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Hudson Yards getting set for its grand opening

Hudson Yards Observation Deck – courtesy of Related-Oxford
The observation deck at 30 Hudson Yards will feature a glass bottom. Courtesy Related-Oxford
A view of the Public Square and Gardens — featuring the Vessel — looking south from 33rd St. At right rear is 15 Hudson Yards, which tenants are now starting to move into. Courtesy Forbes Massie Heatherwick Studio

BY GABE HERMAN | The new Hudson Yards neighborhood might also be called a new city within a city, and much of it is set to open to the public next month.

Hudson Yards roughly sits south of the Javits Center at W. 34th St., west of 10th Ave. and north of W. 30th St. and is rising over a rail yard used by the Long Island Railroad.

Here is a rundown of the progress and opening dates for various buildings and sections, based on the latest information provided to The Villager by Related Companies, a major developer of the site.

The first half of Hudson Yards to be built is known as the Eastern Yard, between 10th and 11th Aves. The next part to be developed, the Western Yard, will be just west of it, between 11th Ave. and the West Side Highway.

In May 2016, 10 Hudson Yards opened. It is an office building rising 895 feet that also has retail and residential space. It does not sit atop the large platform that had to be built over the rail yard below, and thus was able to be built earlier than the rest of the Eastern Yard.

Last month, commercial office tenants began moving into 55 Hudson Yards, a 780-foot-tall office and retail building.

This month, the first residents will move into 15 Hudson Yards, a 900-foot-tall residential tower that will be right next to The Shed, the new cultural center at the Hudson Yards.

On March 15, much of the public space at Hudson Yards will open to the public. This includes the Public Square and Gardens, a 5-acre space. Included there is the Vessel, a honeycomb-shaped structure with interweaving staircases that people can climb to various landings. The Vessel is 150 feet tall.

The Shops and Restaurants building at Hudson Yards will be opening in March. Courtesy Related-Oxford

Also on March 15, the Shops and Restaurants building will open to the public. The building will have more than a mile of shopping area and more than 100 stores.

Soon after that, on April 5, The Shed will open. A 120-foot-tall structure on city-owned land, it will include a 500-seat theater, exhibition space and a retractable roof.

Later this year, commercial office tenants will begin moving into 30 Hudson Yards, a 1,296-foot-tall tower that will be the city’s second-tallest office building. It will include an observation deck at the top that juts out 65 feet from the building and will have a glass floor for those daring enough to go out and look straight down.

10 Hudson Yards, left, and 30 Hudson Yards. Courtesy Related-Oxford

Also later this year, sales will begin for 35 Hudson Yards, which is just over 1,000 feet tall. It will be a mixed-use building, including a hotel, residential units and office and retail space.

Late this year or early next year, the observation deck at 30 Hudson Yards is scheduled to open.

The observation deck at 30 Hudson Yards will feature a glass bottom. Courtesy Related-Oxford

And in 2022, commercial office tenants are scheduled to start moving into 50 Hudson Yards, a 985-foot-tall office building at the northeast corner of the entire complex.

As for the Western Rail Yard, work hasn’t begun on building the platform above the train tracks. That section of Hudson Yards is planned to have six residential buildings, a school, a mixed-use office and residential building, and will have the upper reaches of the High Line wind through it. Related Companies said it is expected to be finished in the mid to late 2020s.