A pier park and rooftop farm on Javits Center are set to be built as part of the New York City’s government’s $51 billion investment into Manhattan’s Midtown West neighbourhood.
Governor Andrew Cuomo earmarked a significant chunk of his $306 billion infrastructure plan for the city for the neighbourhood while laying out his 2021 agenda.
Plans for Midtown West include turning a police vehicle compound on a waterfront pier into an extension of Hudson River Park.
Currently, the pier is being used to store vehicles confiscated by the police for being parked illegally.
Renders released by the governor’s office show the park as a sprawling outdoor seating and dining area, with colourful floor murals and pedestrian and cycle paths around the perimeter.
The expansion of the Javits Center is already underway, led by design consortium LendLease Turner, and is due to complete in March 2021.
The extension will add 1.2 million-square-foot of gallery and events space, topped by a rooftop pavilion and an acre of urban farmland.
Further development of Penn Station, New York’s intercity rail hub, is also planned, following the opening of SOM’s Daniel Patrick Moynihan Train Hall earlier this month.
Dubbed the Empire Station Complex, significant reconstruction work is planned for the original building, which dates from 1910, as well as its newer underground sections. Property has been acquired to the south of the existing station for an extension and eight more train tracks.
This work on Penn Station is being undertaken ahead of the upcoming Gateway Project to dig two more train tunnels under the Hudson for westbound journeys.
A brand new bus terminal is also on the cards, to replace the ageing Port Authority Bus Terminal building.
Plans to replace the infamously hard-to-navigate bus station – described by comedian John Oliver as the “worst place on planet earth” – have been rumbling on since 2015. Cuomo has now promised to “a new state-of-the-art facility” to replace the “outdated” bus terminal.
A total of 14 new buildings are planned for the area between Broadway and the Hudson river designated for a mix of residential and commercial use.
Up to 1,400 of the new homes built in these buildings will be affordable, the governor promised.
In addition to these projects, Cuomo began the year by announcing plans to extend the High Line elevated park to meet the Moynihan Train Hall and the Pier 76 park. Original architects Diller Scofidio + Renfro and James Corner Field Operations are understood to be carrying out these additions.
Renderings courtesy of New York governor’s office.
