A. wrote: Wondering if you have any info on when the sturgeon playground will be finished?

The playground at Pier 26 in Hudson River Park, on the upland just south of City Vineyard, is on track for opening in fall. Work on site so far has largely focused on underground infrastructure, such as footings for the play features — which are two giant sturgeon. People will start seeing sturgeon installation this month.

I visited the factory where the sturgeon were made in Denmark this spring — best field trip ever.

The Pier 26 Science Play Area itself was designed by the landscape architect firm OLIN, which did such a fabulous job on Pier 26. It will be 4,000 square feet with a marine-science focus — the sturgeon can be played on and in, but also offer information on how fish work. It was funded by a $3.5 million capital campaign completed by Hudson River Park Friends in 2021, anchored by a $1.3 million matching grant from Tribecan Michael Novogratz.

The Hudson River Park Trust is now in the process of building the “estuarium” for the space right next door. That will be a building dedicated to the study of our section of the Hudson River, being designed now by Tribeca architects Sage & Coombe.