Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park Grand Opening With Mayor Bloomberg

Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park, WEISS/MANFREDI's design collaboration with Thomas Balsley Associates, opened to the public in a ribbon cutting ceremony with Mayor Bloomberg last week. The design weaves together infrastructure, landscape, and architecture to connect Long Island City to a formerly industrial waterfront. The park, which survived Sandy with minimal impact, has already become a center for neighborhood recreation and a city-wide destination, boasting unparalleled views of the Manhattan skyline.

The park includes a waterfront promenade, pavilion, playground, dog run, outdoor fitness areas, rail garden, and an urban beach. These facilities center around a green oval with artificial turf suitable for athletics and natural grass for picnicking, playing, and relaxing. The curved shade pavilion shelters a water ferry stop, Parks Department offices, public restrooms, and a cafe. Its curved form further defines the multi-use oval and frames spectacular views of Manhattan. The pleated metal construction of the pavilion canopy and the rail gardens evoke the site's industrial and nautical past.

A water management system including bioswales, rooftop water collection, and permeable paving accommodate extreme weather patterns and flooding and rising water levels along the East River. The pavilion achieves net-zero power consumption through attached solar panels capable of powering up to 50% of the entire park. Rain water collection and landscaping extend into the inland streets. These landscaped streets frame views of the water's edge and beyond, linking the city to the park and the park to the waterfront.

The opening of the northern section of Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park marks the completion of Phase 1 of a larger master plan that encompasses the transformation of 30 acres of post-industrial waterfront on the East River in Long Island City and includes the construction of the largest affordable housing project in New York City since the 1970's.

The project has been recognized with awards from The Chicago Athenaeum, the American Society of Landscape Architects, the American Institute of Architects, and the World Architecture Festival.

Read more about Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park in EDC's press release, The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, Architectural Record, Wallpaper, and Architect's Newspaper.

A public tour of Hunter's Point is being offered on October 9th through the Archtober Building of the Day program, click here for tickets.