Hopes Pier55 will prevail
To The Editor:
Re “Lawsuit Aims to Nix Diller and DvF’s Hudson Hopes” (news article, June 18, 2015):
The promise of Pier55 has invigorated our community with the hope of what Hudson River Park can bring to our children and our families. In fact, it is rare to see a great vision like this be so carefully planned — from infrastructure to programming to financing — and with a real sense of giving back to an arts-based community. As such, I am disheartened to learn of a lawsuit filed by some who would rather see this project fail.
New York City’s residents and children are constantly hungry for more open space and new artistic experiences. Pier55 promises to provide both, at a level of quality beyond anything that we could imagine or that the Hudson River Park Trust could afford to build on its own. The pier’s design is beautiful and its artistic team world class.
As a resident of the West Village and Chelsea for more than 15 years, a parent of two school-age children — one at PS3 and one at Clinton School for Writers and Artists — and an entrepreneur who started a technology business in the Meatpacking District, I continue to love the distinct spirit of community in this neighborhood. It is the local artistry and communities that matter most in providing meaning to the life experience.
We have the opportunity to support a beautiful and grand vision to bring Pier55 to life and replace a crumbling pier with an asset that will enhance the lives of our residents and our children even more: more space and more greenery and arts education opportunities that haven’t existed in the park before.
It is such a shame to see a lawsuit filed — under such mean-spiritedness — to try to end this possibility. I do hope Pier55 will come to fruition so that it can enrich the lives of all who use Hudson River Park, including my family, my neighbors and my friends.
Dr. Yin Ho
Ho is CEO, Context Matters Inc.
Feedback from Facebook
Re “Congestion in Heart of Hell’s Kitchen Burns Residents” (news, June 11, 2015):
I recently moved out of HK after living there for 35 years. It has gotten so congested it is unbearable. Restaurants with sidewalk cafes take up too much of the sidewalk, and places like 44 & X — they not only take up half the sidewalk, the servers are serving customers from outside their own barrier, in addition to people waiting for tables who block the sidewalk for pedestrians.
Bike deliveries are on the sidewalk (not in the street) racing between pedestrians. The noise is unbearable between the construction, traffic and sirens of emergency vehicles that cannot get through.
With all the development in HK, there are not enough grocery stores. The area is a slave to the thieves of Food Emporium. The post office in 42nd Street is inadequate. Noisy bars and noisy patrons from the nightclubs at 4 a.m. that think jumping on the steel sidewalk doors is fun.
HK is hell. I loved HK for many years. It was one of NYC’s best-kept secrets.
Kim Heinlein
