A Message From Our Executive Director

On Tuesday, the 15th, Deputy Director Matthew Washington and I joined attorneys for Friends of Hudson River Park in an appearance before Judge Joan Lobis in Manhattan Supreme Court to defend our 2005 settlement with the City of New York and the Hudson River Park Trust that sets a time table for the Department of Sanitation’s departure from the Gansevoort Peninsula and Pier 97.  The settlement was recently challenged by the Tribeca Community Association and other plaintiffs as an illegal agreement that resulted in an unacceptable plan for the proposed new Spring Street sanitation garage that the downtown community cannot support.

While we believe the matters are unrelated, and stand by our actions in 2005 to further the completion of the Park, we are sympathetic to the community’s concerns about the plans for a three district garage at Spring Street and hope that a better alternative for the current plan can be advanced.  In fact, we have testified several times publicly that Friends would be amenable to an extension of the Gansevoort timetable if such an alternative can be agreed upon under a reasonable process.

The community’s concerns about the size and design of the garage not only have validity in terms of the burden it is being asked to bear, but more importantly, the community has developed an alternative two district garage design that better addresses those concerns and also enhances Hudson River Park in the process.

We believe the community design should be given serious consideration, and that the City should examine it in a broader context of other pending sanitation plans that many citizens also oppose.  Friends had earlier offered an alternative plan to the two proposed marine transfer stations at Pier 99 and the Gansevoort Peninsula, which instead creates a consolidated facility at Pier 76.  This solution not only increases the amount of open space along the waterfront, but improves traffic separation and achieves greater environmental benefits at a lower overall cost. If adopted, it could provide exactly what is needed to go ahead with the community proposal for Spring Street – space for the third district garage.

It’s time for the City to thoroughly examine these efforts in a consolidated fashion to achieve the best results for all.  We hope the eventual ruling by Judge Lobis moves us closer to that goal.  

I hope we can count on your support as well.

Sincerly,


A.J. Pietrantone
Executive Director