Now let's just take a second and observe two things.
The first image is Pier 54 and the second image is Pier 55.
This seems like common sense that Pier 55 is the more aesthetically pleasing,
and more useful of the two piers, but the issue isn't that simple.
If you
know nothing about Pier 54 nor Pier 55, they’re piers on the coast of the
Hudson River in New York City. Pier 54 is the pier that is current in the
location, and has been there for over a hundred years, but has deteriorated and
is no longer a usable pier. Pier 55 is a proposed design by Heatherwick Studio.
Barry Diller, former head of Paramount
Pictures and Fox, asked Heatherwick Studio to design the new pier. The
pier actually isn’t a pier at all, as no ships would be able to dock, but it is
actually a large off-shore park. The park would feature three performing arts
venues, along with a plentiful amount of green space. To build Pier 55, both
Pier 54 and Pier 56 would have to be torn down.
Pier 55 needs to get build, otherwise two unusable piers sit
taking up valuable real estate. Pier 55 would add another park to New York
City, which could potentially entertain people from throughout the five borough
of the city. The three venues on the off-shore park would allow for a various
amount of performance that could intern create a new livelihood to the area.
While the pier would cost nearly 118 million dollars, Diller and his foundation
have agreed to pay $100 million of this, leaving only $18 million for the state
to pay. “Its $100 million-plus
donation is a remarkable commitment even by today’s high-profile philanthropic
standards (NY Post).” The opposition argues that that they want to “build the island in the estuarine
sanctuary, which is reserved by law for environmental conservation and the
protection of marine wildlife (ArchPaper).” The argument is that the park and
its pillars into the water would disturb marine life, but the way that the park
is built would allow for light to reach under most of the park, which would
help sustain wildlife.
The park, the pier, whatever it should be called, needs to
get built. It will allow for so much more than the current piers provide. The
current piers are an eye-swore, while Pier 55 is a beautiful park that will be
continuously used for many decades to come.
Information found in:
http://nypost.com/2014/11/17/pier-55-gets-130m-bid-to-create-and-island-oasis/
http://www.archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=8453#.VutNOPkrKhd
http://www.archdaily.com/568286/heatherwick-to-construct-170-million-pier-55-park-off-manhattan-s-hudson-river-shoreline
