Regarding restarting the Pier 40 development process, Hudson River Park spokesperson Chris Martin denied the claim of Friends of Hudson River Park that Douglas Durst, the Friends’ co-chairperson, met with Trip Dorkey, the Trust’s board chairperson, at the end of last month and that Dorkey at that time agreed that if the Friends dropped their threatened lawsuit over the Trust’s failure to pick a developer in June for Pier 40, the Trust would restart the Pier 40 process fairly soon, possibly as early as January.
Friends’ attorney Arthur Schwartz faced an Oct. 10 deadline to file the lawsuit.
“There was no meeting that I’m aware of,” said Martin. “I can’t speak for the Friends, but I’m not aware of any agreement we’ve made with the Friends. Right now, we’re investigating interim uses for Pier 40.” Asked when the Trust will reissue an R.F.E.I. for the pier’s full-scale redevelopment, Martin said economic conditions will be “a main driving factor.”
