Friends of Hudson River Park supports Hudson Rise as a more efficient and sustainable solution than
the City’s current plan for the new Spring Street Garage. It also enhances Hudson River Park by
augmenting the open space in the area, and providing expanded opportunities for Park users. It
better connects the neighborhood to the Park, thereby improving opportunities for its continued and
increased use. We are aware that the Hudson Rise plan only provides space for two of the three
district garages that must be relocated from their current location in Hudson River Park under a
court order.

However, if the City approached its sanitation planning in a more thoughtful and comprehensive way, it could identify an alternative location for this third garage and not only meet the sanitation needs of the population, but take advantage of other opportunities to enhance the quality of life in and around Hudson River Park as well.

In 2005 Friends of Hudson River Park successfully brought legal action against the City, forcing it to fulfill its obligations under the Hudson River Park Act to relocate the sanitation facilities off the Gansevoort Peninsula. It makes no sense for the City to turn around two years later and dump the same hazardous conditions on a smaller footprint in an environmentally challenged neighborhood, and to also build a new sanitation facility on the vacated site – even if it is for a different type of use. That is exactly what the city has proposed and committed millions of tax dollars to doing.

Recognizing the need for a marine transfer facility on Manhattan’s west side as an essential element of the environmental justice objective of the Administration’s Solid Waste Management Plan (SWMP). Friends of Hudson River Park commissioned a study in 2007 to provide a workable alternative to the City’s plan for a marine transfer station on both the Gansevoort Peninsula and Pier 99, and proposed instead a consolidated facility on Pier 76. It never got a fair evaluation. But if it were adopted, it not only prevents parkland alienation, and increases open space, it could also provide the solution to the Spring Street Garage dilemma by providing space for the third district garage. It’s time for the Administration and the Council to rethink these decisions for a better New York, to come up with ways to make these ideas work instead of tearing them down, to focus on progress, not politics.

A consolidated facility on Pier 76 and a better designed garage on Spring Street meet more of the
objectives of the SWMP and PlaNYC than the current Administration proposals. They could handle a
greater volume of recyclables, reducing vehicle miles travelled and department overhead, improve air
quality and reduce neighborhood congestion. They would increase open space on the West Side
downtown and in mid-town, and provide opportunities to improve safety and connect to other open
space in Hudson River Park, the planned Hudson Yards and on the High Line. Most significantly, the
alternative facilities could be built sooner at a lower cost to New York City taxpayers.

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