Pier 55, the floating park designed by Heatherwick Studio and landscape architecture firm, Signe Nielsen, received a green-light from the New York Supreme Court this past Friday, April 8, according to a report by the Architect’s Newspaper. Floating above the Hudson River on the Lower West Side of Manhattan, the park is anchored by an aggregation of enormous petal-like stilts that are submerged in the water below. The park is being funded by the philanthropy of Diane von Furstenberg and her husband Barry Diller.
Pier 55’s legal troubles began last spring when the non-profit, City Club of New York filed a lawsuit against Pier55 Inc. and Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) to stop the project.
The City Club voiced concerns over effects on the river’s ecosystem, specifically, “[that] the project would require driving about 550 piles in an area of the Hudson protected as an estuarine sanctuary.” The park faced another legal hurdle last November when the EPA first raised and later rescinded claims about the project's unacceptable effects on an important aquatic resource. However, after the recent ruling by the New York Supreme Court, the project has moved beyond legal challenges, clearing the way for a planned opening in 2019.
Story via the Architect’s Newspaper.
Heatherwick to Construct $170 Million "Pier 55" Park Off Manhattan's Hudson River Shoreline
