Musical performances were provided by Culture Lab LIC at Saturday’s block party. Photo: Shane O’Brien
Nov. 18, 2024 By Shane O’Brien
Hundreds of people attended a block party Saturday to celebrate the opening of Malt Drive Park, an expansive new park along the Newtown Creek waterfront in Hunter’s Point South.
The park, which officially opened to the public at 55-1 2nd St. on Oct. 17, is part of a citywide effort to bring more New Yorkers back to the waterfront. It expands public space from the adjacent Hunter’s Point South Park by three-and-a-half acres. It also extends access to the shoreline by about 700 feet and features meandering paths and numerous seating areas throughout the park.
The park derives its name from a former beer distribution center previously located at the site and was constructed as part of TF Cornerstone’s Malt Drive development, which includes two buildings and three residential towers at the site.
Saturday’s block party included live music provided by Culture Lab LIC in addition to several activations for adults and children alike, including art workshops provided by the Blue Bus Project, a non-profit aiming to bring art to communities through a repurposed school bus.
Photo: Shane O’Brien
Local establishments such as Santa Chiara Alta Pasticceria and the Greats of Craft brewing company also provided food and drinks for attendees.
Photo: Shane O’Brien
Malt Drive Park, designed by landscape artists at SCAPE and funded by TF Cornerstone, was created as part of a local law requiring any new development on the LIC waterfront to offer at least 40 feet of waterfront access for the public. Malt Drive Park includes 60 feet of waterfront access.
Council Member Julie Won described the additional waterfront access as a “gift” from TF Cornerstone to the local community.
“This is really a gift from the developer to the community saying we see our investment worthwhile, because it makes it a better place for people to live, and a more enjoyable place that will be beneficial for all of us,” Won said Saturday.
State Sen. Kristen Gonzalez said Saturday that Malt Drive Park represented the best of public-private partnerships, stating that the developments helps the neighborhood to continue to “grow and thrive”.
Rob Basch, president of the Hunters Point Parks Conservancy, said Malt Drive Park represents a valuable addition to the Long Island City waterfront.
“It’s great because we’re talking about an area that was never available to the community before,” Basch said. “Now, we’ve got access along Newtown Creek, and you’ve got a park that has a dog run, it’s got a playground, it’s got areas to sit down, I mean, it’s great.”
Basch, who oversees Hunter’s Point South Park and Gantry Plaza State Park, said the area still needs more parks to keep pace with the growing population in Long Island City.
“We need a lot more (parks) because the buildings keep coming up.”
Photo: Shane O’Brien
Edjo Wheeler, executive director of Culture Lab, commended TF Cornerstone for creating a park where “everyone can come together”.
“It means a lot to the community,” Wheeler said. “The waterfront is continuous now (from Malt Drive Park to Gantry Plaza).”
Jon McMillan, senior vice president and director of planning at TF Cornerstone, said Malt Drive Park was a positive example of the “soft hand of government” influencing private developers to build public land.
He noted that zoning laws do not simply limit the heights of buildings but also include regulations requiring private developers to build public land.
“When you don’t have that public resource, the public has to find a way to compel the private sector to do the public bidding and I would just like to suggest that this is a very good example of that,” McMillan said. “It shows what good zoning can inspire a private developer to do.”
Jake Elghanayan, senior vice president at TF Cornerstone, said waterfront parks are a big part of why people choose to live in the neighborhood.
“We’re definitely big believers in parks and the whole park system in Long Island City,” Elghanayan said.
Malt Drive Park features numerous flexible spaces for community gatherings and recreational activities, including social seating and play structures, a civic grove and dog run, an open lawn with expansive views of the water and industrial artifacts from the area’s past as a beer distribution center reclaimed during construction.
SCAPE Landscape Architecture mitigated flood risk at the new waterfront park by including a sculpted topography in the park’s design. The park is raised to a higher elevation at the entries to the newly-constructed residential buildings and slowly slopes down toward Newtown Creek. The design also allows members of the public to explore the ecology at the edge of the creek.
Malt Drive Park, in front of the Malt Drive development. Rendering courtesy of TF Cornerstone and SCAPE Landscape Architecture.
A concrete block mattress was installed at the floor of Newtown Creek at the park’s western end in order to help stabilize the shoreline and create a marine habitat.
Rendering courtesy of TF Cornerstone and SCAPE Landscape Architecture.
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