Hunter’s Point South Waterfront Park
Co-designed: SWA/Balsley and WEISS/MANFREDI
Prime Consultant and Infrastructure Designer: ARUP
Recently opened to the public, Phase II of Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park transforms 5.5 acres of abandoned industrial landscape into a new waterfront park. Phase II begins south of 54th Avenue and wraps around Newtown Creek to complete the full vision of Hunter's Point South Park initiated in Phase I, and resulting in nearly 11 acres of a continuous waterfront park. The park offers places of retreat and invites intimate connections with nature at the water's edge, complementing the active recreation spaces in the Phase I park.
The park is also a new model for waterfront resilience, with a "soft" approach to protecting the water's edge from floodwaters. A continuous meandering causeway, elevated slightly above the river, offers a walk along the river's edge and protects nearly 1.5 acres of newly established wetlands. The design also leverages the site's dramatic topography with a shaded grassy promontory, a new island reached by a pedestrian bridge, a kayak launch, exercise and picnic terraces, a collection of intimate "break-out" lounges off the pathways, and a dramatic cantilevered overlook that hovers above the wetland and offers panoramic views of the Manhattan skyline.