By Daniel Katzive
Efforts to rebuild and expand the 79th Street Boat Basin have cleared another hurdle as the project navigates a complex approval process. The Parks Department’s preliminary design for the marina’s new dock house received sign-off from the city’s Public Design Commission (PDC), overcoming objections from preservation groups.
The PDC approved the preliminary plan by a unanimous vote on Monday. Commissioners reacted positively to testimony from the project’s architect highlighting efforts to minimize the dock house’s impact on views from Riverside Park and to Parks Department assertions that youth programming would be expanded. The approval follows a Community Board 7 resolution in favor of the new design which passed in June.
Because the project is over the water, the city’s Landmark Preservation Commission does not have jurisdiction to review it. But nonprofit organizations Landmark West! and the New York Landmark Conservancy testified that they were opposed, citing impact on views from the historically significant Riverside Park and use of materials which Landmark West! called “entirely out of context with the surrounding scenic landscape.” The Landmark West! group also expressed concern that an expanded facility “will turn into a full-fledged marina which looks to serve only an elite few of the community while blocking river access for the many.”
Project architect Adam Yarinsky stressed design features intended to minimize impact on views from the shore in his presentation to the commission. Yarinsky shared diagrams showing the building would not be visible from Riverside Drive, the Henry Hudson Parkway or the Rotunda, and fairly minimally visible from the promenade except for the immediate area of the structure.
The materials, he said, were designed to respond dynamically to daylight and the design includes the use of diagonal columns providing a contextual reference to truss-like structures visible in the old transfer bridge to the south and the George Washington Bridge to the north.
Boaters also continued to advocate for the marina project, with sail instructor David Polakoff testifying he viewed the current plan for the dock house as a fair compromise which will meet the minimum requirements of the boating community. Parks Department Deputy Director of Marine Infrastructure Chris Ameigh told the panel that the marina’s increased size will help address the old facility’s 15-year waiting list for affordable boat slips and allow more educational programming benefiting city children attending neighborhood schools.
The project team’s arguments carried the day, with one commissioner, Laurie Hawkinson, saying she was “very excited to see this exemplary proposal for this kind of a building,” which she said was one of an increasing number of structures that were meeting the challenges of rising sea levels. She also said she viewed the materials as “entirely appropriate.”
A spokesperson for the city’s Economic Development Corporation told West Side Rag that the project is currently at the 30% planning point and the design team will proceed to 50% design development now that the PDC has signed off, while also continuing to pursue other required permitting reviews and approvals. The team’s goal at this point is for construction to begin in late 2026 or early 2027, according to the spokesperson.
The Public Design Commission has jurisdiction over permanent structures, landscape architecture, and art proposed on or over city-owned property. The commission will review the project again as it moves through the design process. The Boat Basin team is also expected to provide an update to CB7’s Parks and Environment Committee early next year.
For a more in depth look at the plans and challenges involved with the Boat Basin redesign project, please see our article from June 2023.
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I like the new design! And I applaud the architects for incorporating community feedback. I also don’t understand the gadfly complaining that this will block “river access for the many.” This facility will offer community programming! And the old shack that was there offered none.
I like the new design, too. One question: is it accessible to people who can’t climb what looks like a long flight of outdoor stairs to the entrance?
Legally it has to be accessible. And because it has to be elevated for flood code, they are showing an elevator.
New York City has so many pressing needs and should not be in the business of building or operating what is basically a marina for a small number of boaters. It’d be better off spending any available public money on improving schools and parks, providing affordable housing (including carrying out NYCHA repairs), repaving roads, and maintaining public security (I’d include MTA services as well, but it’s a state agency). If there is a lucrative opportunity to provide a marina on city-owned waterfront (and the waiting list suggests there is), NYC should set out guidelines, including on architecture, and put the project out for bids from private operators. Hopefully such a competition would raise some badly needed revenues for what really matters in our city, which is not maintaining boat parking for a tiny minority.
A vital and enjoyable river benefits everyone.
Completely concur. Waste of public dollars
Great point. If there is such a need for this then putting it out for bid for private development would surely be the better plan and this is what has happened along much of the west side waterfront from Chelsea Piers to Pier 17.
This is an out of place monstrosity that is completely unnecessary and a waste of public funds especially with the deteriorating condition of Riverside Park where paths are broken and playgrounds are falling into sink holes. This project should be scaled way back.
If I am recalling correctly, a portion of the funding is coming from the federal government — FEMA as part of super storm sandy rebuilding (crazy that it takes this long to get anything done) and that the money can’t be used for any other restoration in the park.
Yep. The north end of Riverside Park is in awful shape
It should be much smaller, and more in context with its surroundings.
Here’s my hot take: I couldn’t care less about this. The priorities over there should be finishing the 79th street roundabout and BRINGING BACK THE BOAT BASIN! It’s unconscionable that that place has been and will be shuttered for so long.
Especially since this project will benefit only the few folks well enough off to have boats — unless some are actually living on their boats.. Riverside Park needs so much more than this gift to the rich —
Many people lived in those boats – including myself. It wasn’t a billionaire’s playground, it was actually one of the more diverse communities on the UWS.
@uwser: I’m guessing you mean the Boat Basin Cafe that was under the rotunda? The marina IS the Boat Basin.
Agreed….The shuttered BOAT BASIN is a scandal..A gathering place for friends and families with no plans or hope for resurrection…xxR
Agreed!
Looks nice. build it and also repair all the broken paths, walls, staircases in Riverside Park. And why do these random groups have such say and power of projects to be built.
The architecture looks too modern and totally out of place. It doesn’t relate to the adjoining rotunda, under construction, that has arches and stones and an ancient historical look. I don’t see how the architect relates to the old transfer station near 70th st. either.
Also with all that glass, what are they doing about concerns with birds flying into it? There’s a great mix of a bird population along the river, and I can see how confusing it could be with all the reflections.
The boathouse surely was in need of updating, but this design is out of place. I wonder about other architectural proposals more in line w the immediate area? If there’s ever a 79th st boat basin cafe again, this will be an eyesore.
PLEASE PROTECT OUR BIRDS!!!!!
I’m reading all the comments and i think they are short sighted. why can’t the west side have a nice ferry stop like the east side. It would be a great benefit and maybe reduce traffic,
A ferry stop would be good for us locals to get around the beautiful river .. Lovely views throughout! Why is it considered feasible to build a dock for a few people to keep their fancy boats ? Should be more inclusive and of use for everyone!
Seriously, awfully ugly, ugly, ugly.
Seriously??? People complained that two stories was too high and blocked the view from the restaurant, so they made it one story and raised it on stilts to the same height???
This is a real eyesore and doesn’t belong in our beautiful park.
It was always proposed to be on stilts to this height if you go back and look at the old presentations.
Its not in the park!
Its over the river.
As I have said in the past, another example of Nero fiddling while Rome burns. Another outrageous expenditure of public funds. THE PARK IS IN A SHAMBLES. There are giant craters along Riverside Drive and the paving from about 97th street to 106th Street (or somewhere close) is in complete disrepair. Light poles and drains in the park aren’t repaired for years. You cannot take a jog without twisting your ankle or pouncing into a puddle. There are giant lakes after a rain that are breeding grounds for mosquitos (look today!). The paving over the train tracks is letting water seep into the Amtrak tunnel below (a million dollar repair not done today will become a $100 million + repair down the road). And the powers that be are spending north of $100 million of public funds to repair a monument and build a boat house that is a complete extravagance.
This has been dragging on much too long.
It’s another good resource for this great city.
Just get it done before the cost escalates even more.
This has to be the worst looking structure I have ever seen.
You are ruining the beautiful Hudson shoreline.
Almost as bad an idea as the congestion pricing.
It’s ugly and expensive but it’s necessary to help our struggling boat owners.
What is wrong with these NYC people, I have a design degree from Yale and this structure is over worked, self absorbed and butt ugly.
This boat basin used to be and should be an integrated structure that blends in with the park and the orginal beautiful stone foundations.
Why can’t something beautiful and appropriate be built here instead of this monstrosity?
Steven, we needed people like you over a year ago when this design was going back to the drawing board! If anyone thinks this is an improvement, they are being greatly misled. I’ve been screaming about its design since the beginning when I called it “looking like an Amazon warehouse” — which it did. Robert Moses had a vision for the boat basin with the beautiful stone work, the fountain, the entire integrated design leading to the water. This design ignores all that. I don’t understand how it has gained approval after approval. Future generations will suffer for this modern monstrosity which has no relationship to the rest of the park. I think people have lost their fight, unfortunately.
It doesn’t look like a warehouse. It looks more like oceanfront property. It isn’t in the style of Riverside Park.
And when funds are so sorely needed for the upkeep of the park, which serves more people, much more people, than the few boat owners.
It remains frustrating and disheartening that neighbors provide knee-jerk reactions without doing their homework and failing to support their positions with facts. We all choose to live in New York City, ultimately, because of what its maritime advantages meant for its growth and prosperity, both historically and today. Providing access to the river, recreationally, scientifically, and educationally, are significant benefits of what the 79th Street Boat Basin Marina provides.
As I read the comments to the December 17, 2024 article reporting the PDC meeting results, allow me to note: 1) Except for the tennis courts, the marina charges user fees to recreational and for certain educational offerings; no other publicly funded element of Riverside Park (dog run; parkour court; benches; bike paths; hiking trails; basketball court) charges fees – they are free. And guess, what, I don’t have a dog and question the need to have a dog run, but if my neighbors and their dogs derive benefit, than I’m happy to have my tax dollars aid their happiness and satisfy their practical needs.
2) In any city, state, and federal government, there will always be “more pressing needs” than the ones we all question. So when is a “good time” to fund anything but schools and roadways? And, having “non-essential” funding of parks, plazas, and art are what makes cities and towns livable and attractive, even Robert Moses knew that. It might behoove my City neighbors to read New York State’s 2021 “Comprehensive Waterfront Plan,” the vision for waterfront access. Within the context of that report, and in general, New York City should view the 79th Street Boat Basin Marina as a “crown jewel” much as we already do Central Park.
3) We cannot build anything “as if” it was still the 1930s. Even if Clinton Lloyd, Gilmore Clarke, and Robert Moses “rose from the dead” as the architects and engineers, again, of the 79th Street Boat Basin, considering today’s standards, requirements, and realities, they would not and could not build “as they did” in 1934. The current design is thus fitting, proper, and appropriate. Notable – Go look at Central Park’s Delacorte Theatre renovation and note that it “won’t be the same” as if it was 1962.
When the 79th Street Boat Basin Marina returns, I invite the naysayers and myopic thinkers to note that most of the marina users are their “non-elite” neighbors, plus schoolchildren, and scientists. I invite them to launch a kayak or learn to sail, and derive the life benefits that the rest of us realize, when eyes are wide open, and we’re not looking just in the mirror.
Finally someone with some sense! Thank you David.
But why does it have to be so ugly and clash so harshly with the surroundings?
Not everyone thinks it’s so ugly….it’s mostly those who don’t want anything built that provides services to boat owners. They want just rowboats, canoes, and kayaks to ply the Hudson.
I actually like the contrast between newer and older structures. It’s called moving forward.
The rich and poor alike will be free to park their boats at the new marina!
Ok but why does the 3D rendering have a zombie monster in that kayak hahaha
lol
Why not something a bit more….nautical?
What a waste of time and money on something so hideous and out of place with the surroundings!
I’m OK with it. We’ll look right at it from our living room window, so call me not-easy-please. A vast improvement over the earlier versions. Agree with the comments about finishing the 79th St round about. wtf is going on? Oh, I wish I had taken a time lapse. It’s unbelievable.
Does anyone else find it a bit ridiculous that this project is taking 5 to 7 years (if we’re lucky.)
There has to be a better way to move things like this along.
Looks good!
Ferry Slip! Ferry Slip! We UWSiders want a Ferry Slip! PS The building looks like the bathrooms they have on the beach in Brighton Beach and Coney Island! UGLY!!!!!
So excited for this!! I can’t wait to start sailing lessons <3
Reminds me of the Far Rockaway outbuildings
Similar flood zone requirements, and steel and concrete are the right material for this environment.
Clarifying for those referencing the 79th Street roundabout, rotunda, terrace and parking garage, that project is under the jurisdiction of the NYC Dept of Transportation; the 79th Street Boat Basin Marina is under the jurisdiction of the NYC Parks Dept.
Yay for the DOT — look at what other “fine work” they are wreaking all over the city.
too small and too stupid looking. That’s all we can do nyc?
It looks like cheap construction and it will be an eyesore right of the bat, never mind about when it ages. It was designed without any consideration to its location and is not considerate of birds.
It’ll probably blow away in the first good wind.
I agree that it should be a private venture and not use taxpayers money at all. Let’s look instead at parks maintenance, over growth control and bathrooms.
In performing your due-diligence, prior to commenting, I suppose you missed the publicized facts: 1)i that the design features bird-friendly glazing; 2) The site is located (a) away from Rotunda Building, and (b) outside of 79th Street viewshed
As someone who worked on public/private projects in NYC, I can tell you that you wouldn’t want this to be designed and built privately. I’m not this design is a great solution for the site, but think about it: Do you want the alternative–i.e., outsourcing a design to a private interest in this location–Riverside Park, Hudson River, rich in history and environmental resources (land and water).
Such projects rarely result in good design. The projects only “consider” community input and priorities; in reality, they tend to ignore them or pay lip service and then sacrifice them when the projects go over budget. And the City either has to go along or risk having nothing.
Why has this project taken so long? The good Rag itself reported that the design changes for the new boat basin “came after seven visits by the city Parks Department’s design team to the Parks and Environment Committee, where it presented changes to the design for the marina’s new dock house. (See “79th Street Boat Basin Redesign Clears UWS Community Board Hurdle,” June 19, 2024).
Sure, it’s good to have community input and local oversight, but then let’s understand that that process takes time, usually more than we think.
That is a lot lot better than the first design.
Fugly
Ugly during the day and a jack o lantern at night. My head spins that this is the best NYC can do.
I kind of like it more now that I see your point about the Jack o Lantern.
I think it looks nice! And far better than what is currently there. I hope they offer sailing lessons to the public, I’d love access to the water and educational opportunities for the public.
This APPROVED design is far, far better than all of the previous designs. It has to be raised due to environmental requirements, and this version is less blockhouse-like.
I (and many others) would much prefer the marina be closed permanently. No one needs to live on a boat in the Hudson (off public land, at public slips), and we don’t want to pay for a structure to provide toilets and showers for them (yes, I know it will also be accessible to the public, but the Rotunda is right there!)
But apparently, that argument is water under the bridge (marina?), and we’re going to get a boathouse. So I hope these last two organizations get shot down so it can be built already.
I agree that the marina should not cater to liveaboards, especially those who use their unseaworthy vessels as nothing more than floating apartments. But there’s a lot of space between that and closing the marina entirely. I see value in providing a way for New Yorkers who don’t happen to be billionaires to be able to keep a boat within the city limits.
Please just build it. Bring back the boats. The river used to be so lively and cheerful to look at, with sailboats gliding by and kids taking lessons in their Sunfishes. and now it’s just some water and New Jersey and the occasional barge going by. The marina was absolutely value added to our neighborhood, both aesthetically and culturally, and it’s been gone for years now because of quibbling over the design of a building nobody will even notice. And by the way the first design was fine and probably better than this one but I don’t care at this point. I just want my boats back.
Finally a path forward! And an amenity that shall improve the park. Even naysayers know the current decrepit shack and docks are a problem. Why must we wait for 2026-27 to start? Must we live with 79th St construction forever? Start the “foundation” posts now that the footprint is known. Fix the docks. Set up a temporary office across the path in the garage (when construction above permits).
Ferry: As others ask, why isn’t this discussed. An UWS stop at the pier north of the basin, or at the 69th St pier would be very welcome. It may not be a boat basin project, but we’d like to know if on any agenda.
It’s fine, people need to quit whining about EVERYTHING.
I am mourning the loss of the Boat Basin Cafe. And I miss local free kayaking. Also, I think the pavements in the Park are sorely in need of fixing. The design isn’t bad. Let’s get moving. Or just forget the stupid building and let a private concern build it. And the Cafe.
The cost of rebuilding the marina or a cafe inside a complicated historical structure like the Rotunda would never have the return on investment needed to attract a private firm. These things are loss leaders the city creates in order to provide experiences in the parks. Its not like plopping a shake shack in madison square park, where you just put a box up and connect to nearby utilities. You have serious infrastructure work that just wouldn’t pay for itself without some sort of massive increase in scale and user fees. Maybe if you built a hotel or casino on top of the rotunda, you could get someone to offer those services… Or if the marina was reserved for billion dollar mega yachts.
Can’t they build this further down on top of the two separated public toilets? It could be as high as they want without blocking the view of the promenade.
This sounds great I can’t wait to see the boat basin back
I respect the aesthetic disagreements here, though I applaud the architect for thoughtfully incorporating community feedback to squeeze the structure just above the minimum code height, yet just below Riverside Drive’s tree line, and also moving it south, away from the Cafe’s sunset views.
I also agree that due to COVID, an alphabet soup of agency regulations, and lots of community feedback, this project has been delayed too long.
I do take issue with the criticism that this marina will only serve the “few elite” boat owners. It’s actually the lack of municipal marinas in our city that make boating seem elitist, unlike other cities in which middle-income citizens can launch boats from public ramps and tie up at public docks. A decent used boat and a decent used car are roughly equivalent in cost, so boating isn’t inherently more luxurious than driving, yet cars benefit from public subsidies like roads and street parking—privileges boats don’t share. Manhattan doesn’t have a single centrally-located municipal marina. Well, we did—it was the 79th St. Boat Basin.
I’ve spent a lot of time at the Boat Basin, and sure, on occasion some “elites” passed through, but mostly I saw folks in pretty average boats that cost less than some bikes I’ve seen in Central Park. It served as a gateway to the river for everyone—paddlers, sailors, environmental not-for profits, tourists and school groups, many of whom didn’t own boats, but got value from affordable access to the water. That access transforms us from passive observers of the river to experiential partners in its health and welfare.
Ironically, not completing this project for fear of “subsidizing the elites” cedes the river over to them entirely, while disadvantaging hundreds of school groups, charities, kayakers, adventurous circumnavigating sailors, and maybe you one day, if you ever wanted to rent a boat for a little nautical break from the city. Without access to the water, we’re left with a beautiful view, yes, but one we can only look at, not enter. When we reopen the Boat Basin, we remind ourselves that the river belongs all of us, and the more people who have access to it, the more protected, preserved, and valuable it will be to us all.
I’m for this. I would like to see more public access rather than locked gates – and I agree with the bird concern, but that is easily remedied. Let’s make this happen!
A reminder that Riverside Park (including Riverside Park South) runs from 59th Street to 158th Street (to 181st if you include the portion of Fort Washington Park under the care of the Riverside Park Conservancy). The 79th Street Boat Basin Marina dock house design IS “in character” with the park when you consider the omnipresent George Washinton Bridge, and its distinguishable features of its criss-crossed bracing; the criss-crossed bracing of the 69th Street Transfer Bridge; as well as Thomas Balsley & Associates’ designs in Riverside Park South, which feature the visual benchmarks of the former railyard’s industrial past. The triangular elements of the dock house blend in with images of historic and present day sails of schooners and sloops in the same fashion as Frank Gehry’s design of the IAC headquarters, at West 18th Street and the Westside Highway. Not everything in Riverside Park is built of cut stone (see Riverbank State Park).
I salute the work of the design firm which had to “mash-up” a marina’s functionality; aesthetics; public input; as well as the myriad regulatory requirements (NYC building codes; the United States Coast Guard; FEMA; NY/NJ Harbor Operations; FDNY; NYPD; climate change resiliency; and highest standards of environmental, social and cultural sustainability; et. al.). Which of us would volunteer to tip-toe through that matrix?
The approved design is compliant with the law and has been a compromise of that which is “discretionary.” And this effort, in part, is what’s “taking so long.” We should all be comforted by the fact that this process existed, was painstakingly undertaken by the powers that be, and that voices were heard and then reflected, as best as they could have been in light of all other voices, all under the umbrella of regulatory requirements. All-in-all, invoking a famous New York curmudgeon, Larry David, “Pretty, Pretty Good.”
Yes, this is a waste of tax payer money and here is why:
1. The inside scoop in the local sailing community including people who formerly lived at the marina is that the project organizers did not take into account in the redesign the existing problems with the marina and how it did not work well for boaters.
2. Then layer in the Parks Department who loves parks but hates the public and is horrible to other agencies wanting to provide public access to the water.
3. Then add the crap cherry on top of the hiring of the wrong architect for this job. They should have hired a preservation architecture firm like Beyer Blinder Belle who understands how to do projects like this. ARO is so in love with their design they can’t see the marina for the pilings. They seem to have no notion that no one cares about some abstract reference to pilings when they are unable to see the river because of the building in the way.
4. When this project, and all projects, get funding and then are designed, by the time the project is ready for construction the needs have changed. In this case, the Park needs to be addressing the HUGE safety concerns from bike path misuse and crowding since the pandemic. Parks and the Conservancy is a lawsuit waiting to happen.
5. BTW: The night lighting will be completely disruptive to wildlife. The design needs to incorporate Dark Sky/BUG type lighting to project the local ecology, including hawks who hunt in the park.
Why spend money on something that actually matters when you can build a hideous out of place boathouse that pisses everyone off?