New York’s New Hudson River’s $130 Million Floating Park

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Media mogul Barry Diller and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg, have committed to funding a floating public park and performance space on a pier in the Hudson River… The billionaire couple has partnered with the Hudson River Park Trust to build the 2.7-acre square-shaped pier and community art space to replace the deteriorating Pier 54.

The park will be built on top of a platform 186 feet off the Hudson River shoreline, which will be supported by 300 mushroom-shaped concrete columns. from Business Insider

It would be a bold addition to the Manhattan waterfront — a $170 million, futuristic park built atop an undulating platform 186 feet off the Hudson River shoreline with a series of wooded nooks and three performance venues, including an amphitheater.

The offshore park near 14th Street might be considered fanciful were it not for its sponsor, the billionaire Barry Diller, an important figure in the television, film and Internet industries. To oversee events, Mr. Diller has recruited powerful partners, including Scott Rudin, the film and theater producer. from NY Times.

The new pier would replace the existing, albeit crumbling, Pier 54, which once served as one of Hudson River Park’s main performance venues. Capitol New York and the New York Times report that the new pier would stretch 320 feet by 320 feet between Pier 54’s old pile field and the pile field that once supported Pier 56. The parallelogram-shaped pier would be built atop 300 concrete columns that range in height from 15 feet to 62 feet above the water level. – From BDCNetwork

“New York has always reminded me of Venice, so I am happy the time has come to properly honor its waterways,” said von Furstenberg.

The Park is scheduled to open in 2019.

Sits atop 300 concrete columns.

Sits atop 300 concrete columns.

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08_view of the amphitheatre looking southwest at sunset

04_view of pier 55 from the esplanade looking west

The billionaire couple has partnered with the Hudson River Park Trust to build the 2.7-acre square-shaped pier and community art space to replace the deteriorating Pier 54

The billionaire couple has partnered with the Hudson River Park Trust to build the 2.7-acre square-shaped pier and community art space to replace the deteriorating Pier 54