Hudson River Park In Lower Manhattan Opens First Pier In 10 Years

LOWER MANHATTAN, NY — The Hudson River Park Trust is opening Pier 26 Wednesday afternoon, which will be the first new public pier to open in the Lower Manhattan Park in a decade.

Hudson River Park runs four miles along Manhattan's west side, roughly from Chambers Street to 59th Street. Pier 26 is in the Tribeca portion of the park between Hubert and North Moore Streets.

The new pier will include a Tide Deck, sun-tanning lawns, sports fields, and multiple lounging areas to enjoy the Hudson River views. The pier's construction cost $37.7 million and was funded by Citi Group, the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, and New York City.

"The incredible transformation of Pier 26 into a world-class ecological, educational, and recreational resource is a testament to the corporate, civic, and community leadership behind this project and an example of the powerful role public-private partnerships can play to help improve quality of life for communities," said Basil Seggos, the NY State Department of Environmental Conservation Commissioner, in a news release.

The crown jewel of the new pier is the Tide Deck.

The 15,000-square-foot deck is the first of its kind in New York City and was planted with native shrubs, trees, and grasses intended to mirror the wetlands that once existed along the coast of the Hudson River.

The human-engineered rocky marsh sits on a concrete platform atop 36 steel piles that goes into the bottom of the river.

Pier 26 also features a short habitat walk that leads visitors through a choice of five native ecological zones: woodland forest, coastal grassland, maritime scrub, rocky tidal zone, and the Hudson River.

The pier project was funded as part of the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation's ongoing post 9/11 rebuilding efforts in the neighborhood.

The Hudson River Park is open daily from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m.

You can find out more about the new pier on the Hudson River Park website.