“Welcome to Little Island”
New York opens new park on stilts
May 22, 2021, 1:07 p.m
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A few years ago, activists brought the “Little Island” project to a standstill. Now New York is finally opening its planned island park on Manhattan’s west coast. The small island stands on stilts in the middle of the Hudson River. The place itself also has a special meaning.
After years of debate, delays and skyrocketing costs, New York has a new island park. Hundreds of people flocked to “Little Island” on Manhattan’s West Shore, a park built on stilts in the Hudson River. In addition to flowers, trees, lawns and views of the Manhattan skyline, the facility also features theater facilities for outdoor events, as well as snack and beverage stands. The construction was financed by media mogul Barry Diller with around 260 million dollars (about 210 million euros).
Pier 54, a pier for ocean liners operated by the British shipping company Cunard-White Star, once stood on the site of Little Island. In 1912 the “Carpathia” docked here, with more than 700 rescued passengers from the sunken “Titanic” on board. In 1915 the “Lusitania” cast off from here, a little later she was sunk by a German U-boat off the south coast of Ireland, almost 1200 people died. The pier later rusted, and today only a rusty steel structure inscribed “Cunard White Star” is a reminder of its historical significance. Next to it there are recently signs with the inscription: “Welcome to Little Island”.
Media mogul Diller – who, together with his wife, the star designer Diane von Furstenberg, has already financed the revitalization of the nearby former elevated railway line High Line – had already announced several years ago that he wanted to build a park on the site of the pier. At the time, he had reckoned with costs of around 35 million dollars. The project had the working title “Pier 55”, but was also ridiculed by many people as “Diller Island”.
Enthusiastic criticism at the opening
Activists protested, among other things, for environmental reasons and aesthetic concerns, the costs were rising – and Diller canceled the project again in 2017. Only after mediation by Governor Andrew Cuomo did Diller finally make a “last attempt to revive the project”.
When it opened, the park received mostly enthusiastic reviews. The architecture critic of the New York Times, Michael Kimmelman, described him as a “charmer”. Just a few weeks earlier, the Whitney Museum across the street had already placed another attraction right next to it: a sculpture by US artist David Hammons, which traces the outlines of a former port building with steel rods. Dubbed “Day’s End,” the steel structure will be on permanent display at Hudson River Park from now on.
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