WEST SIDE RAILYARDS / HUDSON YARDS REZONING

What is the Hudson Yards Plan?

In 2003, the Bloomberg Administration began advancing a proposal to redevelop the southern portion of Hell's Kitchen and the northern portion of Chelsea. The plan covers an area that runs from 28th to 43rd Street, bounded partially by 8th Avenue and partially by 7th Avenue (see maps available at left). The name "Hudson Yards" is used to refer to the entire area, but also refers specifically to the MTA rail yards located on the Hudson River, between 30th and 34th Streets. The portion between the river and 11th Avenue is known as the Western Rail Yards, and the portion between 11th Avenue and 10th Avenue is known as the Eastern Rail Yards.

The 'Hudson Yards' area includes portions of the Garment Center, the Javits Convention Center, Madison Square Garden, the Port Authority Bus Terminal, the Farley Post Office and the Lincoln Tunnel. It also includes residential areas with a variety of housing types - walk-up apartments, tenements, converted lofts and high-rise apartment buildings. Together, these buildings contain approximately 12,000 housing units and 21,000 residents.

The City's redevelopment plan for the Hudson Yards area calls for an expansion of the Javits Convention Center, an extension of the No. 7 subway line, 40 million square feet of new office and residential space, and 20 acres of new open space. The plan originally called for a football stadium for the Jets to be built over the Western Rail Yards, but that portion of the plan was defeated by massive community opposition. Much of the rest of the plan, though in an altered version, is guiding today's development. The City Council pased the Hudson Yards rezoning in January, 2005 and then amended the rezoning through a Follow-Up Corrective Action about a year later.

The City of New York recently reached an agreement with the MTA regarding sale of the Hudson Yards and the extension of the No. 7 line. The agreement allows the development to go through ULURP which is a step toward allowing all concerned communities to have a say in the process. Discussions are currently underway regarding what will be built over the rail yards, given the defeat of the stadium proposal.

Development over the rail yards will require the construction of platforms, so that trains can continue to operate beneath the new buildings. The City and State have committed to providing public financing for the extension of the subway line, the expansion of the convention center, and the construction of these platforms. It is hoped that the new development spurred by the recent rezoning, as well as development directly above the yards, will pay for these infrastructure improvements. Public financing will also be used for:

• condemnation of property and construction of 'Hudson Boulevard' -- a new street and open space system running from 33rd to 42nd street, located midway between 10th and 11th Avenues (including a below-grade, 950-space parking garage at 34th street); and
• condemnation and construction of a rooftop park on top of a new block-long Department of Sanitation facility to be constructed between 29th and 30th streets west of 11th Avenue.
  

Visit the Department of City Planing Web site for more info on Hudson Yards.

Recent Developments and Community Involvement

Community Board 4 is part of the Hudson Yards Community Advisory Committee, which advises the Hudson Yards Development Corporation regarding the financing, planning, design, and construction of the Hudson Yards redevelopment area from a neighborhood perspective. The Advisory Committee meets before all meetings of the Development Corporation Board of Directors to hear and comment on presentations of the matters to be presented to the Development Corporation Board of Directors.

On May 8, 2007 Manhattan Community Board 4 and the Hudson Yards Development Corporation jointly sponsored a public forum regarding the design guidelines for developmenr over the railyards. The MTA and HYDC presented the guidelines to a capacity crowd at Hartley House (413 West 46th Street). We hope to receive materials from the presentation that we will be able to post. The Advisory Committee submitted this response to the presentation.

On January 25, 2007, the Hudson Yards Development Corporation gave a presentation to the Advisory Committee regarding the ongoing planning for development of the Eastern and Western Railyards. The Advisory Committee prepared this response to the presentation.

On November 15, 2006, Manhattan Community Board No. 4 co-sponsored with the Hudson Yards Community Advisory Committee a Community Forum on the Future of the West Side Rail Yards. The forum discussed the present situation with the rail yards including timelines and present objectives.

In addition, the forum revisited the history of plans for the site: the Caemmerer Plan from 1989, the former Manhattan Borough President's Office plan - A Vision for the West Side Rail Yard (2001), the Hell's Kitchen Neighborhood Plan, endorsed by CB4 in December 2003, the Steve L. Newman Real Estate plan from October 2004, the plan by Madison Square Garden, and the Western Rail Yard Project Plan from February 2006.

As the planning for the rail yards continue we will keep you informed.

Archives

Looking for documents from 2004 and 2005 related to CB4's participation in the Hudson Yards rezoning and the fight against the Jets stadium? Visit our Hudson Yards Archives page.