West Harlem Piers Park now open
With the opening of the West Harlem Piers Park at the end of May, the Hudson-flanking edge of Manhattan became an unbroken strip of public park space. Designed by W and Archipelago (with initial support, like Freshkills Park, from the New York Department of State Office of Coastal, Local Government & Community Sustainability under Title 11 of the Environmental Protection Fund) the completed West Harlem Piers Park represents a decade of engagement among various community groups and individuals. Now that it’s open, the park is a beacon for local residents, fishers and bikers (a bike path now runs the Hudson unobstructed).
There is one anachronistic piece of the landscape: the non-operational Marine Transfer Station at 135th Street, which shipped garbage to Fresh Kills Landfill until 2001. Its fate is still undetermined, but local community and environmental justice groups are thinking creatively about redevelopment of the space. Ideas that have been generated include a visitors center, boating facilities, and long-term aquaculture and hydroponic agriculture projects.
(via Urban Omnibus)
