Union Square Park Reno Finally Underway
It all started Six years ago when the City Council pledged $1.9 Million dollars to renovate the North end of Union Square Park. There has been controversy, anger, appeasement, and backroom dealings ever since. That was until this week when fencing went up and construction trailers descended on the Park. Today, the Farmers Market was moved to the West side of the park and various construction barriers indicate that something is finally happening on the North end. The construction, which was last reported to begin this fall, has apparently begun. The final plan which will cost $20 Million will include a tripling of the playground space, a greening of the North end of the park and resurfacing of the Farmer's Market area to include electrical and plumbing upgrades for the vendors. The most controversial aspect is the plan for a 120 seat restaurant which will occupy the badly dilapidated Pavilion built in the 1930's. The Pavilion will be completely renovated and will also include office and maintenance space for park workers. Critics argue that this amount to a "privatization of public space". While this argument may hold some validity, the plan as a whole, largely privately funded, appears to be beneficial as a whole. First, a tripling of playground space is never a bad thing. Second, the north end of the park, home of the Farmers Market, is nearly 2 city blocks of pavement and nothing else. On rainy days like today, this pavement is a minefield of puddles and plainly put a blight. The greening and resurfacing of the area is a welcome, overdue improvement. Yes, we may end up with another Danny Meyer inspired Shake Shack effort, but there was a bar there before, and who couldn't use a good burger now and then?
Related Articles:
PlanNYC: Union Square Park Redesign (PlanNYC)
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Twenty million dollars is a huge amount for a NYC park - the entire agency's construction budget has to cover 28,000 acres and is only $500m. Let's hope that the construction goes smoothly and that kids will be able to play in the improved playgrounds soon!
ReplyDeletei care a lot that my park is being privatized! yes, paving the cement for the greenmarket would be great and they've been promising to do that for years.
ReplyDeletebut this entire plan is basically just a sweetheart deal that will make the co-chair of the union square partnerhip (danny meyer) richer.
there will at least 40 feet of space taken away from the greenmarket when all is said and done. and instead of doing the construciton in stages, they are closing off the entire north end of the park which forces the greenmarket to move to the west and south side of the park which in turn means the first amendment artists get squeezed out of the park entirely when the greenmarket is set up.
currently there are more than 150 restaurants in a 2 block radius of union square park - 6 of them face the park with outdoor seating. do we REALLY need ANOTHER restaurant in this area???
fixing up the children's playground is a great idea and that should have been done long ago with the repaving of the cement but that should have nothing to do with building a restaurant!
the parks belong to the taxpayers - the parks department are the custodians of this land. the parks are deliberately underfunded which is why they have to rent out space for events, etc.
the parks department would LOVE to rent out kiosks to corporations in order to make millions of dollars. this is why they are constantly trying to get rid of the first amendment artists who set up there. and as long as the artists are there in the park, no corporation will pay millions of dollars to put a kiosk next to an artist who doesn't have to pay a dime to be there.
don't be foolish to think they are doing the public a great service here...they are all just lining their own pockets. after all, money talks louder than the first amendment.
The renovation is nothing more then a sweet heart deal between the Parks Dept and the local BID named the Union Square Partnership and it's board of directors. This is how public land is given to private business for a fraction of it's value and without public consent. The Parks Dept does not own the property the true owners are the residents of New York City. The Parks Dept are merely the custodians it is not their right to give it away. The land and the north pavilion being offered to Danny Meyers was originally set aside for use by children. The north pavilion was referred to as the Children's Pavilion the use was aimed at given children a place to play on rainy days and to host educational events , birthday parties and many other such events. Now this will end forever, our children, our children 's children and their children's children will never have this use again. Are our children not worth the preservation of the north pavilion? Do we continue to take away from our kids?
ReplyDeleteRestoration and renovation of the playground and the pavilion for it's intended purpose would cost only a fraction of what we taxpayers will be paying to give the property away, and will take less time then 2 years currently estimated to complete the project. It will leave the north end open for the greenmarket and truly worthy events.
Are we all so short sighted and blind to what is truly happening here and where will it end, when we have no more parks left!
DO NOT LET THIS HAPPEN!!