Sept. 24, 2015 By Christian Murray
Work has begun on the second and final phase of Hunters Point South Park.
The waterfront park, which will be more than 10 acres when it is finished, is expected to be completed toward the end of 2018.
The NYC Economic Development Corporation, an arm of the City that is overseeing the project, said that a contractor started clearing the site this month—a task that will continue until the first quarter of 2016. The contractor is throwing out trash, moving dirt and demolishing old structures.
Phase I of Hunters Point Park South was completed in 2013 and is a little over 5 acres running from 50th to 54th Avenue. Phase II will expand the park all the way over to the Newtown Creek.
“We are on schedule and everything is going as planned,” said Philip Strum, a representative for EDC, at last week’s Community Board 2 Land Use meeting.
In early 2016, an infrastructure contractor will be brought on to start building the roadways and infrastructure, while a marine contractor will begin work on the shoreline.
In spring, a park contractor will be added and all three contractors will be working together until the park is completed.
Thomas Balsley, a co-designer of the park, told the Community Board 2 earlier this year, that the second phase of the park will be very different from the first.
Balsley’s firm Thomas Balsley Associates is designing Phase II along with Weiss/Manfredi and ARUP. They designed phase I.
Balsley said that Phase I was designed for active use, with playgrounds, basketball courts, a dog run and an oval.
The second phase will be a much quieter and passive area, Balsley said, where people can take a stroll, relax and enjoy nature.
The design features a pathway that goes around the peninsula (see document) that overlooks the East River. This area will be an “urban escape,” Balsley said, where people will have a view of the East River and the skyline with very little distraction.
Meanwhile, the park will include an overlook that stretches 35 feet over the East River, which will be 40 feet wide.
There will be other features that include a kayak launch, an area for adult fitness equipment, and a lawn for picnics.
The greater park is part of the 30-acre Hunters Point South development, which is comprised of seven residential buildings with a total of 5,000 units (60% permanently affordable).
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17 Comments
The schools that you mentioned are overflowing with kids. We definitely need more schools in this fast growing neighborhood. And not “eventually”, we need them ASAP. I am guessing you don’t have kids, and so not familiar with the school situation in the area.
This was in reply to Peter
The schools in NYC have always been ‘overflowing’, nothing new. When choosing to reside anywhere and your a parent of school aged children, the school district is to be factored beforehand, not afterwards. Expecting things to happen ASAP isn’t realistic. I also get these schools have their share of issues with problem kids which parents here may wish to avoid by having their own schools right here but again, these things are to be thought out beforehand.
I’m more concerned about where the children in these 5,000 units will go to school. Anyone else?
Currently three schools in 5 square blocks and I’m sure they’ll expend or build another one eventually. Until then children may have to travel out of the area, just like other children in other parts of the city, to get to their schools. Many options outside the immediate area and within a mile or two. Notice all those kids in the subways with school metro cards, they’re traveling because they too don’t have a school right on their block which everyone wants.
The 2 new subsidized buildings in the area have opened and the dog poop has exponentially increased… i wonder why… imagine when the remaining subsidized housing buildings open up…
There of course will be an increase in dog waste but it will have nothing to do about subsidized buildings, it will be simply because of the increased volume of pets. I observed a lot of offenders in regards to failure to pick up dog waste, unleashed dogs, dogs in the dog free park zones, etc. and the majority of them are coming out of the high rent buildings along Centre Blvd.
It’s increased, as it will continue to increase, because there are more dogs in the area. Has nothing to do with the buildings being subsidized. I have observed that a lot of dog owners from the non-substidized high rent buildings along Centre Blvd. to be pretty bad offenders in terms of dog etiquette. Failing to pick up their dog’s waste, dogs off leash, dogs in the dog free sections of the park, etc.
I rollerblade in the neighborhood and just ordered some dog mace because so many dogs are either not on leashes or are just plain aggressive with rollerbladers. Next time your dog comes at me, I will spray it and I can’t wait to try this stuff out so don’t tempt me.
Mace which is CS (tear gas) is not very effective on dogs. Pepper spray, OS, is effective on dogs and humans alike and a better choice by far for protection from an attacking dog.
And if someone were to spray my dog, I would shove the can of mace so far up their ass they’d be burping pepper spray for the next year. Using pepper spray on a dog is absolutely cruelty to animals, and anyone who thinks it is OK is an asshole well deserving of a beating by a dog owner.
Do you expect someone to just get bitten? I too like dogs but an aggressive dog can do some damage, especially to a child, and while spraying or using other methods to deter or stop an attacking dog might not sit well with you try putting yourself into someones else’s shoes. Being attacked, and I was, isn’t pleasant. Having a dog means being responsible and respectful to others. Keep your dog leashed and under control at all times.
Peter – spraying an attacking dog is absolutely a legitimate course of action. Brooklynmc was, however, suggesting that he/she/it was itching for an excuse to spray a dog simply because it was off a leash or near him/her/it. That is pure assholery and cruelty to animals along psychotic lines.
Right, because we all know by now that the people living in market units always wipe their dog’s asses with Egyptian cotton hand towels and bronze their dog’s shit before disposing it. A$$hole!
That is a foolish comment. The poop problem has been here for years and it is a HUGE problem but to put that on the new subsidized housing is ridiculous. Unfortunately, this neighborhood is completely overrun with dogs to the point that I think some of the buildings need to start a ban. We have dog fights in our lobby. The elevators smell like dog and are filthy. The sidewalks are poo poo mine fields. The stink of urine is everywhere. When I step out of the elevator on my floor, dogs start barking. Unfortunately, the dog owners are mostly failing as responsible neighbors and pet owners and are a quality of life issue.
Its actually very surprising to me that it would take 3 years to construct a park.
1/2 of the year 2015
ALL of 2016
ALL of 2017
End of 2018
That seems absurd….i know things take time, but after clearing the site…which they are doing now…how log could it take to put together walking paths, sod, plants, an overlook, bulkhead work.
Many of the activities can be going on at the same time (like they said in the article)
If you think that the park won’t be completed until after 2018 give me a HELL YEAH!!