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clipped from the Times web page:
The New York Times February 13, 1997
The Ebbing Hudson River Park
The edge of Manhattan along the Hudson River may be one of the most precious strips of land in the nation. Ever since the Manhattan waterfront became moribund, New Yorkers have dreamed about its potential for open parkland and recreational use. But that promise is slipping away.
The riverside between Battery Park and 59th Street is owned by the state and the city. For years it has contained a depressing mixture of ruined piers and unlovely facilities like a cement plant and a parking lot for sanitation trucks. The city and state agreed long ago that when a new highway was built along the West Side, the waterfront would be recaptured for a mixture of open space and ball fields. The new park would be maintained with income from a modest amount of recreation-based business development.
Now the road is being built, but the park is floating in a vacuum. Gov. George Pataki says he supports the project, but he has neither publicly endorsed the park plan nor included any money for it in his budget. The Governor says there will be time for that once an environmental impact statement is completed.
A $200 million project that is moving forward bureaucratically but without strong political backing is a project in trouble. Pieces of the intended park have already been nibbled off for development. The city recently took over several piers from the Port Authority, which had been running a money-losing passenger ship terminal. It intends to lease part of the space for a new film studio. The Chelsea Piers recreational facility wants to use a slice of the intended parkland for a traffic rotary. Restaurants are being given temporary leases along the water in lower Manhattan.
Unlike the state, New York City has made a clear economic commitment to the park, including its share of the construction cost in its long-term budget. But in the absence of strong state leadership, it has not been acting as though it believes the project will really happen.
The initiative should come from Mr. Pataki. Skeptics have a right to be dubious about his commitment since he has never publicly endorsed the park plan. A press conference about the waterfront would take care of that
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