Monday, April 17, 2023
Cloudy, with morning fog and 50 percent chance of rain. High 71 degrees.
Notices
Our calendar has lots of local events! Click on the link or the lady in the upper righthand corner to look.
For a list of Community Board 7 committee meetings this week and links to join, click here. Tonight is a joint Parks/Transportation meeting, covering, among other things, the design of the 79th Street Boat Basin dock house.
News
By Bob Tannenhauser
When Hurricane Sandy battered New York over a decade ago, in October 2012, the 79th Street Boat Basin in Riverside Park was among the damaged areas of the city’s shoreline. Ever since then, it seems, the boat basin has stirred controversy. In 2015, when city parks officials announced the start of repairs on the damaged dock, the news was welcomed, but with some anger – as in, “What took you so long?” And, in 2021, when plans for a new dock house were unveiled, reviews of the industrial-looking building were pretty nasty: “clumsy,” “disappointing,” “overly harsh.” One Rag reader saw the plans and wrote an essay, imploring Parks to, “Simply Build Nothing.”
Gothamist pointed out last year that the boat basin was in desperate need of repairs long before Hurricane Sandy hit. “It hasn’t been dredged since 1958, some wooden structures are breaking apart, and the dock house is on the verge of falling into the water,” Gothamist wrote.
But is the dock house proposal now also in danger of falling by the wayside?
That seemed a possibility last week after news broke in Patch that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has concluded that the current proposal for a dock house, a revision of the 2021 proposal, would obstruct “clear views to the Hudson River from the Riverside Park and Riverside Drive Historic District.” FEMA wrote that in an April 12 letter to the New York Landmarks Conservancy and said that, as an interested party, the nonprofit group had 15 calendar days to provide any additional information pertinent to the dock house project.
What’s FEMA got to do with the boat basin? It’s the agency that has helped fund recovery efforts in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, and it has earmarked $30 million toward the $90-million restoration of the 79th Street Boat Basin, including construction of a new dock house.
And what’s up with the “clear views to the Hudson River from the Riverside Park and Riverside Drive Historic District?”
The 79th Street Boat Basin is adjacent to Riverside Park and Riverside Drive, which are listed in the National Register of Historic Places as having “significant landscape architecture,” according to FEMA’s letter. It also noted that Riverside Park and Riverside Drive are designated as landmarks by the NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, the agency responsible for protecting the city’s “architecturally, historically, and culturally significant buildings and sites by granting them landmark or historic district status.” Building a two-story dock house in front of that area, said FEMA, would be an “Adverse Effect to Historic Properties.”
The dock house conceptual design is on the CB7 agenda for tonight’s joint Parks and Transportation Committees meeting. Board Chair Beverly Donohue told the Rag, “We understand that the Parks Department is still planning on presenting an update on the boat basin project at Monday’s meeting.”
It is unclear what effect the FEMA determination will have or for that matter, what position the Conservancy and Landmarks Commission will take.
The meeting starts at 6:30pm; you can register here.
Those of us who spend a lot of time there do not believe that the “dock house is on the verge of falling into the water”.
I do not understand the need to spend money and time fixing something that is not broken. Worse, the proposed building is awful.
WSR, think you meant to link to your 2021 story above, but put an extra 2015 link in. Still remember shaking my head when I first read about this inelegant design: https://www.westsiderag.com/2021/11/28/proposed-boat-basin-dock-house-design-raises-eyebrows-time-to-start-shouting
I agree that the proposed structure did not give any consideration for the surroundings, and was at best ugly and out of place. However, unless you are a marine enginnering expert or work for the Army Corps, I am not sure how you can decide how sound a structure is by “looking” at it. People get physicals becuase one cannot assess how healthy we are by looking at us.
You can either be a part of the solution, or obstruct necessary progress. What is there now is blighted and unsafe (have you been to the old home of the Boat Basin Cafe?) and unless something is done, we can all watch what was one a vibrant part of our city continue to deteriotate like so many others. And I would suggest getting a physical as well.
You are correct that I’m not an engineer. However, I simply don’t believe that there’s a need to replace it. Your wording reveals your issue: “blighted”. I don’t see it as ‘blighted’, but rather ‘rustic’. And “vibrant”….I don’t want my parks to be vibrant, but rather ‘quaint’ and ‘bucolic’.
Must everything in NYC be glass and steel, and multiple stories?
I thought parks were an escape from exactly that.
Re the new Boathouse design: The last time I saw something more ugly was the German artillery bunkers in Normandy.
Seconded.
I agree that the 2-story design was horrible and that the architects had no understanding of the impact on park users and RSD neighbors. I’m glad that community has mobilized to contribute to a solution that works for everyone.
Great article WSR!! Who else would cover this?
I get that FEMA paid for some of this, so they want some say. But, is this not a distraction from the real issue – the use of the marina. Unless you are “friends” with someone in power, you will not be using this facility any time soon. Sure, it’s on the west side, and we get to look at it, but this is not what I would call a “westsider’s” facility. Any chance your investigative team could can get a list of those who moor here?
Many people used this marina, I for one, and friends that have visited from out of town. We don’t know anyone in high places, where did you base that information on? It was very reasonably priced. You do realize that a marina in a city, that is on an island, is not so unusual. Maybe we should tell Brookfield Place they need to close their marina? What “view” is exactly obstructed? There are plenty of buildings along the Hudson. So much NIMBY…
A friend. But according to the city website the wait list for 79th st is about 450 people long. The posted article suggests the wait is 15 years.
Ah, a friend….That is for a live aboard – people living on their boats. Boaters can temporarily dock there and moor their boats in the area for a fee, which requires a reservation. This is for about the price of a one-night stay in a midtown hotel. This is a the main advantage of the marina, and why they want to refurbish it.
Correction – several days are the price of a hotel in midtown.
Actually, Dock A has been open to the public for years.
But, isn’t that a transient (short term) dock?
Michael, I moor at the boat basin and am not rich and don’t have friends in power. Just a regular guy, like so many others who use the boat basin. And what would you do with the list of boaters who use the marina? You want to shame people that have boats?
Hi, last I heard the waiting list for a mooring is long. When I inherited a Blackfin back in 2007, I was told don’t waist your time at the 79th st marina unless you know someone. You point is a valid one and I understand how you came to it. However, I am definitely not interested in shaming – per my comment, I just wanted to know how many that do have moorings there live on the UWS.
There is a meaningful population of liveaboards, who as you might guess aren’t the richest these days:
https://www.curbed.com/2021/07/twilight-of-the-liveaboards-the-79th-street-boat-basin.html
Really interesting article. Thanks for posting. Looks like they will have an opportunity to pay the new fee (whatever that will be) when the project is completed.
Thank you for sharing this! I’ve always wondered about the community there. This article also says a lot about the repairs that are needed. The parks dept should give current tenants priority for moving back in and honor their current docking rates. What a special place this seems to be! I hope they don’t get pushed out or have to wait many years to return.
Rest assured that whatever gets built will take three times longer than projected and cost four times as much.
And we wait for the cafe to reopen.
Nobody wants the deckhouse, WSR.
Thank goodness for this. The proposed dockhouse is just plain awful. It will ruin the ambiance of the park over a long stretch of what is now scenic and bucolic. The whole thing was misbegotten from the get go and should be trashed.
The old one is modest and authentic and appropriate; the new proposal looks intrusive, obtrusive and abusive: some architect’s ego trip, one assumes. So I agree with FEMA.
There are alternatives to the proposed dock house.
Dock House Alternative 1 – A floating barge dock house
Floating home designs should be investigated:
A one-story dock house on a spuds barge should solve the following problems:
• Would affect the ambiance of the park less. The one story roof would be lower at most tidal levels than the current one story dock house.
• Location near rotunda/garage should relieve the supplies and people access problems
• Eliminates the second story with its ADA elevator.
• Provides protection from rising sea levels and storm surges.
• Size could be reduced through use of maintenance storage areas in garage as they did with the old dock house
• A camera surveillance system should give full view of the Basin’s docks.
• Cost should be less than current proposed design. Should allow more slips to be built in first phase.
• Floating dock house could be built elsewhere and towed to site to have utilities connected.
• Should shorten overall construction time.
• Parks does not like a floating solution because of USCG vessel inspections, repairs, etc. yet the 26th Street floating restaurant, World Financial Center ferry terminal, Waterfront Museum and Showboat Barge and the Liberty Landing dock office on a lightship have not only functioned for decades but were relatively unscathed by Superstorm Sandy.
Dock House Alternative 2 – Re-purposed use of playground buildings
The two buildings at The Riverside Park playground could be repurposed by moving Parks Enforcement, the current tenant, to another location. If not enough space in the buildings, an extension of similar architecture between the buildings could be built.
Advantages of this re-purposing should be:
• Blends into current park ambiance. The structure’s stone is similar to the rotunda’s stone
• The buildings are recessed off the esplanade.
• Access to the Basin should be directly across the esplanade at the proposed foot of H Dock which should provide easier movement of supplies and people to the Basin
• Supplies and people access to the back of the buildings could be made from park entrances south of the buildings
• A camera surveillance system should provide views of the Basin docks.
• Eliminates the second story with its ADA elevator. Ramp would lead from the esplanade to the barge.
• Construction should be independent of the dredging and docks construction and could be done in parallel. It should shorten construction.
• Less cost allows more slips to be built in the first phase.
• Dock offices in NY Harbor that are separate from their marinas are at Chelsea Piers, North Cove, Edgewater Marina, Liberty Yacht Harbor and Hudson Point Marina.
It is refreshing to get a posting that seems well thought out, reasoned and dare I say, trying to reach a compromise rather than the usual “I don’t like it, therefor it shouldn’t happen….”
Ed, when are you running for office? You’ve got my vote for thoughtful, investigative solutions. Whom can we get to listen to your proposals?
Demolition and clean up need to begin right away. The old structures are rotting and collecting trash. Regardless of the ultimate plan, why are we still looking at this mess?
It should be “falling by the quayside”….FWIW
Is there any reason the dock house needs to be right on the water? Why not put it east of the river so views from the walkway aren’t blocked?
Dockhouse – think about it…they typically have boating items, used in the water and on the docks, that you do not want to transport across that ridiculously busy path filled with bikers and walkers. I am sure that would give some UWS whiner something to complain about as well.
This project is an improvement and is essential to the park, the area and the community. It paves the way and it justifies and demonstrate the
need for improvements upgrades and repairs to the entirety of Riverside Park.
Build nothing is indicative of why the entirety of Riverside Parks, it’s monuments structures and parks, are falling into the sea.
Just build low open docks and open water access.
There’s no historic view of the Hudson that can’t be accessed by walking a few steps north or south of any new boathouse. There is no historic view of New Jersey that cannot be accessed without the liberal application of dynamite.
This is the transfer station that is still unused off 135th. Since it is already there it would seem that could be built out a dock house. Keep the existing dock house at the boat basin and development this one.
https://www.weact.org/2015/04/what-is-the-135th-marine-transfer-station-project/