Pier 41, in better times. (NYPL)

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."

“Pier 42 is finally transforming from a blighted, abandoned warehouse into a beautiful open green-space for children, families and individuals on the Lower East Side," said Mr. Schumer in a statement about the interim opening.

Well, not quite yet. The green will remain conspicuously absent this summer, but at least New Yorkers will be able to feel river breezes on the backs of their necks. The empty lot on the north side of the pier footprint will be paved over and railings and park benches installed to facilitate picnics (though none of the ants-and-blanket variety) for an interim park.

Programming, specifically a "Paths to Pier 42," series of art, educational, and design installations along the East River waterfront is intended to give residents something to enjoy before the grass comes in (the neighborhood dogs will just have to wait).

"In only a few short months, families will be able to enjoy a picnic on the pier or a walk along the waterfront," said Mr. Squadron in a statement. "This interim recreational use on Pier 42 is a big step forward as we build the real, world-class waterfront park for which we've long fought and complete a Harbor Park—a central park for the center of our city."

The community planning, design and construction process to transform the entire pier—to be overseen by the Parks Department—is expected to take considerably more time than the mini spruce up. The redevelopment is being paid for by funds secured for Lower Manhattan in the wake of 9/11. So although a paved lot is a long way from the big, green park intended for the pier, it should come as a welcome improvement for neighborhood that is well-known for grit, but not for actual dirt, trees, rocks or nature. That, and it will be finished long, long before the neighborhood's other great green hope—the Low Line.

kvelsey@observer.com

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.

"Pier 42 is no longer just an idea. It's becoming a reality," Mr. Squadron said. "From the interim uses we've planned, to the park that will be designed in collaboration with the community, Pier 42 will finally provide the Lower East Side with much-needed open space. And by connecting Lower Manhattan's waterfront parks, it will create a continuous green ribbon and move us a big step closer to a world-class Harbor Park—a central park for the center of our City, bringing together the Manhattan and Brooklyn waterfronts with Governors Island."

Last November, Senators Schumer and Squadron announced that they, in an agreement between the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation (LMDC), Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and the City of New York, had secured funding for the site using a portion of the $20.4 billion alloted to Lower Manhattan following the events of September 11th.  Now they've finally started the design process, signing on landscape architects Mathews Nielsen, the same firm responsibly for the restful Fulton landing pier beneath the Brooklyn Bridge.

Though so far the plans for any interim uses are pretty loose.  There is the promising but somewhat distant Waterfront Community Day on November 3rd, sponsored by, among others, the Hester Street Collaborative. To be fair, there are still some missing pieces in this jigsaw. For one, a fence at the end of the north end of the pier to protect a wandering soul from the waters edge and, well, grass—but these things, we are told, will come.

In the meantime an inquisitive public can learn more details about the project, and add their two cents, at the Community Board 3 meeting this Thursday. Held at the Hamilton Fish Recreation Center, the meeting will cover proposals for the space.

Show me the money. (MTA)

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. The MTA had made four such connections over the past three years New York City Transit chief Tom Prendergast reminded everyone: the R and 1 trains at South Ferry; the R to the A, C and F trains at Jay Street; the 7 to the G trains at Court Square; and Bleecker Street. Without capital funds, none of them would have been possible.

“These projects are important because they create jobs, and they are an important reminder of the vital role our capital program plays in building the region,” Mr. Lhota said. “I’m fully aware our 2015 capital program is still unfunded and that’s why we need all your support working on a new capital program.” He seemed to be talking simultaneously to the press, the Albany and City Hall pols on either side of him, and the public hopefully listening at home.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer recalled the collapse of the system in the 1970s and how much it had taken to get back to where the city and the system are now, though he also underscored the fact that the current stability from the system is far from assured. “I’m glad we have an MTA chair who understands that investing in transportation is investing in New York,” he said.

At least some Albany legislators are prepared to take up the fight of funding the MTA. “It’s like the chairman said, we have to do more at the state level to fund our mass transit,” Senator Daniel Squadron said. He also mentioned that the ghost of Fiorella LaGuardia was with everyone today, as it was the mayor who started the work of intergrading the subway system.

Without the capital program, not only would there be no new trains and track, no new East Side Access or a Second Avenue line, there would also be no new escalators and elevators for the system, an important addition that eases access for all New Yorkers, particularly the elderly and those with disabilities.

The escalator and five new elevators were the work of Assemblywoman Deborah Glick, who not only contributed funds to have them built but also co-sponsored a bill in the 1ate 1990s--“It was so long ago, I can’t remember exactly when we passed it,” she said--that created 100 Key Stations, critical transportation junctures that needed better handicap access. The Bleecker Station counted as Key Station No. 79, Broadaway station (technically, they’re separate) counted as No. 80.

“It’s enlightened self interest, this station, we can all get up and down now, but god willing, we’ll get to put these elevators and escalators to good use when we’re older,” Assemblywoman Glick joked.

Fireworks on the Hudson (YouTube)

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.

In late June,  the discontent of outer-borough residents were voiced  in a public press conference, where Public Advocate Bill de Blasio (D-Brooklyn) and Senator Daniel Squadron (D-Brooklyn Heights) railed against the dearth of explosives on the East River; a supposedly "one-year hiatus on the Hudson (that) has now become the new norm." From 1976 to 2008, the East River held the event, and it was originally  moved to the Hudson to commemorate the 400th anniversary of Henry Hudson in 2009. But the fireworks were never moved back to their original location.

Councilman Stephen Levin and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz also stood behind the decision to bring back the sparklers, standing behind a petition  that has amassed 3,100 names so far.

Message received: Macy's has agreed to a sit down with the Brooklyn  politicos to  discuss potential solutions, according to The New York Daily News.

The department store is being tight-lipped on the subject, with a spokesperson only saying, "Macy’s fireworks will take place in and around all accessible New York City waterways and will not be a permanent fixture at any one location."

Hey, we're not unreasonable people: If New Jersey residents are unhappy to lose the view of the fireworks on the Hudson, we'd be more than happy to outsource the whole Thanksgiving Day parade to Newark.

Or some of us just live in Queens and Brooklyn, and don't want to haul ourselves to the other side of Manhattan to watch fireworks that for all intents and purposes should belong exclusively to New Yorkers but still have to share with New Jersey for some reason. And that seems to be quite a few people, no? Yet: Macy's, year after year, has continued their tradition of exploding colored gunpowder over the Hudson River ever year, instead of the East River.

Until now. Hopefully. Because we have someone advocating for us.

With a website.

Yes, public advocate Bill de Blasio has taken up The People's Cause along with superhero-sounding State Senator Daniel Squadron and Marty Markowitz (who would campaign with Spider Man as his running mate if he could do such a thing, utilitarian that he is) have teamed up to take on the persecution of outer-borough residents from receiving the fireworks we so deserve for having to put up with Macy's and all the irritating tourists who seem to congregate around their stores, which are usually in some of our most trafficked pedestrian areas.

Now, you may be thinking: What a frivolous way for a politician to spend their time! You are probably not from New York, where advocacy for ostensibly frivolous things on behalf of our politicians is pretty standard. For context, this is like the opposite of what Sen. Chuck "Fun Destroyer" Schumer does.

Anyway, they have a petition you can sign. Do it before July 4th or else we will all die of sadness and New Jersey will win again.

fkamer@observer.com | @weareyourfek

So long, it's been good frustrating you. (MVVA)

If they can reach a compromise on Capital Hill, why not on the Brooklyn waterfront?

After years of bickering over Brooklyn Bridge Park, the Bloomberg administration has finally struck a deal with two local pols who opposed plans to erect condos along the park to help pay for its maintenance. Instead of the two new condo towers, along with the hulking One Brooklyn Bridge Park, they have settled on one shorter tower, though maybe still a second one, along with a handful of additional funding mechanisms to make up the difference.

Decades in the making, the park finally took off during the real estate boom, when the idea of condo towers sandwiched between the BQE and the derelict docks no longer seemed absurd. Instead of paying annual real estate taxes, that money would be diverted to maintenance for the park. Some people, who have the audacity to think the public sector and not the private should be responsible for building and maintaining parks, were appalled. The Brooklyn Paper began calling it Brooklyn Bridge "Park" for this very reason, while The Observer prefers the name libertarian parks. Then there were the Brooklyn Heights residents, who feared the views from their multimillion-dollar brownstones would be besmirched.

A committee set-up last year sought to find alternatives that could raise enough money to fund the park without having to build any condos, such as building a parking lot—which is so much better than condos. This proved untenable, at least on its own. As had been the previous hope, a rezoning and air rights sale of the Watchtower properties in Dumbo owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses will go forward, but it will only replace one of the condos, at Atlantic Avenue, and then only if there is enough interest in buying the development rights. The city explains the deal thusly:

Such a rezoning and sale to tax-paying entities would have to take place by December 31, 2013 to be counted as an offset. For each square foot of Watchtower property rezoned and sold, the Pier 6 development sites would then be reduced by 0.30 square feet. Total incremental revenues allocable to the park from these sites would be capped at $6.27 million per fiscal year, escalating at 3 percent per year (or the amount previously anticipated from the Pier 6 Development Site).

People had better hope the market picks up by then. Meanwhile, a tower at John Street remains, but it has been reduced to a height of 140 feet from 170, with 40,000 square feet less of development.

“By reducing or eliminating housing and requiring Watchtower and other alternatives to be used, we have dramatically changed the plan,” State Senator Daniel Squadron said in a release. “We found a path to complete Brooklyn Bridge Park and address long-standing community concerns about housing on the site.

Those other funding mechanisms include increased concessions and new parking fees, which will raise $750,000 per year. So if we won't commercialize the park one way, we will another. “Before investing further City capital to build out the park, it was critical that we come to an agreement on a long-term funding plan for its maintenance so the park would be self-sustaining," Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.

Bad as this may sound to some purists, considering parks are closing around the country, it may not be such a bad deal.

mchaban [at] observer.com | @MC_NYC

Around the 6:30 mark, Democratic State Senator Daniel Squadron questions why a series of local bills--ones that extend taxes in areas mostly represented by Republicans--are being sponsored by the Rules Committee, rather than an actual legislator.

"Common practice is that if a senator has a tax-extender in their region, they sponsor the bill," said Squadron. "Why would the senators from this area" not do that?

"I would suggest that you ask the senators, individually," said Committee Chairman, Carl Marcellino, a Republican, who called it a common practice.

"This was done when you were in charge, and done before you were in charge and it's being done now," he said. "This is not an exception."

And the name-avoiding continued.

The committee approved the bills, after they conducted a voice vote, which doesn't leave a paper trail outlining specific senators and how they voted on particular bills.

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 idea for the Sunday soiree was to have the Monday news cycle to himself, well, it seems Schumer is getting squeezed by his own success.

Two hours after Schumer's press conference, and just a block down Third Avenue, Kirsten Gillibrand--the junior senator whom Schumer has made a point to mentor--was debuting a new Chuck-like setup inside her own Senate office.

There was the blue cloth blackdrop, and the flags on either side of a podium that proudly displayed the Senate seal.

And while Schumer often speaks of the Baileys--the fictional middle-class family from Long Island that drives his agenda in Washington--on this day, Gillibrand did him one better. She strode into her office with the Lavelles, an actual middle-class family from Staten Island, who praised her bill to allow federal deductions of state property taxes.

"I've seen hard-working New Yorkers pushed to the brink of tears as they talk about how they are going to pay their bills and particularly these rising taxes," said Gillibrand, while the younger of the two Lavelle boys finished a peanut butter and jelly sandwich next to the podium.

The conference got a few television spots, a quick hit in the Daily News and a longer look in Newsday.

An hour earlier, Congressman Anthony Weiner--who served as an aide to Schumer in the 1980s--held his own Sunday presser on the steps of City Hall, with the kind of local angle the senior senator could surely appreciate. Weiner railed against the House Republicans' proposed budget cuts, displaying a handy chart of the millions that would be unfairly stripped from New York City.

"The Republican Congress really does cut the Big Apple to the core when it comes to many of the budget programs we count on," Weiner said. The Post gave it a few inches at the top of page nine.

But the most direct challenge to Schumer's Sunday monopoly was the one that preceded Weiner on the City Hall steps, where a group of state Senate Democrats was calling for new rent regulations at the very same time Schumer was holding court in Midtown. Among the advocates at City Hall was Brooklyn state Senator Daniel Squadron, who co-wrote Schumer's book Positively American: How the Democrats Can Win in 2008.

But neither Squadron nor Schumer could win the news cycle this weekend; both of their pressers got edged out of the Monday morning tabs.

Well, it looks like the proposed tax has been sunk because it would dip into the city's coffers. Local businesses did not seem to appreciate the tax plan much, either.

The most popular alternative remains taxing the non-profit properties owned by the Jehovah's Witnesses and soon bound for sale. An outside consultancy is considering other alternatives, which include, according to the Brooklyn Paper and the Post:

• Advertising or sponsorships
• Additional concessions
• Fee-based recreation
• Special events
• A parking lot
• General fundraising, à la Central Park

Some combination of these plans could be implemented, or the condo plans could simply move forward. Whatever the case, the Bloomberg administration has made clear time and again that the park must be self-sustaining.

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.

"We've all showed up together because that's how important it is to send a message," Squadron said.

In his remarks to the group of a couple of dozen Chinatown locals, DiNapoli  talked up his pension management, his plan for accountability in government, and the importance of entrepreneurship for small businesses. He also stressed the need for Chinese voters to come out on election day as they had for Liu in 2009.

He only talked about his Republican challenger Harry Wilson in response to a question, saying that Wilson does not have the experience or values needed to be a successful comptroller.

"My opponent who has absolutely no experience in government, in running an agency, and in delivering on what government needs to do," DiNapoli said.

"He made millions in a way that hurt too many people," he said in reference to Wilson's companies subprime financial investments. "Those are not the kinds of values that represent the best of Wall St., those are not the kind of values that should be represented in the comptrollers office, where you need to look out for the greatest good for the greatest number of New Yorkers "

DiNapoli emphasized his strong working relationship with Liu, labeling the pair a "dynamic duo".

Silver took exception.

"Margaret Chin really just reminded me long before the two of you got together, Margaret Chin and I were called the dynamic duo," he said.

On his way out, DiNapoli commented that he remains optimistic by poll results, citing a Wednesday Siena poll that placed him leading in all districts and more than 30 points up in New York City.

"Its all going to be about turnout who comes out to vote so we're working very hard all across the state to make sure that there's a strong turn out certainly in Democratic areas but were obviously getting support from Republicans and independents too," he said.