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WEST SIDE RAILYARDS / HUDSON YARDS REZONING
What is the Hudson Yards Plan?
In 2003, the Bloomberg Administration began advancing a proposal to
redevelop the southern portion of Hell's Kitchen and the northern portion
of Chelsea. The plan covers an area that runs from 28th to 43rd Street,
bounded partially by 8th Avenue and partially by 7th Avenue (see maps
available at left). The name "Hudson Yards" is used to refer
to the entire area, but also refers specifically to the MTA rail yards
located on the Hudson River, between 30th and 34th Streets. The portion
between the river and 11th Avenue is known as the Western Rail Yards,
and the portion between 11th Avenue and 10th Avenue is known as the
Eastern Rail Yards.
The 'Hudson Yards' area includes portions of the Garment Center, the
Javits Convention Center, Madison Square Garden, the Port Authority
Bus Terminal, the Farley Post Office and the Lincoln Tunnel. It also
includes residential areas with a variety of housing types - walk-up
apartments, tenements, converted lofts and high-rise apartment buildings.
Together, these buildings contain approximately 12,000 housing units
and 21,000 residents.
The City's redevelopment plan for the Hudson Yards area calls for an
expansion of the Javits Convention Center, an extension of the No. 7
subway line, 40 million square feet of new office and residential space,
and 20 acres of new open space. The plan originally called for a football
stadium for the Jets to be built over the Western Rail Yards, but that
portion of the plan was defeated by massive community opposition. Much
of the rest of the plan, though in an altered version, is guiding today's
development. The City Council pased the Hudson Yards rezoning in January,
2005 and then amended the rezoning through a Follow-Up Corrective Action
about a year later.
The City of New York recently reached an agreement
with the MTA regarding sale of the Hudson Yards and the extension of
the No. 7 line. The agreement allows the development to go through ULURP
which is a step toward allowing all concerned communities to have a
say in the process. Discussions are currently underway regarding what
will be built over the rail yards, given the defeat of the stadium proposal.
Development over the rail yards will require the construction of platforms,
so that trains can continue to operate beneath the new buildings. The
City and State have committed to providing public financing for the
extension of the subway line, the expansion of the convention center,
and the construction of these platforms. It is hoped that the new development
spurred by the recent rezoning, as well as development directly above
the yards, will pay for these infrastructure improvements. Public financing
will also be used for:
- condemnation of property and construction of 'Hudson Boulevard'
-- a new street and open space system running from 33rd to 42nd street,
located midway between 10th and 11th Avenues (including a below-grade,
950-space parking garage at 34th street); and
- condemnation and construction of a rooftop park on top of a new
block-long Department of Sanitation facility to be constructed between
29th and 30th streets west of 11th Avenue.
Visit
the Department of City Planing Web site for more info on Hudson Yards.
Recent Developments and Community Involvement
Community Board 4 is part of the Hudson
Yards Community Advisory Committee, which advises the Hudson Yards
Development Corporation regarding the financing, planning, design, and
construction of the Hudson Yards redevelopment area from a neighborhood
perspective. The Advisory Committee meets before all meetings of the
Development Corporation Board of Directors to hear and comment on presentations
of the matters to be presented to the Development Corporation Board
of Directors.
On May 8, 2007 Manhattan Community Board 4 and the Hudson
Yards Development Corporation jointly sponsored a public forum regarding
the design guidelines for developmenr over the railyards. The MTA and
HYDC presented the guidelines to a capacity crowd at Hartley House (413
West 46th Street). We hope to receive materials from the presentation
that we will be able to post. The Advisory Committee submitted this
response to the presentation.
On January 25, 2007, the Hudson Yards Development Corporation
gave a presentation to the Advisory Committee regarding the ongoing
planning for development of the Eastern and Western Railyards. The Advisory
Committee prepared this response
to the presentation.
On November 15, 2006, Manhattan Community Board No. 4
co-sponsored with the Hudson Yards Community Advisory Committee a Community
Forum on the Future of the West Side Rail Yards. The forum discussed
the present situation with the rail yards including timelines and present
objectives.
In addition, the forum revisited the history of plans
for the site: the Caemmerer
Plan from 1989, the former Manhattan
Borough President's Office plan - A Vision for the West Side Rail
Yard (2001), the
Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Plan, endorsed by CB4 in December 2003,
the Steve
L. Newman Real Estate plan from October 2004, the plan by Madison
Square Garden, and the Western
Rail Yard Project Plan from February 2006.
On December 10, 2007 over 200 people showed up for the
presentation and discussion of the five development proposals for the
West Side Rail Yards, last night at the Hudson Guild Community Center.
This Forum was held in conjunction with the Hudson Yards Community Advisory
Committee (HYCAC).
On January 8, 2008, HYCAC released a written
response to the West Side Rail Yards Development Proposals.
For further information related to the December 10th Forum please review:
Program
Summary,
Community
Development Goals,
Group
Discussion Summary, and
Hand-out
from Public Forum (please feel free to print out, fill-in, and mail
to us at 330 W. 42nd Street, NY, NY 10036)
Hudson
Yards Community Advisory Committee's Discussion Document
[Warning: this is a big PDF file - 9MB - and may take a while
to download on your computer.]
PUBLIC SCOPING HEARING WESTERN RAIL
YARD PROJECT
[see
flyer]
Thursday, October 2, 2008
2:00- 5:00 p.m. and 6:00-9:00 p.m.*
Jacob K. Javits Convention Center 655 West 34th Street, Room 1A-03-05
(enter on Eleventh Avenue)
Metropolitan Transportation Authority and City of New
York City Planning Commission intend to prepare an Environmental
Impact Statement (EIS) for the proposed Western Rail Yard Project.
View PDF documents: Draft
Scope of Work [1.5 mb]. Environmental
Assessment Statement/Environmental Assessment Form [1.3 mb].
Document
scoping notice.
Verbal testimony is limited to three (3) minutes for each
speaker; however, written comments of any length will be accepted per
the procedure outlined below. The public hearing site is accessible
for the mobility-impaired. Interpreter services will be available for
the hearing-impaired upon advance request.
* The evening session will extend later, as needed, to
accommodate all those who register to speak prior to 9:00 p.m.
As the planning for the rail yards continue we will keep you informed.
HUDSON PARK & BOULEVARD DESIGN PROPOSALS
The Hudson Park and Boulevard is being planned as app. four acres of
newly created parks and open space between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues
from West 33rd to West 42nd Streets. The Hudson Yards Development Corporation,
the Departments of Parks, Transportation, City Planning, and Design
and Construction have organized a competition to select a designer.
Five design teams were invited to submit a proposal. The winner will
be picked October 6, 2008.
On September 22 CB4 and HYCAC held a community input meeting in which
all five designers gave presentations and answered questions.
HYCAC has written a response to these designer presentations and CB4
endorsed this letter on October 1, 2008
The Five design proposals for the Hudson Park and Boulevard are on
display at the Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place.
The exhibit opens Friday September 26th and will close on
Saturday November 1st.
Monday - Friday: 9:00 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. and, Saturday: 11:00 a.m. -
5:00 p.m.
For more information and directions: www.aiany.org
Archives
Looking for documents from 2004 and 2005 related to CB4's participation
in the Hudson Yards rezoning and the fight against the Jets stadium?
Visit our Hudson Yards Archives page.
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