NYCkayaker FYI Pier 26 update

Wed Mar 21 07:38:20 EST 2007

The resolution mentioned in the article, below was passed by Community 
Board 1 last night, and Connie Fishman, the President of the HRPT will 
be invited to the next CB 1 Waterfront Committee meeting on Mar 26, at 6 
PM, at 51 Chambers St. 7th Floor, to discuss the Trust's plans for Pier 
26.  If you are interested in the boathouse on Pier 26 you should 
attend.  This is not a public hearing, but there will be an opportunity 
for reasonable participation (at the discretion of the chair) by the 
Public who attend.

Jim Wetteroth,

>
>--- Ken Gray <Kgray2 at nyc.rr.com> wrote:
>
>  
>
>>Volume 19 Issue 44 | March 16 - 22, 2007
>>
>>Larger restaurant would push some kayaks out of
>>Tribeca boathouse
>>
>>By Skye H. McFarlane
>>
>>
>>When Community Board 1 Waterfront Committee
>>chairperson Julie Nadel started up a Pier 26 Task
>>Force, she merely wanted to examine the details of
>>the proposed park space and make a few suggestions.
>>
>>
>>What she and the Task Force found in the current
>>pier plans has the Waterfront Committee crying foul
>>and demanding a seat at the Hudson River Park
>>Trust's design table. 
>>
>>
>>"I had no idea that I had literally opened Pandora's
>>box," Nadel said Tuesday, after bringing the Task
>>Force's findings before the Waterfront Committee
>>Monday night.
>>
>>
>>According to advocates, the plans -- which show a
>>two-story, 229-seat restaurant surrounding a
>>boathouse that is too small to store several types
>>of kayaks -- are symptomatic of the Trust's seeming
>>unwillingness to include the public in its park
>>planning. Furthermore, they pointed out, the Trust
>>may have violated two sections of the Hudson River
>>Park Act in creating the plans.
>>
>>
>>Nadel started the Task Force back in December after
>>it came to light that there was no funding to
>>construct the boathouse and estuarium on Pier 26, in
>>the Tribeca section of Hudson River Park. Before the
>>old, deteriorating piers in the section were closed
>>for demolition in late 2005, the Downtown Boathouse
>>organization had offered boat storage and free
>>kayaking out of a basic shed on the pier. The River
>>Project had run a similarly low-key educational
>>center to study the Hudson River estuary environment
>>(thus giving rise to the term "estuarium").
>>
>>
>>The Trust's conceptual plan for the park's Tribeca
>>section has long included putting a boathouse and an
>>estuarium back on the pier, with operators to be
>>determined during a later bidding process. However,
>>Nadel, who also serves on the Trust's board of
>>directors, had heard from friends in the boating
>>community that the new boathouses built by the Trust
>>farther upriver had problems. Boaters have said the
>>docks are too high to serve kayakers, and the
>>plumbing was not only expensive, but it doesn't work
>>very well because it is built on a pier, instead of
>>on land.
>>
>>
>>Nadel and the Task Force wanted to head-off such
>>problems at the new Pier 26 boathouse. They also
>>hoped to make the structure less expensive and more
>>eco-friendly by eliminating frills like indoor
>>showers and year-round heating. If there was no
>>funding, Nadel said, then why not make some positive
>>changes? But when Nadel asked to see the current
>>plans for the pier, she was first told that the
>>Trust staff could not locate the detailed plans.
>>Later, according to Nadel, Trust president Connie
>>Fishman said that the pier might receive additional
>>funding from the Lower Manhattan Development
>>Corporation, which gave the Trust $70 million for
>>the park's Tribeca section. The Trust was ready to
>>bid the plans out for construction on April 1 and
>>therefore no changes could be made. 
>>
>>
>>The Trust did not respond to repeated requests for
>>comment for this article.
>>
>>
>>Eventually the Task Force was given access to the
>>plans, which contained detailed renderings of the
>>boathouse and restaurant, but no drawings of the
>>pier as a whole and no renderings of the estuarium.
>>Several Task Force members surmised that the lack of
>>estuarium plans stemmed from an earlier,
>>behind-the-scenes effort by Fishman to designate the
>>Beacon Institute, a creation of former Governor
>>George Pataki, as the estuarium operator. While
>>Beacon had created some designs for the space --
>>which were never shown to the public -- the Trust
>>itself had apparently produced no plans of its own.
>>
>>
>>After viewing the plans, the Task Force decided that
>>it could no longer merely make design suggestions.
>>The Waterfront Committee agreed.
>>
>>
>>"We should tell them to cease and desist," said
>>Linda Roche, referring to proposed April 1 bid-out.
>>
>>
>>"We need to remind people that we had this pier
>>taken away from us," said Ro Sheffe.
>>
>>
>>By the estimation of Jim Wetteroth, head of the
>>Downtown Boathouse, the boathouse in the Trust's
>>plans is 30 percent smaller than the old Pier 26
>>boathouse. More critically, it is 9 feet narrower,
>>with kayak storage slots designed to house boats up
>>to 14.5 feet in length along both walls. While the
>>space would be a tight squeeze for the open-top
>>kayaks often used by beginners, it would not
>>accommodate the longer, narrower boats used by more
>>advanced paddlers. High-end kayaks can reach up to
>>18 feet in length.
>>
>>
>>Beyond a unanimous desire for a more functional
>>boathouse design, the group agreed that the
>>10,000-square-foot restaurant would gravely alter
>>the use and feeling of the pier. While there was a
>>restaurant in the conceptual plans that the Trust
>>presented to C.B. 1 in 2002, Roche, who was the
>>Waterfront Committee chairperson at that time, said
>>that the earlier restaurant was much smaller and did
>>not have a second story. 
>>
>>
>>A resolution passed by the board in July of 2002
>>affirms that point, as it mentions enlarging the
>>pier's second-floor "observation deck."
>>Additionally, a more detailed resolution passed by
>>the Waterfront Committee in June 2002 expressed the
>>desire that the restaurant be "secondary" to the
>>pier's other uses and not a "destination" eatery.
>>Both resolutions expressed C.B. 1's desire to
>>collaborate with the Trust in developing more
>>detailed plans for the Tribeca segment. However,
>>according to C.B. 1 records, the Trust never brought
>>any additional plans before the board until the Task
>>Force demanded them in early 2007.
>>
>>
>>As several Task Force members pointed out Monday
>>night, the Hudson River Park Act, which created both
>>the park and the Trust, states specifically that
>>Pier 26 is set aside for park use. Any commercial
>>activity on the pier, the act says, is to be
>>"incidental to public use." The act gives the
>>examples of concession stands and information booths
>>as incidental uses.
>>
>>
>>"When you have 220-something seats in a restaurant,
>>it's not looking like a concession stand. It's
>>looking like a commercial establishment," said
>>committee member Albert Capsouto, a restaurateur
>>with a background in architecture.
>>
>>
>>The committee members said that the Trust's lack of
>>collaboration with C.B. 1 also violated the spirit,
>>and possibly the letter, of the Hudson River Park
>>Act. In the event of "significant action" such as a
>>request for proposals or a lease-out, the act states
>>that the Trust must present its plans both to the
>>public and to the local community board, with 30
>>days advance notice. In general, the Trust is
>>directed to have regular, "meaningful" consultation
>>with the public and Community Boards 1, 2 and 4.
>>
>>
>>On Monday, the committee passed a strongly worded
>>resolution rejecting the Trust's current plans,
>>demanding that the Trust not bid out the plans, and
>>insisting that the Trust's designers work with "Pier
>>26 Task Force members as ongoing participants in
>>every decision regarding Pier 26."
>>
>>
>>If the full board approves the resolution on March
>>20, Nadel said she plans to send a copy to her
>>colleagues on the Trust's board, as well as a slew
>>of local politicians. She has also asked Fishman to
>>come to the Waterfront Committee's March 26 meeting
>>to answer questions about the planning and funding
>>of the pier. After opening Pandora's box, Nadel,
>>fittingly, is left with hope that the situation will
>>turn out for the best.
>>
>>
>>"The Trust could have saved a lot of money if they
>>had just stuck to spirit of the park legislation and
>>shown 
>>    
>>
>=== message truncated ===>
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>
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>
>Dan McLaughlin
>www.hrwa.org
>
>
> 
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