BY YANNIC RACK | It’s been a park with no name for months, but now the new plaza north of Hudson Yards is finally closer to its christening.
The Hudson Yards / Hell’s Kitchen Alliance, which commissioned a crowdsourcing survey to find a moniker for the green space between 10th and 11th Aves., from W. 33rd St. to W. 36th St., said this week that its naming committee had chosen a finalist — which beat out such inspired submissions as “Sarah Palin Memorial Park,” “Quite Nice New Park” and “Only The Rich Can Be Here Park.”
The plaza, which opened to the public last August, will henceforth be known as “Hudson Boulevard Park,” pending approval by the city’s Parks Department.
“In the end, the name was decided on for several reasons, but largely because it gives a destination, which is important for a new park, and helps distinguish it from other parks with Hudson as part of their names,” said Bob Benfatto, the BID’s executive director, adding that over 150 people weighed in with their suggestions.
The Alliance’s naming committee voted unanimously for the new moniker, which got seven votes in the survey, even though the public favored “Hudson Yards Park,” which was submitted 10 times.
Third place went to “Hudson Park,” which garnered five votes.
“There were three other names that there wasn’t any consensus on, and the Parks Department didn’t like some names too,” explained Benfatto.
It is unsurprising that Hudson Yards — the title of the private development just to the south — didn’t make it into the name, but the BID had also expressed caution against including “Hudson” in a presentation from last summer.
“Hudson Boulevard Park needs to remain in the mix as the status quo, despite the Park Dept’s specific resistance to Hudson being overused,” one slide of the presentation read.
“Hudson also remains a concern for the committee as being tied to Hudson Yards’ identity, and not inclusive enough of the entire community.”
At that point, the committee had also moved away from any neighborhood-themed names, which explains why submissions like “Devil’s Playground,” “Hell of a Park” and “Hell’s Heavenly Park” didn’t make the cut.
“Notions related to Hell or Devil are too negative and feel like an appropriation of Hell’s Kitchen,” the presentation said.
In their responses, some of the participants showed love for their musical idols — “David Bowie Park,” “Ziggy Stardust Park,” “Pete Seeger Park” and “Lou Reed Park” were among the submissions — while others made bitter comments on the state of their changing neighborhood, with suggestions including “Gentrification Park,” “Long Time Residents Get Lost Park” and “Only The Rich Can Be Here Park.”
Of course public figures — large and small — weren’t missing from the mix either, with Alexander Hamilton, former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, ex-City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and even former Community Board 4 Chair Christine Berthet represented on the ballot.
The new name still has to be approved by the Parks Department, which was initially skeptical of any name that would include “Hudson” — supposedly for its potential to confuse visitors looking for the nearby Hudson River Park instead.
A Parks Department spokesperson said this week that, while the department considers community input, the name would ultimately be determined by the agency’s commissioner, Mitchell Silver.
The new park, which is supposed to eventually encompass three additional blocks to the north, is already home to a playground, seating, fountains and a food and drink kiosk that will open to the public for the first time this summer.
