West Midtown Ferry Terminal on Pier 79

[Edward]

The article below *is perhaps a year old...


Construction is to begin late this summer on the six-slip, $30 million West Midtown Ferry Terminal on Pier 79 at the foot of 39th Street, which will wrap around the imposing ventilating towers of the Lincoln Tunnel. This glass pavilion will be immediately north of the existing New York Waterway terminal at Pier 78, a jumbled grab bag of structures and slips.

About 60 percent of the cost is being met by the federal Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century and 30 percent by the city's capital budget, with the rest from the state and New York Waterway, which will also make an average annual lease payment of $750,000 over 30 years. Three slips will be controlled by New York Waterway and three will be open to other services. Operating costs will be defrayed in part by landing fees and advertising revenues. There will be 4,100 square feet of retail space.

The architects are William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates, designers of the four-year-old Terminal 1 at Kennedy International Airport. Thomas Balsley Associates are the landscape architects; Thornton-Tomasetti Group, the structural engineers.

The terminal has been shaped by more than passenger traffic, since it straddles the Lincoln Tunnel tubes and stands in the middle of the Hudson River Park and alongside the reconstructed Route 9A.

"We tried very hard in our design to make the building as open as possible, allowing both ferry terminal users and the public to move in and out easily," said Darko Hreljanovic, the project designer. That includes plazas to the north and south, a cafe from which seating can spill outside in pleasant weather and an elevated walkway over the ferry slips so that pedestrians can trace an uninterrupted waterside path.

The main waiting room will be clad in a structural glass system for highest transparency. Curving vestibules on either side of the vent stacks are intended to signal the terminal entrance clearly and to create a kind of architectural transition between the 145-foot-high towers and the low-rise terminal and plaza, Mr. Bodouva said.


From William Nicholas Bodouva & Associates website

WNB+A was selected by the New York City Economic Development Corporation from a short list of New York's top architectural firms to design the new West Midtown Intermodal Ferry Terminal on Pier 79 located at West 39th Street. This new terminal will be a municipally-owned multi-user facility, providing ferry service including short haul commuters, water taxis, and high-speed long distance services from Midtown Manhattan to points along the Hudson River. Plans call for a new state-of-the-art Terminal as well as six new boat slips. The project is planned to be part of the larger Hudson River Park development.






From Wired New York:

Pier 79 in April 2002.




Construction started on the six-slip, $30 million West Midtown Intermodal Ferry Terminal at Pier 79 at the foot of 39th Street, which will wrap around the imposing ventilating towers of the Lincoln Tunnel. This glass pavilion will be immediately north of the existing New York Waterway terminal at Pier 78, a jumbled grab bag of structures and slips. 2 March 2003.

[Kris]

http://aiany.org/designawards/2003/projects/proj7.htm

[ZippyTheChimp]

June 27, 2004
Progress on pier 79 ferry terminal

[NYatKNIGHT]

So far, so good. It looks like it's going to be awesome when it's done.

[Edward]

http://www.nypost.com/business/37646.htm
By LOIS WEISS

January 5, 2005 -- MANHATTAN'S Pier 78 — the home of New York Waterways' new terminal — is on the block and its buyer may have to fork over a cool $10 million.

This rare, privately owned pier is on the Hudson River, opposite the Javits Convention Center at 38th Street, and near the planned sites for New York's Olympic Games bid.

There's not only enough room for your yacht, but several yachts, parking for BMWs and buses, a hotdog cart, a horsedrawn buggy and a restaurant or three.

The only thing you can't do is live on the 24,450 square-foot parcel, said Jon Epstein, who along with Cushman & Wakefield compatriots Charles Kingsley, Yoav Oelsner, and Glenn Tolchin, is in charge of selling the pier.

The space can be expanded to 49,000 square feet of "anything related to entertainment, dining or [business] that is water dependent," he said. "It's ideal for specialty users."

It also comes with all city utilities with a real-estate tax currently about $126,000 a year.

The unique property runs north-south about 65 feet and extends more than 300 feet west toward what in 1837 was going to be a Thirteenth Avenue, but sssh, don't remind anyone or we'll end up with an actually, much-needed monorail or something.

[BrooklynRider]

I don't understand how something that had a 60% Federal subsidy to be built, suddenly is on the block for private development.

[ZippyTheChimp]

The new ferry terminal is just to the north - pier 79 (around the Lincoln Tunnel vent tower).

Pier 78 is between the vent tower and the car tow-pier. It's a small pier owned by NY Waterway (or maybe another private owner).

[Edward]

My mistake - got confused by the words "new terminal".

[BrooklynRider]

It seems that the article has it wrong.

[ZippyTheChimp]

Well, it was new when it was new.

Sort of like that "LAST DAY OF OPENING" sign.

[ZippyTheChimp]

It's like watching a race - The Tortoise & the Tortoise.

At least the buildings are closed in.

[Edward]

West Midtown Ferry Terminal. The building under construction - Orion Condominiums. 3 July 2005.

[billyblancoNYC]

Originally Posted by Edward

West Midtown Ferry Terminal. The building under construction - Orion Condominiums. 3 July 2005.

Any plans to cover those brown bohemoths in that nice new glass?

[ZippyTheChimp]

I don't think so, but I like the contrast.

[pianoman11686]

I think the Zebra tower is a much bigger and more offensive eyesore. I still cannot figure out what the developers were thinking.