Long Island City’s Answer to the High Line Is Now Open
By Billy Gray August 28, 2013 7:45 am
reprintsA waterfront park that includes repurposed rail tracks is open in Long Island City, sprucing up the 30-acre middle-income housing development underway in the Hunter’s Point South area.
The five-acre park includes basketball courts, a children’s playground, an expansive dog run and an athletic oval. And, of course, panoramic views of Midtown Manhattan reinforce one of the post-industrial neighborhood’s greatest assets.
In March, the Economic Development Corporation, Phipps Houses, Related Companies and Monadnock Construction broke ground on the project’s residential construction. Hunter Point South will consist of up to 5,000 housing units, 60 percent of which will cater to middle-income families. Phase one, which is due to wrap up next year, consists of two mixed-use buildings containing 900 housing units and 20,000 square feet of new retail space. It will also bring a 1,100-seat school.
The project is part of Mayor Bloomberg‘s $7.5 billion New Housing Marketplace Plan, which aims to build 165,000 affordable units over the next decade. The Hunters Point South site was previously eyed for a major overhaul during Mayor Bloomberg and New York’s failed Olympic bid.
