Seen & Heard: Hudson River Park Opening

August 2, 2013 Community News, Restaurant/Bar News, Services

HRP tribeca dog run 7813••• The Hudson River Park dog run is definitely opening Monday—I just got a notice about a press conference happening at 11:30 a.m., when Diana Taylor (and her dogs, Bonnie and Clyde), will officially open it. I’ll be out of town, so anyone who pops by on Monday, please send photos of the dog run—and the esplanade, which will finally be open, alleviating that awkward/dangerous pedestrian-and-bike path!

••• I heard from Arnaud Tronche of Racines NY, the wine bar and bistro opening on Chambers in the Sunny One space: The lease is signed, so it’s definitely a go.

••• Maybe the state’s Department of Transportation already does this and I’m just not paying attention, but how about an Adopt-a-Highway program for West Street, to help pay for the upkeep of the medians?

••• A note from Erik (I’m not bieng weird—there’s a reader named Erik): “The folks at the Vietnam Vet’s Association no longer pick up used clothes and household items around here because they said that they don’t get enough pickup requests for downtown and Tribeca. Thought it may be helpful to include as a community service announcement. They suggested we email ‘all our friends’ so I figured you’d be more effective that that!” Submit a request here. “We did find that the City Opera Thrift Shop will.”

 
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3 Comments

  1. Nicole Vianna
    August 2, 2013 • 7:11 pm

    Regarding the 9A (West Street) medians: The NYS DOT is responsible for maintaining the medians and until this year (or maybe last) had been paying the Hudson River Park Trust to do the actual work for them, but apparently no money for that is in the current NYS DOT budget. Madelyn Wils can probably give you the exact details.

    One of the supposed advantages of the HRP Neighborhood Improvement District was that the NID would pick up the costs of the median maintenance (as one use of the 40% of the money that wouldn’t be earmarked for HRP). When Neighbors Against the NID (http://nohrpnid.blogspot.com/) suggested that instead of putting an additional tax on nearby residents and businesses to maintain a public highway, Friends of HRP and/or the HRP Trust look into how to get an official or unofficial “Adopt a Highway” program started for that stretch, AJ Pietrantone (who was at the time Executive Director of FoHRP and also the lead staff person for the NID Steering Committee) told us that they were working on it.

    While the NID Steering Committee has gone quiet since early July when Durst cut all ties to the NID Steering Committee (it turned out that essentially all the money, staff time and even the meeting place was provided by Durst), they have not disbanded. Everyone who lives or owns a business within 2 – 3 blocks of Hudson River Park between Murray Street and W. 59th St. (the west side of W. Broadway to 9A through most of Tribeca) should educate themselves on the proposal at the official website and our opposition website (http://nohrpnid.blogspot.com/). If it troubles you that an unaccountable entity like the HRP Trust, which seems to do no long term financial planning for maintenance of new sections of the Park, will get a slush fund, financed by you, to bail them out, please sign the petition on our website.

  2. Rohin
    August 2, 2013 • 11:55 pm

    Nicole,

    Thank you again for taking the time and effort to fight this on our behalf… Your organizational efforts are truly appreciated!

    HRP needs to inject a dose of basic reality into both its budgets and revenue expectations and manage accordingly… That’s exactly how the rest of us have to do it

    We don’t get the unexpected benefits of being able to arbitrarily tax our neighbors, and neither should they..

    I would like to understand why the city can seem to pay to maintain the medians on park avenue but not those on the West Side highway…

    It’s not like we don’t pay taxes..right?

  3. Judith
    August 5, 2013 • 1:03 pm

    The dog run is open. One area for small dogs, another for large. Little water jets for cooling paws and doggie drinking fountains.. A lot of press coverage of the ceremony and ribbon cutting (NY Times, Post., and Trib.) Goody bags provided by Yvonne from Dudley’s Paw. Huck Finn gave it a three paw rating. Being a PWD, he would have preferred to have had the addition of a small swimming lake.