Pier 55’s Thomas Heatherwick-designed park is taking shape

Pier 55’s Thomas Heatherwick-designed park is taking shape

Courtesy of Pier 55 Inc.

Installation is nearly complete for the $250 million pier’s concrete supports

A park in the Hudson inches forward

The futuristic Pier 55 park designed by Thomas Heatherwick and financed by billionaire mogul Barry Diller is taking shape on the Hudson River. Installation of the the concrete supports, known as pots, that will give the 2.4-acre pier its undulating look is nearing completion, according to Field Construction. A recent visit by the blog shows much of the structure’s perimeter is in place.

All told, 132 pots will be erected. Those structures arriving on site by way of barge, shipped from upstate New York. The supports were fabricated at the Fort Miller Company concrete plant in Easton, N.Y. Each pot was shaped in a customer mold—the largest of the supports rises to 30 feet and weighs a whopping 90 tons. After making their southward journey by barge, a 350-ton crane hoisted the pots into place in the Hudson near the Meatpacking District.

Installation is expected to wrap up in March 2020. New Yorkers can expect to set foot on the park, which will be realized by landscape architect Mathews Nielsen, by spring 2021.

And in other news…

• City Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s 10-year, $1.7 billion master plan to overhaul the city’s streets passed the Council’s transportation committee Tuesday and will head to the full Council for a final vote Wednesday afternoon.
• A look at life in Hudson Yards, or should we say “Little Dubai” as one resident does?
• The MTA still has a long way to go in its Hurricane Sandy recovery work.
• Kanye West recently performed in the Oculus for Jimmy Kimmel Live.
• Redeveloping the South Street Seaport area has reportedly become an “albatross” for Howard Hughes Corporation.
• And, finally, you can now get lost in the wondrous gallery of historic New York photos at Urban Archive on desktop and Android:

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