Diana Taylor, the Hudson River Park Trust’s chairperson, and senior Trust staff met on Tuesday afternoon with representatives of the Pier 40 Partnership and a team from Related Companies led by Related’s chairman and C.E.O. Stephen Ross.
According to park activist Tobi Bergman, the Partnership’s Gary Ginsberg told him that Related repeatedly said they cannot make their proposal for Pier 40 work with less than a 49-year lease and that if they cannot get the Hudson River Park Act amended to allow a lease of that length they will drop their effort to redevelop the W. Houston St. pier.
Related also reportedly said they still think they need all their proposed uses, including the concert hall they recently said they may try to replace with a museum.
The Partnership representatives said that, given the course of events over the past 14 months, there is no way Related’s plan can succeed. They urged the Trust to close out the request-for-proposals process and begin to work with the Partnership on the approach suggested in the Partnership’s Pier 40 feasibility study done by HR&A Advisors.
