Pier 54, or Pier 55

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