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Kissena Corridor Park

Kissena Corridor Park
Location within New York City Tdorante10/sandbox8 (New York) Tdorante10/sandbox8 (the United States)
Type	Public park
Location	Queens, New York, United States
Coordinates	40.747318°N 73.820599°W / 40.747318; -73.820599
Created	1946
Operated by	New York City Department of Parks and Recreation
Status	Open all year

Kissena Corridor Park is a linear park located in northeastern Queens in New York City. The park stretches 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east-to-west, connecting Cunningham Park, Kissena Park, and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. The park exists in two sections; the western half extends west of Kissena Park through Flushing towards the Queens Botanical Garden and Flushing Meadows; while the eastern half stretches east of Kissena Park through Fresh Meadows towards Cunningham Park. The chain of parks form a major section of the Brooklyn–Queens Greenway cycling trail. Both sections are managed by the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the non-profit Kissena Corridor Park Conservancy.

The park occupies the path of Kissena Creek, a now subterranean stream which flows west through Queens into the Flushing River in Flushing Meadows. The right-of-way was later used in the late 1800s by the Central Railroad of Long Island (later the Creedmoor Branch of the Long Island Rail Road) between Flushing and Nassau County. The land from the railroad was acquired in the 1930s and 1940s for the park and a major storm sewer, and filled with both garbage and excavations from highway construction.

Etymology

Kissena Corridor Park and the adjacent Kissena Park are named after Kissena Lake located in Kissena Park. The word "Kissena" is from the Chippewa language meaning "it is cold", "cold place", or "cool water". The Chippewa (Ojibwe) Native Americans are not native to the New York area, but rather to the Midwestern United States. However, the New York area was inhabited by the "Canarsee" and "Rockaway" Lenape groups, who are Algonquian peoples along with the Chippewa. The name was given to the lake by horticulturalist Samuel Bowne Parsons (father of Samuel Parsons Jr.), who operated nursery near the lake in the late 1800s. The parks share the name with Kissena Boulevard which runs north-to-south between the two parks, and Kissena Creek which formerly ran through the parks. The area of Flushing surrounding the two parks is also informally known as "Kissena Park".

History

Early history

An 1873 map of Queens showing the route of Kissena Creek (blue) and the Central Railroad.

• Glaciation
  • The topography of Flushing and Northeast Queens was formed during this time, including the creation of Kissena Lake. Glaciation also created a natural source of well water for the area.
• Kissena Creek

Prior to modern development, a stream called Kissena Creek, previously known as Mill Creek or Ireland Mill Creek, ran east-to-west through what are now Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park. The creek began at a swamp in the modern Kew Gardens Hills / Pomonok area. The swamp was variously known as "Peat Bog Swamp, "Old Crow Swamp", "Doughty Swamp", and "Gutman’s Swamp". The 140-acre (57 ha) swamp was bound by Vleigh Place near Main Street to its west, and Kissena Boulevard and Parsons Boulevard to the east. When Parsons and Kissena Boulevards were laid out as the combined "Jamaica and Flushing Road", the route curved around the north edge of the swamp; this curve is now Aguilar Avenue. The curve was later known as "Dead Man's Bend" due to frequent accidents, until a bypass was made by extending Kissena Boulevard east to Parsons.

Past the swamp, the creek traveled east parallel to 72nd Avenue. It turned north in modern Fresh Meadows, traveling parallel to today's Utopia Parkway to the modern Kissena Park Golf Course just south of Flushing Cemetery. The creek then turned west through the modern Kissena Park, Kissena Corridor Park, and Queens Botanical Garden sites before meeting Flushing Creek at what is now the Fountain of Planets / Pool of Industry in Flushing Meadows.

The system included several lakes, including Kissena Lake, and a pond in Fresh Meadows now occupied by the Utopia Playground. As recently as the 1900s, both Kissena Lake and Gutman's Swamp served as a habitat for wood duck. Kissena Lake was initially used as a mill pond. Just east of the lake was a water pumping station. It was used first by the College Point Water Works, then by the Citizens Water Supply Company of Newtown, and finally as a city-owned pumping station.

The first settlers of the area were (nomadic) Algonquian Native Americans, who occupied the area from Flushing Meadows east to Little Neck Bay and Alley Creek. They set up a village at modern Fowler Avenue near Lawrence Street on the eastern banks of Flushing Creek. Shortly after the purchase of Manhattan island by the Dutch, in 1628 Dutch explorers surveyed Flushing Bay and the Flushing Meadows area.

The Stewart Railroad crossed modern Kissena Corridor Park (background) and Kissena Park (foreground) at Kissena Boulevard, where the Kissena station was located.

In 1869, Irish businessman Alexander Turney Stewart began planning a railroad line which would run from the Town of Hempstead (now Nassau County, Long Island) west through Queens to Flushing. It would then merge with the Flushing and North Side Railroad towards Long Island City where ferry service was available to Manhattan. Stewart created the rail line in order to grow his Garden City development in Long Island. His line, officially the Central Railroad of Long Island and also called the Stewart Railroad, branched off from the Flushing and North Side Railroad main line (now the LIRR Port Washington Branch) just east of Flushing Creek and the modern Mets–Willets Point station. It then ran east south of Downtown Flushing through today's Kissena Corridor Park and Kissena Park, turned southeast through Cunningham Park and Alley Pond Park to the Creedmoor Psychiatric Center (at the time occupied by the Creedmoor Rifle Range), then proceeded east towards Nassau County. The line was almost entirely grade separated, including tunnels at its crossings with Lawrence Street (College Point Boulevard) and Fresh Meadow Road (Utopia Parkway), and two iron bridges across Kissena Creek along with twenty culverts for the creek. The railroad route ran parallel to the north of the modern Peck Avenue, which runs through the center of the current western Kissena Corridor, and marks the south side of the eastern Kissena Corridor.

The line began operations in January 1873. It included a station at Main Street called "Hillside", a station at Kissena Boulevard and Peck Avenue called "Kissena" or "Kissena Park", and a station at 73rd Avenue in modern Cunningham Park called "Frankiston". Stewart's Central Railroad and the Flushing and North Side Railroad were consolidated to form the Flushing, North Shore and Central Railroad in 1874, and in 1876 the owner of the railroad Conrad Poppenhusen purchased a majority share in the rival Long Island Rail Road (LIRR) which united the two systems. The Central Railroad, however, failed to profit, with low patronage particularly from Garden City which had yet to develop as planned. Due to the financial woes on the line and the Long Island Rail Road system as a whole, in October 1877 the LIRR was placed in receivership. The Central Railroad was closed in 1879, and 5 miles (8.0 km) of rails were removed from the right-of-way. The Nassau County portion of the line became the Hempstead Branch, connected to the LIRR Main Line. In Queens, only a connection between the Creedmoor station and the Floral Park station remained in operation; this became the LIRR Creedmoor Branch. Following its closure, several proposals emerged to reactivate the line or reuse the right-of-way. This included a potential streetcar line between Flushing and Jamaica, and a proposed "Creedmoor Freeway" to be built along the rail line and the former Long Island Motor Parkway. None of these plans, however, came to frution.

Shortly after the consolidation of the five boroughs of New York City in 1898, city chief topographical engineer Louis Aloys Risse produced the General Map of the City of New York to be presented at the 1900 Paris Exposition. The map proposed the development of city parks at the modern locations of Kissena Park, Cunningham Park, and Alley Pond Park. It also included a linear park, which would run north-to-south connecting Alley Pond Park with a proposed park at Hillside Avenue in Queens Village. Risse would later design the Grand Concourse in the Bronx.

The land was acquired for Kissena Park (then called Kissena Lake Park) between 1904 and 1914. This included portions of the Parsons nursery sold by the family of Samuel Bowne Parsons following his 1906 death. The nursery was located at the north end of the modern park at Parsons Boulevard and Rose Avenue. Kissena Lake Park was opened in 1910. The remainder of the land from the Parsons estate was used to create the "Kissena Park" residential development. The land making up Cunningham Park (originally Hillside Park) was acquired between 1928 and 1944. In 1934, the park was named after New York City Comptroller W. Arthur Cunningham.

• In 1934, Kissena Creek was placed in a culvert at its crossing with Main Street (then called Jagger Avenue), as part of a widening project for the street.
• During the 1939 New York World's Fair held in Flushing Meadows, what would become the Queens Botanical Garden was a horticultural exhibit of the fair called "Gardens on Parade" operated by Hortus, Incorporated. The original gardens were located just southwest of the modern site, at 131st Street between Lawrence Street and the Flushing River in the path of the future Van Wyck Expressway.

Acquisition of parkland and early development

In April 1938, the Long Island Motor Parkway between Fresh Meadows, Queens and Long Island was closed by its developer William Kissam Vanderbilt II. The toll road was out competed by the more modern and free Grand Central Parkway and Northern State Parkway. Shortly afterwards the highway was donated by Vanderbilt to New York State; in return, the $80,000 to $90,000 in back taxes owed by Vanderbilt for the highway were relieved. Urban planner Robert Moses, the developer of the city highway system and the New York City Parks Commissioner, planned to convert the former highway into a "Queens Bicycle Path" between Cunningham Park and Alley Pond Park. The deal was finalized on July 1, 1938, after which the sections of the highway were divided up between New York City and the New York City Parks Department, the Long Island State Park Commission, Nassau County, and Suffolk County. This would be the first portion of Kissena Corridor Park to be acquired, forming the easternmost edge of the future park.

In August 1940, the New York City Board of Estimate approved Queens Borough President George U. Harvey's request to acquire the former Stewart Railroad right-of-way from Flushing Meadows at Lawrence Street (College Point Boulevard) east to Fresh Meadow Road (now Utopia Parkway). The right-of-way was acquired into two tracts. The western tract west of Kissena Park and Kissena Boulevard extended 1 mile (1.6 km) with an average width of 500 feet (150 m). The eastern segment also extended one mile past Kissena Park, with an average width of 85 feet (26 m). In September 1940, Harvey requested condemnation of additional land around the railroad from Lawrence Street east to Kissena Boulevard, between Crommelin Avenue and Kissena Boulevard to the north and North Hempstead Turnpike (now Booth Memorial Avenue) to the south. The western stretch of the land west of Kissena Boulevard was to become the Kissena Corridor Park, which would connect Flushing Meadows and Kissena Parks. The eastern stretch of the land would be developed into a second corridor called the Cunningham Corridor, which would connect Kissena Park with Cunningham Park. In addition, a major storm sewer called the Corridor Sewer would be constructed through the two corridors. The two Park corridors were being planned by Harvey and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses. Moses referred to the new corridor as a "shoestring park". The corridors would include playgrounds, sports fields, park trails, and bicycle and bridle paths which would connect to existing paths in Cunningham Park. According to the Parks Department press release in August 1940, "The great extent of this natural drainage basin which serves the northeastern portion of the Borough of Queens requires a storm water truck sewer of such extraordinary size that it cannot be accommodated within the limits of an ordinary street." Development of the Corridor Parks and Flushing Meadows Park was to be funded by the profits from the 1939–40 New York World's Fair held in Flushing Meadows. The fair, however, did not turn a profit.

• 1941/1942: Kissena Corridor Park "garbage cemetery"

At the end of the 1939–40 New York World's Fair in 1940, debris from the demolition of the fair exhibits was used to fill the section of the future Kissena Corridor west of Main Street (today's Queens Botanical Garden). (Shortly after the approval of the Corridor Sewer and Park projects,) in 1941 the New York City Department of Sanitation led by Commissioner William F. Carey began (plans to) fill(ing) the Kissena Corridor site between Main Street and Kissena Boulevard with municipal waste as a landfill. Afterwards, the landfill would be excavated to install the sewer, and would act as a cover for the sewer. At the time, using garbage to fill the marshlands was considered more economical than filling it with clean dirt. In addition, the fill would help mitigate mosquitoes which inhabited the area around Kissena Creek. An existing landfill was already present on Rose Avenue in Kissena Park. This dump, which collected ashes, garbage, and refuse from Flushing, began operations in the 1930s. A second Kissena Park landfill on North Hempstead Turnpike (Booth Memorial Avenue) was opened on November 14, 1943 and closed in July 1945.

• In 1942, the federal War Production Board barred the construction of the Corridor Sewer, due to steel requirements for the World War II effort.
• Corridor dump began in 1943?

The Corridor Dump was referred to as a "garbage cemetery", and as "Carey's new-found golden hen".

• Corridor Dump complaints
  • GI Housing on landfill

• 1943/1944: Post-War Plans ($2.8 million).

Corridor Sewer

In 1944, the plans for the Corridor Sewer were altered by Queens Borough President James A. Burke, moving the routing of the sewer 0.25 miles (0.40 km) north. The alterations lowered the cost of the project by $800,000. The project was approved by the Board of Estimate on May 25, 1944. In March 1946, Queens Borough President James A. Burke requested $5 million for the Corridor Trunk Sewer Project. The Board of Estimate approved the project on October 10, 1946. In November 1946 the city began receiving bids for the Corridor Sewer project.

The project would involve constructing a major storm and sanitary sewer along the former Central Railroad line right-of-way from Utopia Parkway west to the existing storm sewers in Flushing Meadows built during the 1939 New York World's Fair. In addition, a third sewer line would be constructed on the east side of Flushing Meadows. Afterwards, the sewer corridor would be developed into Kissena Corridor Park. At the time there were no major outlet sewers for storm water in the Flushing area, and existing local sewers could only operate as sanitary sewers. The new sewer line would also serve the Parkway Village and Fresh Meadows Houses developments being constructed by the New York Life Insurance Company. The Parkway Village development in Briarwood served as housing for United Nations staff members, while the UN General Assembly was temporarily headquartered in the New York City Building at Flushing Meadows.

The planned sewer trunk line would extend for 3 miles (4.8 km) between Cunnigham Park and Flushing Meadows and be 14 feet (4.3 m) tall, while the combined width of its three main chambers would measure 54 feet (16 m) across. It was claimed to be the among the largest sewer lines in the United States. Each of its main tubes were said to be able to fit subway trains or cross country buses inside. The overall size of the main sewer was compared to that of the Holland Tunnel.

In December 1946 the bids for the sewer project were rejected by Borough Public Works Commissioner Maurice A. FitzGerald, due to being up to 53.7% higher than the estimated costs given by municipal engineers. After the projected costs rose from $4.7 million to $7.5 million, in January 1947 the Board of Estimate rescinded its approval and called an additional public hearing for the project. On March 6, 1947, contracts were awarded for the building of the sewer, with construction expected to begin on April 1 of that year. As part of the project, several homes on Utopia Parkway were condemned to make way for the sewer. At this time, the development of Kissena Corridor Park itself was pushed back to 1950 due to lack of funds.

Groundbreaking ceremonies for the sewer project were held on April 1, 1947, at the northwest corner of the Kissena Coridor at Lawrence Street and Fowler and Blossom Avenues. Borough President Burke and Borough Works Commissioner FitzGerald were in attendance. At the time, the project was referred to as "the world's largest sewer system". On February 19, 1948, the final contract for the project, including the trunk line from 188th Street to Francis Lewis Boulevard, was authorized from the Board of Estimate. On February 27, the Queens borough sewer engineer announced that the cost of the sewer project would run to over $10,000,000, $2.25 million higher than the previous figure. The main trunk of the Corridor Sewer was completed by September 1948, although many of the feeder lines had yet to be constructed.

Garbage Landfill

• • In 1945, a portion of the park between 148th and 150th Streets was used by the Park and Sanitation Departments as a garbage landfill.
  • In May 1951, Robert Moses announced plans to raise the grade the western stretch of the park between Flushing Meadows and 164th Street, by using it as a temporary garbage dump. The filling would also facilitate an extension of 146th Street north through the park. Moses had already began filling the sites of other future parks with municipal waste, including Spring Creek Park and Marine Park in Brooklyn. The plans were opposed by Queens Borough President Maurice A. FitzGerald.
  • On June 7, 1951, Moses eliminated plans for the dump and the extension of 146th Street.
• 1950
  • Abandoned DSNY Garage at Dahlia Avenue west of Main Street (in modern Queens Botanical Gardens)
• 1953:
  • On June 16, 1953, a playground in the eastern corridor at 188th Street and Peck Avenue (today's Underhill Playground) was dedicated by Moses and Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri.
  • Filled by DSNY landfill.
  • At the dedication, Moses claimed that he envisioned creating a park on the Kissena Corridor site in 1919, while he lived in the area as a staffer for then-Governor Alfred E. Smith. He described the site at the time as "virtually an open sewer".
• western stretch of the park was landfilled in the 1950s from dirt excavated for the construction of the Long Island Expressway. By 1960, 550,000 cubic yards of dirt were deposited on the park from the Long Island Expressway. On June 8, 1959, Moses announced that additional fill would come from the Clearview Expressway, which would raise the grade of the park and end garbage landfilling.
• 1954
  • In November 1954, then-New York City Budget Director Abe Beame proposed dropping funds for the development of Kissena Corridor Park from the 1955 Capital Outlay Budget.
• 1955
  • Illegal dumping, floods, brush fires
  • July: local civic association proposes a swimming pool at Utopia Parkway and Peck Avenue. The association described the park as a "vast wasteland, long infested with rats and vermin."
• 1956
  • described as "a shoddy no-man's land of rubbish, weeds, and stagnant water, frequented in most areas only by mosquitos and vagrants."
• 1957:
  • Playground at Elder Av and 135th St (now Queens Botanical Garden)
    • A third playground in the park, located at Elder Avenue and 135th Street in what in now the Queens Botanical Garden, was originally set to be complete by March 1957. However by March 11, only a comfort station and lights were constructed, while the site required significant filling before development could occur. According to the Parks Department, the project was delayed due to bad weather.
    • March: Playground site used as dumping ground; filled with dirt after community petition.
  • Playground in west corridor at 146th Street and 56th Road (today's Playground One Forty Six) opened June 24, 1957.
• 1959:
  • intended as "garden spot" of the city; little development and deterioration; continued illegal dumping
  • "Rats as big as cats".

Second World's Fair development

Creation of Botanical Gardens
Prior to the 1964−1965 New York World's Fair, the western portion of Kissena Corridor Park between Lawrence Street / College Point Boulevard and Main Street adjacent to Flushing Meadows Park was leased to the World's Fair Corporation, along with most of Flushing Meadows. In 1961 as part of $3 million in development for the World's Fair, the Queens Botanical Garden was planned to be relocated from the fair grounds in Flushing Meadows to the west end of Kissena Corridor Park adjacent to the World's Fair Grounds. This tract of Kissena Corridor Park was described as "35 acres (14 ha) of bogs and dump land". The project included a new administration building, to cost $150,000, and a pedestrian overpass over Lawrence Street leading to Flushing Meadows. The existing garden in Flushing Meadows would be demolished to make way for new fair exhibits, and the extension of the Van Wyck Expressway north through the park to the Whitestone Expressway. This site was originally planned to be used as parking space for the fair.

Grading work for the project began on March 22, 1961. The Board of Estimate approved the Botanical Garden project and other World's Fair projects in September 23, 1961. At the time, the work for the gardens was estimated to cost $341,700. Construction on the administration building began in 1962. The building was designed by the Brodsky, Hopf & Adler firm, which also designed terminals at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport in Texas. Landscaping work was done by Gilmore David Clarke and Michael Rapuano, who also designed the original 1939 World's Fair Grounds and the 1964 layout for the fair. The section of Elder Avenue that ran southwest across the Corridor Park site between Main Street and Peck Avenue was de-mapped to integrate the land into the Botanical Gardens. Three Blue Atlas Cedar trees were transplanted from the original garden site to the new main entrance on Main Street. The new Queens Botanical Garden was dedicated on October 19, 1963.

Other Developments
Like in the first World's Fair, profits from the second fair were to fund development of both Flushing Meadows and Kissena Corridor Parks, as desired by now-fair president Robert Moses. The cost of the project was estimated at $23 million (later $24 million). At the time, Moses envisioned the Kissena Corridor to extend 7 miles (11 km) between Flushing Meadows and the Nassau County line. The 2,816 acres (1,140 ha) park chain would run along the "'spine' of Queens", connecting Flushing Meadows, Kissena Park, Cunningham Park, Alley Pond Park, and the Douglaston Park Golf Course. The project would include a bikeway connecting the parks. The plan also included a Queens Zoo to be built adjacent to the Queens Botanical Garden and operated by the Queens Botanical Garden Society. The zoo was expected to be complete by Spring 1967. The lease of the Flushing Meadows site to the World's Fair Corporation, however, stated the corporation must return the surplus profits to the city for education. Moses clashed with then-City Comptroller Abe Beame and the New York City Council, who both desired the funds to be used for education.

On June 21, 1962, the Board of Estimate allocated $654,655 for projects towards the development of Kissena Corridor Park. This included nearly $500,000 for the development of the eastern stretch of the park, and $187,200 for a football and soccer field near Kissena Boulevard in the western park.

In January 1964, Moses proposed that the World's Fair Corporation remain in operation until the end of 1967 in order to complete the park chain. The corporation would also handle the construction contracts.

In March 1964, the New York City Council voted to construct a school above the Hutchinson River Parkway in the Bronx against Moses's wishes, which would become Herbert H. Lehman High School.

In July 1964, Moses revealed that only $14 million in surplus fair funds would be available for the two parks, as opposed to the anticipated $24 million.

In July 1966, the recreation committee from Community Planning Board 14B (serving Flushing, College Point, Whitestone, and Beechhurst) accused the Parks Department and Parks Commissioner Thomas Hoving of neglecting the maintenance and development of Kissena Corridor Park.

• IS 237 (Rachel L. Carson)
  • In July 1966, Local School Board 25 serving Flushing (headed by future Board of Education President Murry Bergtraum) suggested constructing the planned Intermediate School 237 as a "garden school", to be located within Kissena Corridor Park on Colden Street between Jupiter and Geranium Avenues.
  • opened across from the park in September 1971.

Description

Signs identifying the west (top) and east (bottom) sections of Kissena Corridor Park, near Kissena Boulevard and Francis Lewis Boulevard respectively

Kissena Corridor Park consists of two separate sections of parkland, which collectively contain over 100 acres (40 ha) of land and extend 4.5 miles (7.2 km) east-to-west through northeastern Queens. The park chain connects Flushing Meadows–Corona Park at its west end with Cunningham Park at its east end, with Kissena Park and the Kissena Park Golf Course at the center of the corridor.

The western section of the park connects Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the west with Kissena Park to the east. Lawrence Street and College Point Boulevard mark the west end of the park, while Kissena Boulevard is at the east end. The site is generally bound by Colden Street to the north and Booth Memorial Avenue to the south. The west park is located in Greater Flushing. To the south are Queensboro Hill and Pomonok. To the north are Flushing and Murray Hill. The park measures 700 feet (210 m) north-to-south. Three blocks entirely surrounded by the park west of Kissena Boulevard are developed with houses. The westernmost parcel was taken for the Queens Botanical Garden in the 1960s, and is now often associated with the adjacent Flushing Meadows–Corona Park. Main Street separates the Gardens to the west from the west of the park to the east.

The eastern section of the park extends southeast diagonally from the Kissena Park Golf Course at Fresh Meadow Lane near Utopia Parkway, to Cunningham Park at Francis Lewis Boulevard. This section is more narrow, running between Underhill Avenue to the north and Peck Avenue to the south. To the south is Fresh Meadows and to the north is Auburndale. This section is also not continuous, with several streets crossing the park at grade. Utopia Parkway and 188th Street traverse the park north-to-south, while 58th Avenue runs east-to-west through the park. The park is bisected by the Long Island Expressway near its eastern end, necessitating an overpass bridge to travel over the highway. The park contains 45.937 acres (18.590 ha) of land.

The eastern edge of the park is formed by the former Long Island Motor Parkway (also known as the Vanderbilt Parkway), since converted into a park trail. The parkway runs north-to-south adjacent to the west of Francis Lewis Boulevard and parallel to Cunningham Park, to a point just north of Union Turnpike. It then continues east parallel to Union Turnpike, connecting to Alley Pond Park in Oakland Gardens.

The chain of parks between Flushing Meadows and Alley Pond Park connected by Kissena Corridor Park form the "Kissena-Cunningham Corridor" of the Brooklyn–Queens Greenway, a 40-mile (64 km) pedestrian and cycling route which stretches from Coney Island, Brooklyn to Fort Totten and the Throgs Neck Bridge in Bayside, Queens. The Kissena Corridor portion of the route begins at College Point Boulevard at the east end of Flushing Meadows, and runs east on several local streets at the south end of the park chain, bypassing the Queens Botanical Garden. The route physically enters Kissena Corridor Park at 150th Street and 56th Road, then runs through Kissena Park, along a bike lane on Underhill Road along the north side of Kissena Corridor East, then runs along the former Long Island Motor Parkway to Cunningham Park. The Greenway continues east along the parkway to Alley Pond Park.

• Kissena Way

Located underneath Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park West along the Stewart Railroad right-of-way is the Kissena Corridor Sewer. The combined sewer receives water from as far east as Little Neck. The remnants of Kissena Creek also flow in a sewer underneath the parks and the Queens Botanical Garden. The sewers flow west into the Flushing Bay Combined Sewer Outfall (CSO) Retention Facility, located in Flushing Meadows underneath the Al Oerter Recreation Center across to the west of the Queens Botanical Garden. The facility can hold up to 43.4 million US gallons (164 Ml) of water from overflows during storms, before pumping the water to the Tallman Island Waste Water Treatment Plant in College Point. Otherwise, the water empties into the Flushing River which flows north into Flushing Bay.

Features

Queens Botanical Garden

Main article: Queens Botanical Garden

Evergreen Community Garden

The Evergreen Community Garden on Colden Street in Flushing.

Evergreen Community Garden is located in Kissena Corridor Park West at Colden Street and Juniper Avenue next to Rachel Carson Playground. The garden is currently managed by the Parks Department under their GreenThumb program. The 5-acre (2.0 ha) garden contains 280 plots measuring 400 square feet (37 m²), which can be purchased by local residents. Plants cultivated in the garden include fir trees, Korean bellflowers, and lotus flowers. The majority of the members of the garden are of Korean descent, many of whom are elderly.

The garden was created in 1982 by elderly Korean immigrants, from land on the former Central Railroad right-of-way. At the time it was considered "a dump ground...weed-land with cement blocks and buried tires." The garden was initially privately managed by the Korean-American Senior Citizens Society. The garden was taken over by the Parks Department in March 2012, leading to protests from gardeners and the former management group. The Parks Department claimed that the garden was excluding potential members and charged excessive fees. Other problems included the selling of produce from the garden, which is banned by the Parks Department, and the use of human feces as fertilzer. Following the takeover, however, the Senior Citizens Society claimed the Parks Department overcharged members and attempted to force out existing Korean gardeners. In September 2012, the former manager of the garden began a hunger strike and threatened to set himself on fire in protest, leading Intermediate School 237 across the street to be placed on lockdown. Gardeners later circulated a petition, and organized a protest during an event at the garden in September 2014.

Playgrounds

• Playground One Forty Six (CXLVI)
• Rachel Carson Playground & Silent Spring Playground
  • Comfort station
    • In 1981, local resident John Henry Byas began lobbying for a comfort station to be built in the park.
    • Ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on April 5, 2013, with then-City Comptroller John Liu and Queens Borough Parks Commissioner Dorothy Lewandowski in attendance.
  • Located across the street is the Rachel L. Carson Intermediate School (IS 237). The building also houses the East-West School of International Studies, a grades 6-12 school.
• NYHMC Playground / Amerigo Vespucci Campo-Di-Boccie
• Underhill Playground
  • $230,000 allocated for construction of the playground in August 1952.
  • Dedicated by Moses and Mayor Vincent R. Impellitteri on June 16, 1953.
• Captain Mario Fajardo Park
• Holy Cow Playground / Public School 4
  • Holy Cow Playground is located at the east end of the eastern stretch of Kissena Corridor Park across from Cunningham Park, next to Public School 4 (originally Public School 179) and near the Fresh Meadows Houses development. Adjacent to the north of the playground at Francis Lewis Boulevard and the Horace Harding Expressway is St. Francis Preparatory School. The land for the playground was acquired in 1947. Land for P.S. 179 was ceded from Kissena Corridor Park in 1954. The playground opened as P.S. 179 Playground on October 11, 1956. It was renamed Peck Playground in 1985 after Peck Avenue. In 1998 following a $400,000 renovation, it was named after New York Yankees player and broadcaster Phil Rizzuto and his catchphrase "Holy Cow!". Further renovations occurred in 1999 under the Giuliani administration.
  • The playground features a paved softball field adjacent to the east of the school, and basketball and handball courts behind the school. It originally had a wading pool across from the softball field.

Transportation

A Jamaica-bound Q44 SBS bus stopped in front of the Queens Botanical Garden.

A Flushing-bound Q17 Limited bus on Kissena Boulevard between Kissena Park and Kissena Corridor Park.

Several bus routes of MTA Regional Bus Operations operate in the vicinity of Kissena Corridor Park. The Q58 bus route operates at the far west end of the park on College Point Boulevard, between Flushing Meadows–Corona Park to the west and the Queens Botanical Garden to the east. The route then crosses Flushing Meadows via the Long Island Expressway. The Q20A/B and Q44 Select Bus Service routes run on Main Street at west end of the park, serving the Queens Botanical Garden. The Q17, Q25 and Q34 routes operate on Kissena Boulevard between Kissena Corridor West and Kissena Park. The Q65 route travels through Kissena Park on 164th Street. The Q31 operates on Utopia Parkway through Kisenna Corridor East. The Q30 crosses the eastern park on Horace Harding Expressway (the Long Island Expressway service road) near Francis Lewis Boulevard, and also operates on Utopia Parkway south of the LIE. The Q76 operates north-to-south along Francis Lewis Boulevard at the far east end of the park near Cunningham Park. The part-time Q26 route, operating along Hollis Court Boulevard and 48th Avenue, terminates at Francis Lewis Boulevard and the Long Island Expressway just north of Kissena Corridor East. In additon, the Q88 route runs east-to-west on 73rd Avenue and Horace Harding Expressway just south of Kissena Corridor Park, serving Alley Pond Park, Cunningham Park, and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park along the park chain.

The closest New York City Subway station to the park is Flushing–Main Street on Main Street and Roosevelt Avenue in Downtown Flushing, served by the 7 and <7>​ trains. Long Island Rail Road service on the Port Washington Branch is available at the LIRR station of the same name farther south on Main Street at Kissena Boulevard and 41st Avenue. The Q17, Q20, Q25, Q26, Q34, Q44 SBS, Q58, and Q65 routes all connect to the stations.

Links

• Queens College
• Forgotten NY
• TransAlt Kissena Way
• 10,000 Trees Closer to a Million
• [1]
• NYTimes Kissena
• Silent Spring Playground Reconstruction
• Flushing Dump Fires
• Sea of Mud
• Q30 and Q31
• Filling, 146th and 56th Road
• Second Playground, Booth Memorial Av, 1956
• Torn Up Road, 1957
• Rescued From Raft
• Gas Bomb
• Flushing Blast Menace
• Queens to Get a Zoo
• Park Sketch, August 1940
• Park Sketch, 1945
• Kissena Park, LI Farmer, 1908
• Growing the urban forest: tree performance in response to biotic and abiotic land management
• Factors driving natural regeneration beneath a planted urban forest
• Kissena Lake, NYDEC

Olde FLushing, 1935

External links

• Media related to Kissena Corridor Park at Wikimedia Commons

Random links and articles

Woodhaven Junction Substation, 1907 "Proposed Queens Transportation Center", Sunnyside Yards, Rockawave, May 24, 1951

Jamaica Normal School (Hillcrest HS), NYTimes

Rockaway Beach Monorail, Rockawave, 1938

How the Coastline Became a Place to Put the Poor

Staten Island: The City's Last Outpost of Suburbia, NYPost, 1964

West Shore Expressway Park & Ride Arch Report, 2007

Freshkills Timeline

Idlewild Park & Moses, Rockawave, Sep 1956

NEIGHBORHOOD REPORT: DAVIDSON GOLDIN; Putting a Cap on a Toxic Error, NYTimes, 1994 - Pelham Bay Landfill

ROCKAWAY MEDICAL ARTS COMPLEX Remedial Investigation Report, September 2015

BAM Park Report

Two New Bronx Branch Libraries (Mosholu Library), 1951 - Picture of vacant lot (Whalen Park) behind 205th Street IND entrance

City Planning Commission Master Plan: Express Highways, Parkways, and Major Streets, The City Record, Dec 1940

Report of the New York Rapid Transit Commissioners (IRT Construction), Railroad Gazette, Sept 4, 1903

Cunningham Park Map Cunningham 1988 Survey

[2] - NYTimes, How Epidemics Helped Shape the Modern Metropolis

https://survey.nycsca.org/bcas/enc_rpts/Q595_A.pdf - Old Jamaica High School Arch Report

Downtown Flushing Banks Downtown Flushing Banks 2 Downtown Flushing Banks 3

39-15 Main Street (90 Main Street)

Bank of Manhattan Middle Village

Chelsea Waterside Park / Thomas F. Smith Park

Not to be confused with Chelsea Park.

Chelsea Waterside Park
Thomas F. Smith Park
Chelsea Waterside Park in 2023, following renovations.
Location within New York City Tdorante10/sandbox8 (New York) Tdorante10/sandbox8 (the United States)
Type	Urban park
Location	West 23rd Street and 12th Avenue, Chelsea, Manhattan, New York City
Coordinates	40.749446°N 74.007431°W / 40.749446; -74.007431
Area	2.5 acres (1.0 ha)
Opened	1906 (1906) (Thomas F. Smith Park) 2000 (2000) (Chelsea Waterside Park, as part of Hudson River Park)
Operated by	State of New York City of New York Hudson River Park Trust
Status	Open
Public transit access	NYCT Bus: M12, M23 SBS
Website	www.hudsonriverpark.org

Chelsea Waterside Park, formerly Thomas F. Smith Park, is a public park located at West 23rd Street between 11th and 12th Avenues along the West Side Highway in Chelsea, Manhattan. It was originally operated by the City of New York under the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. It is currently part of the Chelsea section of Hudson River Park and managed by the Hudson River Park Trust.

The park was originally the site of a small freight yard for the Erie Railroad. In 1906, the railroad redeveloped the site into a park, as part of the reconstruction of the adjacent ferry terminal. In 1915, the park was taken over by the Parks Department, and was named for politician Thomas Francis Smith following his death in 1923. The construction of the West Side Elevated Highway in the early 1930s split the park into two adjacent sections.

Chelsea Waterside Park was designed in the late 1980s by architect Thomas Balsley. Half of the proposed park would be an expansion of the existing Smith Park, and the other half would be developed on the waterfront atop Piers 62, 63, and 64, with the two halves connected by a footbridge. The inland portion of Chelsea Waterside Park was constructed in the 1990s as a part of Hudson River Park during the redevelopment of the West Side Highway, and opened in 2000. The waterfront sections proposed for the park were completed in 2010 under a separate project. Between 2017 and 2023, major renovations took place in Chelsea Waterside Park, with a redesigned playground opening in 2018 and the remaining upgrades completed by 2023.

Chelsea description

The granite main entrance sign (top) and 23rd Street promenade (bottom) in 2018, prior to renovations.

Location

Chelsea Waterside Park is located on a triangular two-block long site at the west end of 23rd Street. It is bound to the west by 12th Avenue (West Side Highway), to the east by 11th Avenue, to the south by West 22nd Street, and to the north by West 24th Street. The de-mapped western end of 23rd Street runs through the park as a pedestrian plaza, connecting to the rest of Hudson River Park via a crosswalk. The current park is 2.5 acres (1.0 ha) in size. The southern half of the park south of 23rd Street formed the original Thomas F. Smith Park, which was between 0.5 and 2 acres (0.20 and 0.81 ha) large.

Located to the west of the park is the main right-of-way of Hudson River Park, which runs north-to-south between the West Side Highway and the Hudson River. Immediately across from Chelsea Waterside Park are the Chelsea Piers sports complex, and Piers 62, 63, and 64. Across 24th Street to the north is the United States Postal Service Manhattan Vehicles Maintenance Facility. To the east at 10th Avenue is the High Line. The park is located just south of the West Chelsea Historic District, which includes the landmarked Starrett–Lehigh Building. The park is located in the vicinity of the Chelsea-Elliot Houses and Fulton Houses housing projects, and the Penn South and London Terrace apartment complexes.

Chelsea Features

The 2000-built design of Chelsea Waterside Park was created by landscape architect Thomas Balsley during the reconstruction of the West Side Highway in the late 1980s and 1990s. Balsley would later design renovations to Gantry Plaza State Park, Riverside Park South, and the East River Esplanade. The park was reconstructed between 2017 and 2023, with Phase I of the renovations designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, and Phase II designed by the Abel Bainnson Butz (ABB) and CDR Studio Architects firms. As designed by Balsley, Chelsea Waterside Park contains walls and benches constructed of granite in order to resemble 19th Century coastal bulkheads, as a reference to the area's historical use as a marine port.

The pedestrian plaza along 23rd Street was originally constructed as a straight-path promenade between 11th and 12th Avenues, intended as a gateway to the main Hudson River Park along the river. The Phase II renovations by ABB reimagined the promenade as the "central area", replacing the straight path with two curved paths surrounding a central lawn. Within the lawn is a picnic area with "festive lights" hanging above for nighttime use. In Balsley's original park plans, a landscaped or terraced footbridge called a "platform park" would have run above the highway from the pedestrian plaza towards the shorefront sections of Hudson River Park.

At the north end of the park are an artificial turf athletic field used for soccer and other sports, and a basketball court. The turf field measures 32 yards (29 m) by 60 yards (55 m). Both the athletic field and the basketball court have lights for nighttime use. Next to the athletic field at the northwest corner of the park is a smaller elevated sitting area known as the "sunset overlook".

At the south end of the park is the dog run. As built in 2000, it was 3,500 square feet (330 m²) in size. It features an asphalt surface designed to remain at low temperature, a drinking stream, and three or four 3-foot (0.91 m) tall mounds and a 24-foot (7.3 m) long "fallen tree" sculpture for dogs to interact with. The dog run was named "Best of New York" by New York Magazine in May 2005. The Phase II renovations enlarged the dog run to 7,400 square feet (690 m²), splitting it into "small dogs" and "large dogs" sections. The original Thomas F. Smith Park also featured a dog run.

As constructed in 2000, the park contained portable toilets in lieu of a comfort station. The Phase II renovations added a comfort station along the central area, doubling as a gatehouse into the athletic field. Designed by CDR Studio Architects, the building's facade utilizes granite and wood salvaged from the park's original walls and benches. Solar panels were also installed atop the roof of the building. The comfort station was placed as such to connect with the sewer line running underneath 23rd Street.

Play Area

At the northeast corner of the park is its playground, called the Chelsea Waterside Play Area. The playground is 17,000 square feet (1,600 m²) in size. From October 2017 to August 2018, the play area underwent an 11-month $3.4 million renovation, designed by the Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates and MONSTRUM firms. The Michael Van Valkenburgh firm also redesigned the nearby Piers 62, 63, and 64, as well as Brooklyn Bridge Park. In its current iteration, the playground's central feature is the "Pipefish Tower" created by MONSTRUM. It consists of a multi-colored 64-foot (20 m) long pipefish-shaped climbing feature, surrounding a large slide rising 22 feet (6.7 m) high. The pipefish is one of the aquatic species native to the Hudson River. The pipefish sculpture is constructed of Robinia wood, and consists of a seahorse's head and a serpent's body. The slide's towers, meanwhile, are designed to resemble tree trunks. At the north end of the playground is a small splash pad called the "water maze", featuring several sprinklers. A toddler water play area is situated at the southeast corner of the play area. At the southwest corner is the "Mussel Houses", a sandbox featuring mussel or oyster-shaped sculptures. At the northwest corner of the playground is a "Donor Recognition Wall", featuring the names of major benefactors to the park's renovation.

The Phase II renovations to the park added a stroller parking area at the south end of the playground.

Cattle sculptures

Located in the play area integrated with its sprinklers are two limestone sculptures of cattle heads. The sculptures were originally architectural features of the New York Butchers' Dressed Meat Company building, a Neo-Renaissance-style slaughterhouse that was located in Hell's Kitchen. The building was demolished in 1991, after which the sculptures were preserved by the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission. The two cow sculptures along with two sculptures of ram's heads were purchased by the Hudson River Park Trust at auction in 2012. The cattle sculptures were added to the park during the 2018 renovations. The ram sculptures were given to DeWitt Clinton Park in Hell's Kitchen.

In addition to the cattle sculptures, Art Deco ornamental features of the former West Side Elevated Highway are also integrated into the playground. Theses are wing-shaped and made of granite. The highway formerly ran through the original Thomas F. Smith Park. Seating furniture, meanwhile, was created from the former granite arch of Pier 54, also part of Hudson River Park.

Thomas F. Smith Monument

One of the features retained from the original Thomas F. Smith Park is a 7-foot (2.1 m) granite monument to Smith, located on 23rd Street at the eastern entrance to the park. It's inscription reads "In Memory Of Hon. Thomas F. Smith, Born 1863−Died 1923, Erected by the Seymour Club of Chelsea Neighborhood". The Horatio Seymour Democratic Club, also called the Seymour Tammany Club, was a Tammany Hall political club headquartered in Chelsea. Similar monuments also erected by the Seymour Club are featured in nearby Chelsea Park.

Left to right: The Central Area, dog run, basketball court, Pipefish Tower, cattle sculptures, sprinklers, Thomas F. Smith Monument, turf athletic field.

Transportation

The park is directly served by the M12 local bus route and the M23 Select Bus Service route. The M12 operates between Abingdon Square Park and Columbus Circle along 11th and 12th Avenues. The M23 SBS operates crosstown along 23rd Street, with its western terminus at Chelsea Piers across from Chelsea Waterside Park. The closest New York City Subway station is the 23rd Street station on the IND Eighth Avenue Line, served by the C​ and ​E trains.

Chelsea history

Use as a freight yard and creation of the park

The Erie Railroad ferry terminal at West 23rd Street circa 1900.

A 1916 map of Chelsea showing Thomas F. Smith Park, labeled as "PARK".

In May 1868, the Erie Railroad began operating the Pavonia Ferry route between the 23rd Street Ferry on the Hudson River at the west end of 23rd Street, and Jersey City. In 1893 the company, now operating as the New York, Lake Erie & Western, constructed a car float bridge on the south side of the ferry terminal. They also created a small freight yard on the block across from the terminal, between 22nd and 23rd Streets and between 11th and 12th Avenues. The dimensions of the rail yard were 380 feet (120 m) by 200 feet (61 m). As the turn of the century approached, the railroad considered expanding the yard to the next block east, in order to accommodate newer and larger boxcars. In April 1901, the Erie Railroad purchased a site for a new freight yard between 28th and 29th Streets, across from the existing yard of the Lehigh Valley Railroad. In 1902, the company began negotiations with the city to develop a new freight yard on this property. The new freight yard, known as the 28th Street Freight House, was opened on September 1, 1904, after which the yard at 23rd Street was abandoned.

Meanwhile the Pennsylvania Railroad also opened a ferry terminal located between 23rd and 24th Streets in 1897, while the Delaware, Lackawanna and Western Railroad and the Central Railroad of New Jersey opened adjacent terminals around 1905. In 1906, the original Erie ferry terminal was demolished and a new ferry house was constructed. As part of the project, a park was constructed on the former Erie freight yard; this was the predecessor to Thomas F. Smith Park. The park was used as a common plaza for all the ferry terminals in the area as well as Chelsea Piers.

The park was acquired by the New York City Department of Docks in 1907. By 1911, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation maintained the park, though it remained under the Department of Dock's jurisdiction. The site was transferred from the Department of Docks to the Parks Department in 1915, along with eight "recreation piers". On April 11, 1923, then-city Public Secretary Thomas Francis Smith was struck and killed by a taxicab. Shortly afterwards, the New York City Board of Aldermen named the parkland after Smith. The parks amenities at the time consisted of benches and trees.

The West Side Elevated Highway, also know as the Miller Highway, was completed from Canal Street to the foot of Smith Park at 23rd Street in late 1930. In 1932, construction began on an extension of the highway between 22nd Street and 38th Street. This section of the highway opened on January 5, 1933. The highway formed an "S"-curve at 23rd Street, where the right-of-way shifted west from 11th Avenue onto 12th Avenue. Because of this, Thomas F. Smith Park was split diagonally into two triangular sections by the highway trestle. The space underneath the elevated highway, meanwhile, was used for parking and storage.

During the construction of the highway, the Twenty-third Street Association petitioned Manhattan Borough President Samuel Levy to build a replacement for Thomas F. Smith Park. On October 15, 1931 Levy promised that a new West Side park would be created to replace Smith Park.

Thomas F. Smith Park was officially dedicated and opened on June 26, 1936. At the time, the property was assessed at $1,000,000. In December 1936, the Parks Department proposed renovations to the park, which would add recreational facilities. These new facilities would include benches, water fountains, swings, horseshoe pits, handball courts, and shuffleboard courts, along with new landscaping work. An underpass would be constructed in order to connect the two separate halves of the park. Only a portion of the proposed upgrades were implemented.

From 1951 until 1975, the southern section of the park was used by the United States Bureau of Customs for a large customs scale. Between 1970 and August 1973, the park was closed and used as storage space for the construction of the West Side interceptor sewer. Afterwards, the sewer construction firm renovated the park, which reopened in early 1974. At this time, the park was primarily used by workers in the industrial areas along the Chelsea waterfront.

Closure of the Miller Highway and Westway project

Entrance ramps to the West Side Elevated Highway at 23rd Street. Prior to its demolition, the highway split Thomas F. Smith Park into two halves.

One of the original winged decorations of the elevated highway at Canal Street in 1974.

On December 15, 1973, a section of the West Side Elevated Highway at Gansevoort Street south of 14th Street collapsed under the weight of a dump truck, which was carrying asphalt for repairs to the highway. At the time, much of the highway was in disrepair and considered unsafe; in particular, the S-curve at 23rd Street was deemed dangerous. Afterwards, in January 1974 the highway was closed between Battery Park and 46th Street. That year, the federal government and the New York State Department of Transportation (NYSDOT) released a study known as the West Side Highway Project to explore replacement options for the highway.

As a result of the study, in April 1974 the City of New York announced the Westway plan, which would construct a new six-lane underground highway (Interstate 478) along the west side of Manhattan between the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel and the Lincoln Tunnel. The existing Hudson River piers would be demolished and the right-of-way would be landfilled, with the highway tunnel placed within the new land. The inland West Side Highway route (Route 9A, a.k.a. West Street and 12th Avenue) would be redeveloped as a four-to-six lane surface boulevard. This was a revised version of the "Outboard Alternative" in the West Side Highway Project study. The Westway plan evolved from the 1971 "Wateredge Study" by the state Urban Development Corporation, which sought to build the new Interstate along the Hudson River coastline, either atop pilings above the river, at grade, or in a tunnel. As part of the Westway plan, 92.96 acres (37.62 ha) of continuous parkland would be created along the Hudson River above the proposed highway tunnel, which would serve the increasing residential population in the area. The conversion of the West Side Highway into a surface boulevard would further improve pedestrian access to the waterfront.

The outboard Westway plan was approved by the Federal Highway Administration on July 26, 1977. The West Side Highway Project included plans for a "community-oriented park" at the site of Thomas F. Smith Park at 23rd Street. The 1977 plan would create a new park atop the landfill on the Hudson River shore, 5.63 acres (2.28 ha) in size, while the existing structures at Chelsea Piers would be demolished. The elevated highway trestle would be removed from the existing Smith Park to restore it as one continuous site.

The Westway project was abandoned in 1985 due to political opposition and environmental issues, including concerns over the striped bass population in the Hudson River.

Creation of Chelsea Waterside Park

A footbridge was originally proposed to connect Chelsea Waterside with the rest of Hudson River Park (background).

After the collapse of the elevated highway, beginning in 1977 the trestle was demolished. The remaining grade-level West Side Highway continued to travel through Smith Park. The park property was ceded to the NYSDOT on February 9, 1982 in preparation for the construction of the Westway.

The Chelsea Waterside Park Association was founded in 1985. Following the cancellation of the Westway plan, in February 1986 the association launched a campaign to create additional parkland in the neighborhood. The association proposed a two-block long park along the Hudson River between 22nd and 24th Streets. That year, the association contracted landscape architect Thomas Balsley to create the design for a new stretch of waterfront park along the new West Side Highway, similar to that proposed under the Westway project. Balsley and the association proposed a new park at 23rd Street, on the site of the existing Thomas F. Smith Park. The park would extend north to 24th Street, and west to the Hudson River shoreline. A pedestrian bridge over the new West Side Highway called a "platform park" would connect the inland park to the shoreline and Piers 62, 63, and 64.

In 1986, then-Governor Mario Cuomo created the West Side Task Force, a 22-person panel to propose and evaluate redevelopment plans for the West Side Highway. Members of the panel included future New York City Mayor David Dinkins, and businessman Arthur Levitt. In January 1987, the panel recommended a six-lane boulevard, and a waterfront park to be constructed integrating some of the existing piers. At the time, the park was to extend from Battery Park to 42nd Street. Within the proposal was a plan to straighten the curve of the road at 23rd Street. This would require the demolition of a portion of Thomas F. Smith Park, while a replacement park would be constructed.

On May 25, 1988, a memorandum between then-Governor Cuomo and then-Mayor Ed Koch established the West Side Waterfront Panel, which was tasked to create plans for the development of the West Side Highway right-of-way and the adjacent Hudson River coastline. In fall 1990, the panel released a report recommending the creation of the Hudson River Waterfront Park, a 270-acre (110 ha) park which would stretch from Battery Park north to 59th Street. The park would include a 4-mile (6.4 km) long landscaped esplanade featuring a cycleway and pedestrian walkway along the riverfront. The Chelsea-Gansevoort section of the park would be anchored by a reconstructed Thomas F. Smith Park, which would be converted into a recreation hub known as Chelsea Waterside Park based on Thomas Balsley and the Chelsea Waterside Association's design. The 8-acre (3.2 ha) park would stretch between 22nd and 24th Streets, and extend west to the river occupying Piers 62, 63, and 64. The western or waterfront section of Chelsea Waterside Park would facilitate primarily passive recreation with grassy areas, trees, and seating, along with a jogging track. Piers 62 and 64 would be converted into public facilities for waterfront views. A lawn acting as an "informal amphitheatre" would be created on Pier 63. A playground and community garden would be established at the east end of Pier 64 at West 24th Street. The eastern or inland section of the park would be used for active recreation with a softball field and numerous tennis and handball courts, similar to its current design. The west end of 23rd Street would be de-mapped and converted into a pedestrian mall running through the park, with a monument or fountain to be placed at both ends of the strip within the park. Unlike the original plan for the park, there would be no pedestrian bridge connecting the inland and waterfront sections, requiring people to cross the new West Side Highway at-grade. The waterfront panel described the proposed Chelsea Waterside Park as "The largest and most active recreation area in the Hudson River Waterfront Park".

Chelsea Waterside and the rest of Hudson River Park were created during the redevelopment of the West Side Highway (pictured).

The Chelsea-Gansevoort section of Hudson River Park would also feature a redeveloped Chelsea Piers. The plan also proposed a "Chelsea-Convention Center Park", a grassy park on the shoreline between 30th and 34th Streets, which would support the nearby Jacob K. Javits Center and a mixed-use development to be built above the West Side Yard. The total Hudson River Waterfront Park project was expected to cost $500 million, with the reconstruction of Smith Park and the cost of the bicycle and pedestrian paths estimated to cost $65 million. At the time, the project had $265 million in committed funding. $100 million would be provided by the state through the 21st Century Environmental Quality Bond Act, which was proposed by Governor Cuomo. This act would spend $1.9 billion on the development and preservation of parkland, and on closing landfills and promoting recycling. $100 million for the park would from New York City, earmarked by now-Mayor David Dinkins. An additional $65 million would be provided by federal highway funds. for the construction of the shoreline walkway and bikeway, and the conversion of Smith Park into Chelsea Waterside Park. The combined costs of the Hudson River Park project and the reconstruction of the West Side Highway was expected to reach $1.2 billion.

In August 1990, Thomas F. Smith Park was described as "a trapezoidal open space". Its features included London Plane trees, benches, a fountain, gaming tables, and the monument to Smith. The southern and western section of the park featured a parking lot, and an adjacent bus loop used by M23 crosstown buses. The larger northern and eastern section measured 0.42 acres (0.17 ha) in size, while the smaller southern and western section occupied 0.69 acres (0.28 ha). Outside of the gaming tables and the few benches, the park featured no recreational facilities or seating areas. The block north of the park, meanwhile, was occupied by a one-story building used by trucking companies, and an exotic car repair shop.

Under the 1992 plan for the West Side Highway, the S-curve of the highway at 23rd Street would be straightened. The reconfiguration of the West Side Highway at 23rd Street would require the demolition of the southern section of Thomas F. Smith Park. Because of this, in June 1995/1996 the federal government and NYSDOT agreed to expand the park as part of the project. The new park would be extended north to 24th Street, with the stretch of 23rd Street running through the new park converted into a pedestrian zone. This plan deviated from the Hudson River Park Trust's original plans for Chelsea Waterside Park. In addition, the portions of the park west of the highway were no longer part of the Chelsea Waterside plans. At this time, Pier 62 was occupied by roller rinks and an inline skating course operated by the Chelsea Piers sports complex, intended only for an "interim" period of time. Meanwhile, Pier 63's warehouse was used as a restaurant, roller rink, and for sports courts, also intended to be temporary.

The first construction for Hudson River Park, on the cycle lanes of the Hudson River Greenway between Canal Street and 14th Street, began in early 1998. At this time, construction on the expansion of Thomas F. Smith Park was expected to begin that spring. The Hudson River Park Act was passed by the New York State Legislature in June 1998, and signed by Governor George Pataki in September 1998. Under the terms of the act, the rebuilt Smith Park was to have been only half of the 8-acre (3.2 ha) Chelsea Waterside Park. The other half, located on the river shore on the west side of the highway, would have included Piers 62, 63 (to be demolished), and 64.

Opening of Chelsea Waterside Park

Sections of Hudson River Park west of 12th Avenue including the Pier 63 Lawn Bowl (pictured), were originally planned as part of Chelsea Waterside Park.

The inland portion of Chelsea Waterside Park was opened on October 12, 2000, at the cost of $8.5 million. Upon opening, the park was proclaimed as "Chelsea's grand portal to its waterfront" by New York State officials. The park's features at its opening were the sports field, dog run, and the splash pad portion of the playground. Construction of the main playground within the park, however, did not commence due to lack of funding.

Thomas Balsley's original design for the water playground received criticism for its ornamental sprinklers, which some local residents felt resembled "phallic" objects or sex toys. The design had been intended to resemble chess pieces. According to Balsley, his design was inspired by a park in Osaka, Japan, while a less provocative design resembling eggs had been rejected. The three mounds that characterize the dog run were also criticized, with dog owners claiming the mounds were too large. In 2004, Chelsea Waterside Park received the American Society of Landscape Architects Merit Award.

In May 2005, the park's main playground was opened. The play area was designed as an "interactive" and "access for all" playground, with "Galaxy Class" equipment produced by Danish firm Kompen. The playground was intended to accommodate children or all ages, and those with disabilities. On October 28, 2009, the Hudson River Park Trust announced that the park received a $500,000 grant earmarked by New York City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, in order to resurface its turf playing field and add fencing around the field.

The waterfront parkland and piers originally planned as part of Chelsea Waterside would be developed for Hudson River Park under a separate project known as "Chelsea Cove", designed by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. Pier 64 was opened in April 2009. Pier 62 and Pier 63 were opened on May 17, 2010, with the entire Chelsea Cove project estimated to cost $73 million. Pier 63 includes the Chelsea Lawn Bowl, originally envisioned as the "informal amphitheater" in the Chelsea Waterside project.

2014: NFL

• 2012.
• On May 7, 2014 the National Football League held an NFL Play 60 youth football clinic at the field of Chelsea Waterside Park, prior to the 2014 NFL Draft held at Radio City Music Hall. In attendance were NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and draft prospects Jadeveon Clowney, Johnny Manziel, and Teddy Bridgewater.

Renovations

The park's comfort station (top) and picnic area (bottom) were constructed during the 2023 renovations.

On December 10, 2015 during a meeting of Manhattan Community Board 4, members of the Friends of Hudson River Park Playground Committee proposed a major renovation of the Chelsea Waterfront Play Area. The playground had been plagued by dilapidated equipment, and suffered drainage issues due to only one drain serving the playground. At the time, the project was estimated to cost $1.5 million, which would be raised through a capital campaign. The initial plans for the new playground were overseen by Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, who had helped prepare the original Hudson River Park master plan in 1997.

On November 10, 2016 at a meeting of Community Board 4, the Hudson River Park Trust presented finalized designs for the new play area as part of Phase I of the redevelopment of Chelsea Waterside Park. This design was created by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates. The new design would incorporate the preserved sculptures from the New York Butchers' Dressed Meat Company slaughterhouse, the West Side Highway Art Deco reliefs, and granite stones from the Pier 54 arch.

Ground was broken on the new playground on October 3, 2017. In attendance were Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and New York State Assemblyman Richard N. Gottfried. By the end of 2017, $2.5 million had been raised for the park project through the capital campaign. The play area was reopened August 14, 2018, with the project costing $3.4 million. The final cost had increased from initial estimates in order to finance the Pipefish Tower. The alternative design for the feature would have been an eel surrounding a fire hydrant.

In November 2019, the Abel Bainnson Butz (ABB) architectural firm presented preliminary designs for Phase II of the park renovations to Manhattan Community Board 4, and received feedback for the plan from the community. The firm had previously designed Piers 45, 46, and 51 within Hudson River Park. The central promenade would be redesigned with new "meandering" paths and the lawn and picnic area, to replace the existing "dominant and oversized pedestrian thoroughfare". The original granite walls of the park would also be removed, based on community input. The changes were intended to increase greenspace and reduce paved areas, making the park more welcoming to parkgoers instead of just acting as a route to the rest of Hudson River Park. The turf athletic field would be resurfaced for a second time, the dog run would be expanded, and a comfort station would be constructed, a longstanding issue with the park. The underused overlook at the northwest corner of the park would be eliminated, with the space integrated into the athletic field.

A groundbreaking ceremony for the project was held on December 3, 2021, with groundbreaking for the comfort station held on December 6. During the project, nearly the entire park was closed except for the play area and basketball court. The park reopened on June 15, 2023. The total cost of the Phase II renovations was $15.2 million, with $9 million spent by the Hudson River Park trust, and additional funding from the City Council and the Manhattan Borough President.

Chelsea Links

• [3]
• Chelsea Sculpture Park
• Hudson River Park Act, 1998
• Chelsea Waterside Park Playground Construction
• Chelsea Waterside Park Basketball Court Restoration
• Hudson River Park Conservancy - Ruling, November 30, 1998
• HUDSON RIVER PARK ACT
• 2008 CB4 Priorities
• Pier 64 – Hudson River Park, WiredNY - Chelsea Waterside East
• [4] - Comfort Station
• Parks Department
  • [5]
  • [6]
  • [7]
• [8]
• HUDSON RIVER PARK PROJECT
• Parks Department Annual, 1928 - "Thomas Smith Park: Rearrangement in connection with Express Highway."
• Tracks from the Past
• New Lackawana Terminal, 1903
• Watching New York City's War Over Westway, Washington Post, 1978
• Westway's Fate Is Still Uncertain After Eight Years of Controversy, NYTimes, 1979
• West Side Highway Project FEIS 1977
• Streetscapes: The Miller Highway; Razed or Rebuilt, It's a Lost Cause, NYTimes, 1991
• Hudson River Park Presentation

External links

• Media related to Chelsea Waterside Park at Wikimedia Commons

Westway (New York)

Westway
Route information
Maintained by NYSDOT
History	Proposed in 1973; canceled in 1985
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
South end	I-478 (Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel) / NY 9A (West Side Highway) / Battery Park Underpass in Battery Park City
Major intersections	I-78 (Holland Tunnel) in Hudson Square / Tribeca NY 495 (Lincoln Tunnel) in Hudson Yards
North end	NY 9A (West Side Highway) in Midtown Manhattan
Location
Country	United States
State	New York
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future New York Highways Interstate US State Reference Parkways

Westway State Park
Location	Along the Hudson River, West Side, Manhattan.
Area	93 acres (38 ha)
Operated by	New York State Office of Parks, Recreation and Historic Preservation
Status	Proposed; never constructed

The Westway, previously known as Wateredge, was a mixed-use highway, parkland, and planned development proposal for the redevelopment of the West Side Highway (NY 9A) corridor along the Hudson River on the West Side of Manhattan, New York City. Conceived in the 1970s in order to replace the dilapidated West Side Elevated Highway or Miller Highway, the plan would construct a 4.2-mile (6.8 km) underground express highway (Interstate 478), running north from the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in Lower Manhattan to the Lincoln Tunnel in Midtown, before reconnecting with the elevated highway and Henry Hudson Parkway at 42nd Street.

The underground highway would be constructed within new landfill under the Hudson River, extending west of the existing shoreline, with an adjacent transitway for subway or bus service, and a large waterfront park and housing developments to be erected atop the new land. The plan would transform the West Side from a declining industrial and shipping area, into an inviting recreational and residential space, with the removal of the elevated highway increasing access to the waterfront. As it would be part of the Interstate Highway System, 90 percent of the project's $2 billion cost would be paid by the federal government, with the remaining funding coming from the New York State government.

The elevated Miller Highway was completed by 1937, constructed above the surface-boulevard West Side Highway or West Street along the western edge of Manhattan island. The elevated highway was used by passenger cars, while West Street below was used by trucks serving the maritime and shipping industries on the West Side. By the 1960s, however, the elevated highway was considered obsolete and deteriorated, and restricted access to the waterfront. Planning studies in the 1960s and early 1970s, including the Wateredge Study in 1971, proposed to replace the entire stretch of the elevated highway between the Battery Tunnel and 72nd Street with a new structure, part of it located in an offshore tunnel. In December 1973, a section of the elevated highway collapsed and the structure was closed south of 46th Street. The Westway plan emerged from the Wateredge study in 1974, and was approved in 1977 by the Federal Highway Administration.

Like other plans to construct new highways in Manhattan in the 1970s, the Westway plan faced political opposition due to environmental concerns, and counterproposals to use the federal funding for mass transit improvements instead. The project was abandoned in 1985, after federal judge Thomas P. Griesa issued an injunction to stop construction due to concerns over the striped bass population in the Hudson River. Portions of the plan outside the Interstate Highway were later implemented, including the redevelopment of West Street into a surface boulevard, and the creation of Hudson River Park along the highway and river.

Westway Description

The Westway would begin in Lower Manhattan, fed by the Battery Park Underpass (pictured).

The underground Westway would begin at the south end of Lower Manhattan at approximately West Thames Street in Battery Park City, near Battery Park and the World Trade Center. The new highway would be fed by the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel from Brooklyn, and the Battery Park Underpass from the FDR Drive on the East Side of Manhattan. The highway would run north along the Hudson River, with an interchange at Canal Street to feed the Holland Tunnel, another interchange at 14th Street, and a third interchange at 30th Street in Hudson Yards to connect with the Lincoln Tunnel. The final exit would be in the vicinity of 34th Street, before the Westway merged with the existing West Side Elevated Highway at 42nd Street, eventually becoming the Henry Hudson Parkway at 72nd Street.

The Westway would share the Interstate 478 designation with the Battery Tunnel, which receives Interstate 278 traffic coming from Brooklyn, Staten Island, and New Jersey. The Holland Tunnel and Lincoln Tunnel would provide additional connections to/from New Jersey. The Westway would also bridge gaps in the local Interstate system between the Lincoln Tunnel (at the time designated I-495), the Holland Tunnel (I-78), and the Battery Tunnel. As an Interstate highway, the Westway would be able to carry heavy trucks, unlike the elevated highway which could only handle passenger cars. Also unlike the existing highway, the new Westway would have direct tunnel connections with the Battery Tunnel and Battery Park Underpass.

Outboard highway plan

The selected layout of the Westway, known as the "Outboard Alternative", would have most of the new highway between Jay Street (near Chambers Street) and 30th Street run along the Hudson River shore instead of underneath the existing West Side Highway right-of-way. The river would be landfilled or infilled west of the existing river bulkhead, and the highway tunnel would be placed within the new land. The landfill would consist of sand extracted from New York Harbor, and would extend 600 to 900 feet (180 to 270 m) west into the river from the bulkhead to the edge of the existing Hudson River piers. The remaining piers on the river − such as Pier 40, the Gansevoort Peninsula, Pier 57, and Chelsea Piers − would be demolished, with the landfill taking their place. Many of the piers were unused and in disrepair due to declining maritime shipping operations. The tunnel would run under the existing right-of-way (West Street) south of Chambers Street to avoid Battery Park City, and along the old route north of 30th Street to connect with the remaining elevated highway. The highway would be six lanes wide, three in each direction, with the innermost lane of either direction serving as a HOV and express-bus lane during rush hours.

Although most of the new highway would be underground, certain sections would run in an open cut or on an elevated trestle. In particular, the on-ramps leading to the Holland and Lincoln Tunnels would be above ground, and the stretch of highway from 30th Street to 42nd Street would also be elevated.

Early versions of the Westway plan included a two-lane transitway adjacent to the highway on the inland (east) side, serving either a new rail or subway line, or an express bus or bus rapid transit service. The transit route would operate along the West Side from Lower Manhattan to at least the George Washington Bridge in Washington Heights, possibly extending into the Bronx. Under the rail plan, the new rail line would eventually merge with the West Side Line at 30th Street near Penn Station, then run north to Upper Manhattan and the Bronx. The transitway would be designed to be converted between rail and bus service, depending on the need.

West Street redevelopment

In addition to the new highway, the existing right-of-way of West Street would be redeveloped into a four-to-six-lane surface boulevard with a center median, similar to its contemporary design, to serve local traffic. The remnants of the old elevated highway below 42nd Street would be demolished. The removal of the elevated highway and the redesign of West Street would improve access to the waterfront for pedestrians and residents living near the highway.

The remaining elevated highway from 42nd Street to 72nd Street would be rehabilitated or replaced with a new structure, and possibly upgraded to Interstate Highway standards.

Westway State Park and planned-community development

As part of the Outboard plan, 181 acres (73 ha) of new land would be created by the landfilling, with a total of 234 acres (95 ha) available for redevelopment as a result of the project. 93 acres (38 ha) would be used for a new continuous linear park along the waterfront. 110 acres (45 ha) from the Westway would be available for new residential, commercial, and industrial development.

The new linear park would be known as Westway State Park, extending 3 miles (4.8 km) south-to-north along the Hudson River from Chambers Street to 34th Street. It would include a riverwalk or esplanade on the river shore, lawns, playing courts and fields, and sitting plazas. New recreational piers would be constructed for sitting, fishing, and marina use.

Most of the park would be a narrow 200-foot (61 m) promenade strip right along the water, similar to the current Hudson River Park, with the adjacent inland landfill used for buildings in a new planned community development. This development would have a street grid, including a road dividing the community and park called "Park Street". The river esplanade would feature a lower walkway along the water and an adjacent elevated upper walkway, similar in design to the Battery Park City Esplanade at Brookfield Place. Farther inland would be an inner lawn with a cycleway running through it, with Park Street marking the east end of the park. Three unique "community-oriented parks" would be located in the neighborhoods of Tribeca, Greenwich Village, and Chelsea, each extending from the river east to West Street.

Three provisional designs for the park were released to the public in December 1983, and the final design was selected in 1984. The park layout was inspired by the style of Frederick Law Olmsted and Calvert Vaux, who together designed Central Park and Prospect Park in the late 19th Century. The design was intended to contrast with more concrete-based parks being constructed at the time. The architectural firms responsible for the design were Venturi, Rauch and Scott Brown and Clarke & Rapuano, the latter of which designed the Henry Hudson Parkway and Riverside Park corridor, the Brooklyn Heights Promenade, and Flushing Meadows–Corona Park among other city projects.

The new park and communities atop the Westway landfill would tie in to the parkland and esplanade being constructed in Battery Park City, another planned development being created on landfill in the 1970s. The two developments would be adjacent to each other on the eastern shore of the Hudson.

Major intersections

Location	mi	km	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Battery Park City			–	Hugh L. Carey Tunnel (I-478 Toll south) to I-278 – Brooklyn	I-478 continues south as Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel
			1	Battery Place / Battery Park	Southbound offramp; end of West Street (NY 9A)
			2	FDR Drive north (Battery Park Underpass)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; southern terminus of FDR Drive
Tribeca / Hudson Square			–	Laight Street (Chambers Street)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance for inner bus lanes; beginning of inner bus/HOV lanes
			3	Canal Street to I-78 west (Holland Tunnel) – Chinatown, Little Italy, New Jersey
Meatpacking District			4	14th Street – Meat Market	14th Street extended west to meet highway
Chelsea / Hudson Yards			5	West 30th Street to NY 495 west (Lincoln Tunnel) – New Jersey	Would include dedicated ramps from bus lanes to access Lincoln Tunnel and Port Authority Bus Terminal; end of inner bus/HOV lanes
Hudson Yards / Hell's Kitchen			–	34th Street / Javits Center	Southbound onramp
			–	39th Street	Southbound offramp
			–	NY 9A north / West 42nd Street	I-478 ends; NY 9A continues north as West Side Elevated Highway and Henry Hudson Parkway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Electronic toll collection       Incomplete access

Westway History

Landfilling in New York City

The landfilling of the Battery Park City development in 1974, across from the Miller Highway and the Twin Towers. The new Westway development to the north (left) would be filled in a similar manner.

Prior to European colonization, the portion of Lower Manhattan west of Greenwich Street was underwater as part of the Hudson River, with the river creating a rocky bluff along the edge of the island. Beginning in 1686 during the British colonial period, “water lots” – parcels west of Greenwich Street that were still part of the river – were sold and landfilled for development. The remains of old ships and buildings were sometimes used as part of the landfill. The island had been extended out to West Street by the 1850s. Landfilling was also used at various times to expand the area of Fort Amsterdam, which later became Battery Park.

In the 1960s and 1970s while the Westway was being proposed, the Battery Park City development was being created on a 1-mile (1.6 km) parcel at the south end of the Hudson River, using 92 acres (37 ha) of landfill. This fill consisted of excavations from the foundations of the World Trade Center, and sand from the bottom of New York Harbor near Staten Island. By the 1970s, anywhere from 1,400 to 3,650 acres (570 to 1,480 ha) of fill was estimated to have been used to expand the area of Manhattan Island, around one-fourth of the island's total area. The area in-and-around the World Trade Center, for example, features a 15-to-20-foot (4.6 to 6.1 m) thick layer of landfill below street level, with foundation bedrock 40 feet (12 m) below.

Outside of Manhattan, numerous city parks created by city planner and Parks Commissioner Robert Moses during the 20th Century were developed by filling wetlands and coastal areas using municipal garbage. These include Flushing Meadows–Corona Park, Marine Park, Spring Creek Park, and Shirley Chisholm State Park.

Miller Highway

In 1929, the Regional Plan Association (RPA) released their first Regional Plan for the New York Metropolitan Area. The organization proposed express highways on the western and eastern coasts of Manhattan, precursors to the West Side Highway and FDR Drive respectively. The West Side route would run along the Hudson River, following the contemporary West Side Highway and Henry Hudson Parkway to the George Washington Bridge (under construction at the time), then continuing north along U.S. 9 up the river to Peekskill and eventually Albany.

The West Side Elevated Highway or Miller Highway was planned by Robert Moses, completed in 1937 between Canal Street and 72nd Street and feeding into the Henry Hudson Parkway. By 1950, it was extended south to the Financial District and Battery Park, connecting to the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel. Like the FDR Drive, the Miller Highway was a parkway that could only handle passenger cars, while heavier trucks had to use West Street at grade level. This was by design, to allow trucks to access the piers, warehouses, and freight facilities along the West Side, while cars would bypass those areas via the highway.

Lower Manhattan Plan and Battery Park City

In 1964, city highway commissioner Robert Moses submitted plans to rehabilitate and upgrade the Miller Highway, in part to support the World Trade Center and Lincoln Center developments then-under construction. Under these plans, the roadway would be widened to six lanes and repaved from cobblestone to asphalt concrete, while dangerous curves at 14th and 23rd Streets would be straightened. Direct interchanges with the Holland Tunnel, Lincoln Tunnel, and Lincoln Center would also be created.

In February 1966, the first iteration of the Battery Park City (BPC) project was presented to Governor Nelson Rockefeller by the Harrison & Abramovitz firm, calling for a new mixed-use development to be built atop landfill. In December 1966, the Regional Plan Association released "The Lower Hudson" report for the development of the Lower Hudson River on both the Manhattan and New Jersey shorelines, in conjunction with "The Lower Manhattan Plan" created by the New York City Planning Commission that same year. While at the time it was proposed (the city planned) to simply rehabilitate the dilapidated Miller Highway, the RPA recommended a full redesign of the route.

The Lower Manhattan and Lower Hudson Plans proposed an underground highway from the Battery to Canal Street, an at-grade section north to 12th Street, then a new elevated structure continuing north to the Henry Hudson Parkway at 72nd Street. The underground section in Lower Manhattan would be placed within 190 acres (77 ha) of offshore landfill in the Hudson River, with a new planned community (Battery Park City) to be created atop the fill. The Lower Manhattan Plan, which had been in development before the release of the Battery Park City proposal, envisioned the site as an extension of the World Trade Center. In addition, a new waterfront park would be constructed on the landfill between Hubert and Canal Streets. The at-grade section between Canal Street and 12th Street, possibly also located atop landfill, would have a second deck where parkland and housing would be constructed. Depressing the highway in some capacity was emphasized by the proposals in order to increase pedestrian access to the waterfront.

Landfilling for the BPC project began in 1966, facilitated by new laws allowing landfilling west of the Manhattan bulkhead. The landfilling was complete in 1974, and construction of building foundations began that year, with piles driven into the landfill.

Emergence of Westway plan

President Ronald Reagan, Mayor Ed Koch and other officials with a ceremonial check for the Westway project in 1981.

By the late 1960s and early 1970s, the West Side Elevated Highway had deteriorated, due to increased traffic on the West Side, and corrosion from the use of road salt to melt snow and ice during the winter. The route also featured dangerous "S"-curves at 14th and 23rd Streets, and on-ramps that were unsafe due to their orientation and steep angle. In 1973, 130,000 cars used the elevated highway each day, the second busiest highway in New York City after the Long Island Expressway. Simultaneously, the usage of the West Side piers along the Hudson had sharply declined. Former marine and rail shipping operations in the area had been replaced by large container ships, and truck and air cargo, with major container ports in New York Harbor located outside Manhattan in New Jersey, Brooklyn, and Staten Island. Pier 40 at Houston Street was the only West Side pier still used for cargo shipping at this time. Meanwhile, passenger ferry service across the river had been supplanted by the road and rail crossings constructed during the 20th Century. Chelsea Piers, for example, was classified as an inactive passenger terminal in 1968. This led to a decline in Manhattan's historical manufacturing and industrial job base, replaced by office jobs in Midtown and the Financial District.

• 1969
  • New York State requests the federal government to add the West Side Highway to the Interstate Highway System.
  • This would allow money from the Federal Highway Trust Fund to be used to rebuild the highway, due to a lack of city and state funds.

• 1971 Wateredge Plan
  • [9]
  • Five Alternatives
  • Under this plan, the new highway would consist of a concrete tunnel below street level, built atop piles in the Hudson River where the shipping piers were located. The tunnel roof would be a concrete-deck roof at-grade with the Manhattan shore. The top of the deck would be developed with parkland or housing, while new piers could be created. 700 acres (280 ha).
  • That year, the West Side Highway route from the Battery to 72nd Street was designated as part of the Interstate Highway System by the federal government. An alternate plan would have the entire West Side and Henry Hudson Parkway designated an interstate north to Interstate 95 at the George Washington Bridge. The Henry Hudson Parkway north of 72nd Street, however, was barred from Interstate status after legislation in the New York State Legislature proposed by West Side assemblyman Albert H. Blumenthal, which prevented Interstate construction within Riverside Park.

On December 15, 1973, a 60-foot (18 m) section of the West Side Elevated Highway at Gansevoort Street south of 14th Street collapsed under the weight of a dump truck, which was carrying asphalt for repairs to the highway. In response, the highway was closed between Battery Park and 46th Street in January 1974, as was the southern section of the Henry Hudson Parkway from 72nd to 79th Street. The collapse of the trestle emphasized the need for a replacement express highway and a new surface boulevard to replace West Street.

On July 31, 1981, then-Governor Hugh Carey and then-Mayor Ed Koch finalized a deal to begin the Westway project. At the time, the total cost of the project was estimated to be $2.3 billion. As part of the national Interstate Highway System, 90 percent of the Westway project's cost would be paid for by the federal government, with the remaining ten percent of funding coming from New York State. The federal and state funding would also pay for non-highway elements such as Westway Park, and for replacements for city-owned facilities destroyed by the project, such as the DSNY garbage incinerator atop the Gansevoort Peninsula, and the NYCTA bus depot being operated inside Pier 57. New York City would not have to commit any funding to the project. Under Governor Carey and Mayor Koch's agreement, if the "frills" of the project – the state park, and the replacement facilities – were removed from the project by the federal government, a public authority called the Westway Development and Finance Corporation would be created by New York State to raise the money instead.

• 1981
  • On Labor Day, September 7, 1981, then-President Ronald Reagan presented a ceremonial check of $85 million to city and project officials including Mayor Koch, to purchase land for the Westway. During the event, President Reagan declared, "The Westway project begins today".
  • 327 acres (132 ha) of land on the West Side were acquired by New York State for the Westway project in February 1982. This included the City-owned Hudson River piers south of 34th Street, and inland sites such as Thomas F. Smith Park.

• Westway State Park (1983-1983) A large diorama of the proposed park was installed in Grand Central Terminal.

Support for and opposition to the project

The Westway was a controversial project...

Support

• "antidote to the Moses type of solution"

• intended to attract business to Lower Manhattan, which had been losing relevance to Midtown; "Rockefeller had pledged that Westway would stimulate $7 billion in private investment in the area within 10 years. Westway backers claim the project will create more than 30,000 jobs and add $40 million in real estate estate taxes into the city's depleted coffer."
• appeal to suburban commuters with money; draw them into the city.
• luxury apartments and real estate developers.
• create thousands of jobs, which would reduce unemployment.
  • support from construction unions.
• way to get trucks off grade-level streets, to open up neighborhoods to waterfront.
• would get traffic off local streets, onto highway.
• Alternatives to Westway – grade-level Interstate, or replacement elevated highway – would continue to wall-off local residents from the waterfront.

Opposition

• numerous planned highways in the city, such as the LOMEX and Mid Manhattan, had already been cancelled in 1971 due to public opposition. Nearly all of these highways were proposed by Robert Moses.
• The Westway project was also opposed by Robert Moses, the planner and coordinator of many highway projects in the New York area including the Miller Highway and Battery Tunnel, and the planner and proponent of the Lower Manhattan and Mid-Manhattan Expressways. In 1974, Moses published a rebuttal to the Westway plan through the Triborough Bridge and Tunnel Authority called "West Side Fiasco", in which he criticized the high cost of the plan which was using federal funds. He instead proposed a replacement elevated highway running farther east and inland above the 60th Street Rail Yard, where Riverside South is now located. By 1978, Moses suggested the Westway budget should be used to construct low-income housing.

• Architect John Belle of the Beyer Blinder Belle firm also proposed an alternative design in 1980, on behalf of Manhattan Community Board 2 representing Greenwich Village. Belle's design would be mostly a surface boulevard with select underground sections, along with an 100-acre (40 ha) park.

• "And here we are, bankrupt city, going to beg Washington, asking them to give us an extension of some aid packages. And they say: 'Why you ninnies - we've given you a billion dollars. Why don't you take it?' And we say: 'Well, we want it another way.'"
• trade-in provision
• concerns Westway would wall-off BPC from rest of city.

• committing New York's transport infrastructure to motor vehicles using petroleum, just after the 1973 OAPEC oil crisis.

• Branded “environmentally unsatisfactory” by the EPA in 1977, who predicted increased air pollution from the new Westway traffic, in addition to harm to fish in Hudson.

• pandering to real estate developers, using taxpayer money.

• Also criticized was the high cost of the project at "$500 million per mile" ($2 billon for a 4-mile (6.4 km) highway).
• The high costs and controversy surrounding the project led it to be labeled a boondoggle and white elephant by critics, earning nicknames such as "Golden Albatross" and "Wasteway".
• The Westway project earned Senator William Proxmire's informal Golden Fleece Award in 1981, given to projects that squandered taxpayer money. Also awarded was the Interstate 70 Glenwood Canyon project.

Numerous politicians and public figures changed their opinion on the project as time went on.

• Ed Koch.

Setbacks and cancellation of the Westway

In January 1982, the Sierra Club and other plaintiffs filed suit against the United States Army Corps of Engineers to stop the construction of the Westway, citing potential effects of landfilling in the Hudson River on the population of striped bass and other fish species in the Hudson River. At this time, landfilling for the project was planned to start later in the year. The Hudson River and the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia are the two main spawning and nursery locations for East Coast striped bass, which later migrate into the Atlantic Ocean. The bass use the Hudson River piers to overwinter, attracted by warmer shallow waters in the river compared to the ocean. During the 1970s and 1980s, the striped bass population in the ocean had declined by 90 percent, due in part to pollution in the Hudson and Chesapeake. Stripped bass population levels were not only a concern for environmental groups, but also had economic consequences for recreational game fishing and the commercial fishing industry.

In July 1982, federal judge Thomas P. Griesa ruled against the project, stopping the usage of federal funds for the Westway. Earlier that year, Griesa had also blocked the beginning of landfill operations, and the purchasing of city-owned land by New York State for the project. In his 94-page ruling, Griesa agreed with the plaintiff's accusation that the 1977 Westway Environmental Impact Statement conducted by the Army Corps of Engineers intentionally misrepresented the environmental conditions in the Hudson River. Griesa refuted the impact statement's claim that high pollution in the river created oxygen levels too low to support fish. He also found that both the New York State DOT and the federal government had distorted information from a 1980 study on the bass habitat in the Hudson, in order to convince the Army Corps to issue the dredge-and-fill permit needed to begin the project. Griesa also accused Westway project director Lowell K. Bridwell of withholding information about the fish population in the river. However, Griesa had dismissed other concerns about the Westway project, including increased air pollution from traffic, and the possibility of flooding in New Jersey following the landfill operations.

• 1983: Westway "has now become a luxury that the city and state probably cannot afford."
• 1984: Second EIS by Army Corps.

In February 1985, the federal Environmental Protection Agency approved the construction of the Westway, following further studies on bass populations. The agency had previously opposed the project. However on August 7, 1985, Judge Griesa upheld his previous injunction, permanently banning construction of the Westway. In September 1985, the U.S. House of Representatives voted 287 to 132 to block the use of federal funds for the Westway. Finally, on September 20, 1985, Governor Mario Cuomo and Mayor Koch conceded defeat and abandoned the Westway project, choosing instead to trade-in the federal budget for smaller road and mass transit projects. A joint statement from the two officials called the continued pursuit of completing the Westway instead of taking the trade-in funding a "reckless gamble". The trade-in budget, estimated at $1.72 billion, would be the largest trade-in exchange in the history of the federal Interstate System.

In August 1990, the Federal Highway Administration called on the New York state and city governments to repay the $81 million spent by the federal government to buy land for the Westway project, with the state government seeking a waiver to forgo the repayment. As a result of this purchase, much of the property on the Hudson River waterfront between the Battery and 59th Street, including the former shipping piers, was government owned either by the state or the city.

Post-Westway development

Chelsea Waterside Park was opened in 2000 as part of Hudson River Park. The land was originally acquired for the Westway project in the 1980s.

• Following the removal of the elevated highway, an interim West Street boulevard was opened in 1983, varying from four-to-six lanes wide.
• Route 9A Project
  • The project utilized much of the traded-in budget from the Westway project.

• As part of the Route 9A project, Hudson River Park was constructed between West Street and the river, using design elements from the Westway State Park plans. For example, the Chelsea community-oriented park proposed during the Westway project was constructed as Chelsea Cove and Chelsea Waterside Park within Hudson River Park. The park also incorporates many of the shipping piers that would have been destroyed by the Westway project.

1 Smith Street

History

• Leased the site of former A. J. Nutting clothing store, which closed on March 2, 1925.

• In July 2004, the New York City Landmarks Preservation Commission included the building on a list of potential landmarks in Downtown Brooklyn.

Links

• Pencil Points, pg 23 (PDF 25)

Parks and schools built with the New York City Subway

G Line

Crosstown-Culver

• McCarren Park (sorta) - Nassau Avenue
• Banneker Playground = Bedford-Nostrand
• Sixteen Sycamores Playground - Hoyt Schermerhorn
• PS 58?, Transit Garden - Carroll Street
• St. Mary’s Playground - Smith Street Viaduct
• PS 154? - Culver Express bypass
• Greenwood Playground?, PS 130?, BPL Windsor ✓, East Fourth Street Community Garden ✓, Brooklyn Prospect Charter School?, PS 230? - Fort Hamilton Parkway
• Dome Playground - Church Avenue Yard

IND Houston-Essex

• Minetta Playground ✓, West 4th Street Courts? - W 4th Street
• William F. Passannante Ballfield - W 4th Street curve onto Houston Street
• Sara Delano Roosevelt Park?, First Park & community gardens, Peretz Square - 2nd Avenue
• Seward Park Campus ✓, Seward Park? (1930s renovation), Captain Jacob Joseph Playground ✓ - East Broadway
• Rutgers Park (Two Bridges) - Rutgers Street Tunnel
• Bridge Park - York Street

IND Fulton

• Brooklyn Tech? - Clinton-Washingotn Avs
• Putnam Triangle Plaza?, Crispus Attucks Playground? - Franklin Avenue
• Elizabeth Stroud Playground - Utica Av
• Callahan-Kelly Playground, ENY Bus Depot - Broadway-ENY
• Grace Playground - Curve from Pennsylvania Av (Liberty Av Sta) and Pitkin AV (Van Siclen Av Sta)
• PS 159? - Euclid Avenue
• Robert E. Venable Park, Linden Plaza - Pitkin Yard
• Belmont Playground? - Grant Av / 76th St?

IND Queens Boulevard

• Major Mark Park? - Between 179th and 169th
• Moore Homestead Playground - Elmhurst Avenue
• Frank D. O'Connor Playground ✓, Elmhurst Hospital? - Roosevelt Av Winfield Spur bellmouths
• Queens Library Broadway? - Curve from Broadway to Steinway Street

IND Concourse

• Mosholu Library, Whalen Playground - Norwood-205th Street

Other

• Rudd Playground? - Bushwick Avenue–Aberdeen Street (BMT Canarsie)
• Elton Playground and Linwood Playground - Livonia Yard