Anne Frederick of Hester Street Collaborative was one of several speakers at a community day May 4, 2013 at Pier 42.
It will be years before the dream of building a large new park at Pier 42, near Gouverneur Street, is realized. But this past weekend, community activists, non-profit organizations and local politicians took an important symbolic step toward claiming the parcel along the East River for public use. A community day was held Saturday on Pier 42, the kickoff to a summer-long effort to engage residents in the future of the pier.
A year-and-a-half ago, the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. allocated $16 million for the first phase of the project. A design firm, Mathews Nielsen, will present preliminary master plans to Community Board 3 later this week, following a series of community vision sessions during the past several months. On Saturday, Sen. Squadron, who helped secure the funding along with U.S. Sen. Chuck Schumer, and representatives from non-profit organizations, who have led a long campaign for public access on the waterfront, celebrated the partial opening on Pier 42.