. A once lonely pier that, along with it’s now empty behemoth of a banana warehouse, that is slated to become a waterfront park after $14 million of work.

The pier was toured yesterday by an excited State Senator Daniel Squadron and William Castro, the Manhattan Borough Commissioner of the Parks Department. Read More

By Matt Chaban 9/26/12 11:07am

Planes Trains & Automobiles

Show me the money. (MTA)

At Opening of Bleecker Street Subway Transfer, a Gentle Reminder the MTA Is Kinda Broke

After years of construction, and many more years before that of planning and debate, the uptown connection between the 6-Train and the Sixth Avenue line finally opened yesterday at Bleecker Street. “50 years ago, we have three different subway systems and there was very few connections between all of them,” MTA chairman and CEO Joe Lhota said. “Our goal is to make the system more connective. It takes time, and it takes money, but we’re getting there.”

Mr. Lhota, wearing a red tie printed with fanciful gray trees and elephants, stood beneath the bright, color-shifting tube lights that make up Leo Villareal’s Hive installation. The honeycomb-shaped light show serves as a dynamic signpost for the new stairs and escalator that are an integral part of this new connection. In addition to connectivity, the station transformation is all about accessibility.

But there would be no uptown connection, no wheelchair-friendly elevators, without money, and more than anything, that was what Joe Lhota and his cohort really wanted to talk about on this day. Read More

By Drew Grant 7/25/12 1:59pm

Brooklyn

Fireworks on the Hudson (YouTube)

Baby You’re a (East River) Firework: Macy’s Considers Returning Fourth of July Light Show to Original Locale

For those of us living in the outer boroughs, navigating Manhattan during the holidays can serve as a great reminder as to why we migrated off the island in the first place.  New Years Eve, St. Patrick’s Day, Halloween, Thanksgiving…the term “amateur hour” was practically invented to describe the hoards of revelers who descend upon NYC like a plague of locusts to “celebrate” these annual events by getting as drunk as humanly possible and clogging up the sidewalks and public transit systems.

Now, most of the time, this does not pose too much of a problem for Brooklynites and Queens residents, who would just as soon stay in their district anyway, throwing  Skrillex-themed rooftop parties.

But the 4th of July poses an issue for non-Gotham-dwellers: since 2009, the incredible light show thrown by Macy’s has been held on the Hudson River, making it almost impossible to view from the top of a Brooklyn Heights townhouse. Read More

By Reid Pillifant 2/14/11 3:48pm

Sincerest Form of Flattery

Schumer Disciples Crowd His Sunday Style

If it’s Sunday, it’s Chuck Schumer meeting the press.

And yesterday was no exception, as Schumer summoned reporters to an 11 a.m. event in his East Midtown office to announce one of his achievable, inarguable policy goals–calling on the Federal Aviation Administration not to dilute its standards for measuring pilot fatigue.

But if the original Read More

By Meghan Keneally 10/21/10 10:07pm

Taking Comptroll

DiNapoli: Wilson Has “No Experience…In Delivering What Government Needs To Do” [VIDEO]

Democratic heavyweights came out for Tom DiNapoli this afternoon as he took his re-election campaign for state comptroller to Chinatown.

Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver, New York City comptroller John Liu, state senator Daniel Squadron, assembly member Grace Meng, council member Margaret Chin were among supporters at a press conference at the Chinese Consolidated Business Association. Read More