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Update On The 2013 Grand Prix
Click on the map above for a larger version.
The northernmost point of the Grand Prix course is just one block south of Tower Two of the Galaxy. Expect dramatic views from southern windows in Tower One and Tower Two.
The southernmost point is up the overpass about 300 yards south of the Port Imperial ferry terminal and trolley station.
The start and finish line will be on the straight hard by the ferry terminal at Port Imperial. We guess grandstands will be built on all the open ground there though one big selling point of the track is for TV to show west-side Manhattan in the background.
The construction going on at Port Imperial now is related. It is for parking and facilities and eventually for retail stores. We are not seeing any more mention of the Wyndham Hotel which was approved for right there.
Here is a little more on the planned course from the Wikipedia. We reckon this is potentially a huge value-booster for the Galaxy and this part of the Gold Coast.
We will keep this in update from now on.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #7
Answer? Northern Massachusetts.
(1) In the north-west, Shelburne Falls and Turners Falls (there’s no tourism internet page for Turners Falls, but the hydro and lock system is very impressive) and Gardner.
(2) In the north-east, Gloucester. The home port of the fishing boat that was swallowed up in A Perfect Storm. It is an hour or so north-east of Boston.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #6
Answer? .....The New Jersey Botanical Garden At Skylands Manor Very high up. Spectacularly situated on a hilltop, in fact. Very diverse trees and flowers. Huge sweeping lawns. And a nice drive from each of several directions.
The New Jersey Botanical Garden at Skylands encompasses the heartland of an estate assembled from pioneer farmsteads in the 1890s. In 1922, Clarence McKenzie Lewis, an investment banker and a trustee of the New York Botanical Garden, purchased the property and built the existing Tudor-style manor house. He also transformed Skylands into a botanical showplace. Mr. Lewis engaged prominent landscape architects to design the grounds and for thirty years collected plants from all over the world to show in his gardens. In 1966, the State of New Jersey purchased the 1,117 acres of Skylands, the state’s first acquisition under the Green Acres preservation program. In March 1984, Governor Thomas Kean designated the central 96 acres surrounding the manor house as the State’s official botanical garden. Skylands appears on both the State and National Registers of Historic Places. Skylands’ gardens are open from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. every day. Entrance to the gardens is free. On weekends from Memorial Day through Labor Day, there is a modest parking charge. To preserve and protect the gardens, we ask that visitors refrain from playing ball or Frisbee games, picnicking and bringing pets onto the grounds.
Driving Directions: This is the easy route: via the New York Thruway (I-87/287) & Route 17 Take the New York Thruway or NJ Route 17 to Exit 15-A on the Thruway. Take NY Route 17 North to Route 72 West, which becomes Sloatsburg Road in New Jersey. Take Sloatsburg Road past Ringwood Manor. Make a left onto Morris Road. The NJBG is 1.5 miles up Morris Road at the top of the hill. This is the more complicated and more interesting route via the Skyline Drive Take Route 4 through Paramus to the I-287 and head south. At Exit 57, follow the signs to Skyline Drive. Drive over the mountain (approximately five miles). Turn right at the bottom of Skyline Drive on #511. Take second right onto Sloatsburg Road. You will pass the Hewitt School and Carletondale Road. Make a right on Morris Road. The NJBG is 1.5 miles up on Morris Road, at the top of the hill.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #5
Answer? As in the comments below: Mount Mansfield. At 4,393 feet, it is the highest mountain in Vermont.
By the way, a further clue: the ski-lift ceases to operate for several months halfway through leaf-peeper season. Just don’t be caught on the summit when that event happens.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #4
Answer? Woods Hole. South-east end of Cape Cod in Massachusetts. Home to what is probably the largest and best-funded marine institute in the world. The one that located the Titanic. It has a great small museum and some nice places for seafood. And it is very pretty to walk. The last three shots gave it away, right? One is of the Nantucket ferry and two are on the Cape Cod shipping canal. Woods Hole is in itself not a destination for more than a few hours, perhaps, but there is all of Cape Cod itself to the east, and New Plymouth to the north, and Rhode Island and especially Newport to the west.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #3
Answer? Kykuit Manor. The 20th-century Rockefeller mansion and estate high on a hill near Tarrytown in the Hudson valley.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #2 (B)
Posted by The GR Team on 10/14/11 at 03:10 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 3 N-E Jersey Devel, Recreation, 5 New York Devel, The Bronx
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 3 N-E Jersey Devel, Recreation, 5 New York Devel, The Bronx
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #2 (A)
Answer? If you really don’t have it, the answer is at the foot of the second post in a day or two with some more shots.
Posted by The GR Team on 10/14/11 at 02:59 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 3 N-E Jersey Devel, Recreation, 5 New York Devel, The Bronx
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 3 N-E Jersey Devel, Recreation, 5 New York Devel, The Bronx
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #1
Answer? Lake Tear-of-the-Clouds. A small lake high in the Adirondacks. The source of our own River Hudson.
And if you want to zig-zag from down here to up there, you are gonna have to make it through or across the 36 tunnels and bridges listed below. Happy zig-zagging…...
List of the Hudson’s 36 tunnels and bridges
Click “More” below for the full list.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #27
[click for larger images]
Right. Eastern Canada’s remarkable Bay of Fundy again.
Above: The bay when the enormous tide has delivered fourteen cubic kilometers of water in six hours. The bay is so large that the far shoreline is not always in sight.
Below: The interesting and slightly scary sandscapes, teeming with life and fossils, exposed for a couple of hours when the tide is fully out again.
Below: High cliffs line most of the shoreline
NOT considered to be a smart idea to be caught below one of these when the tide comes in. Walkers and horseback riders keep a close eye on the clock.
Below: Cape Split, half-blocking the mouth of Minas Basin in the north-east
The fastest, most dangerous tidal rips are here, and they put out an eerie roar. Peak current speed is 8 miles an hour.
Nearby to the east are the greatest tide rises and falls ever measured, the 50-feet-plus ones.
Below: Ships come and go in a real hurry
These two below are the high-speed Cat Ferry from western Maine, arriving at the south-eastern shore, and an ore-carrier in Minas Basin, loading 20,000 tons of gypsum in three hours.
Below: Because of the huge tides, rather different from Maine
But there are whales and lighthouses and shore settlements and national parks with a wild beauty quite their own.
There is really a lot to do. Things are cheap for us, because the Canadian dollar is low The B&Bs are just great. And it is all very uncrowded…
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #26
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Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #25
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Right. Tennessee’s and North Carolina’s Great Smokey Mountains
And the great mountain forests that surround them. At this point, your photographer still feels tethered to Mother Earth….
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #24
Right. Eastern Canada’s Bay of Fundy.
Known for its awesome 50-plus-feet tide-rises. Or tide-falls. See the before-and-after shots below.
There are dramatic descriptions here and here.
Fourteen billion tons. Twice daily. Eastern Canada actually bends a little, under that weight.
Gripping to see this in motion. There’s a map at the bottom here. A long day’s drive north-east.
Now you see it…
And now you don’t
Now you see it…
And now you don’t
Now you see it…
And now you don’t
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #23
Okay, we’ll concede they’re horses. But what and where?
[click for larger images]
Right. The famous wild horses on Assateague Island.
Assateague is on the Atlantic coast, four or five hours drive south of the Galaxy, half in Maryland and half in Virginia.
Myth has it the horses survived a 16th century shipwreck.
There are two herds of these horses. The Maryland herd runs free all year and is left alone by the park authorities.
The Virginia herd is rounded up for health checks (this is a part of the Virginia herd at Chincoteague, a colorful town if ever there was one) a couple of times a year.
In July some of these horses - much sought after for their sweet disposition - will be auctiond off to stop over-population and over-grazing.
Good links here, here, here, here, and here.
Our previous Mystery Destinations here. Scroll down.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #22
Do you know what and where these are? We know you do. For those others, the answers are at bottom…
[click for larger images]
Right. Ancient quilts on temporary display at Winturthur
Maybe a good one for the Galaxy quilters. If they have not been already. Late in the day, quilters from all over really flood the show.
There are in fact two displays of these 200-year-old quilts. This is the one in the galleries (two more shots below) and the other is on the fourth or fifth floor of the mansion.
General description of Wintherthur and directions for getting there the same as last for week’s post (scroll down).
The quilt show is described here. In late April and May the gardens are fantastic, too.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #21
Do you know what and where these are? We know you do. For those others, the answers are at bottom…
[click for larger images]
Right! The famous Campbell’s Soup Tureen Collection
Permanently on display at Henry Du Pont’s Winterthur Mansion.
There are a dozen or so more shots below.
About Winterthur
Winterthur is perhaps the greatest destination in the US for floor after floor of early American furniture, furnishings, and whole rooms.
Spec-tac-ular. A major destination for anyone interested in US history or home decorating. And the shop, bookstore and cafeteria are all excellent.
In the next four weeks, the large gardens will start to peak in their spring colors. NO WAY you can see everything there in one day.
About getting there
Just over two hours drive from the Galaxy.
Down the Turnpike to the southern end. Across the Delaware Bridge and then NORTH on the I-95 toward Wilmington and Philly.
At the Route 52 exit in Wilmington, exit, and head north-west up Route 52 for around 10 minutes. Winterthur is on the right after several large estates.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #20
Fall colors in the great scenic areas of…
Right. In the great scenic canyonlands of southern Utah.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #19
Answer? Dupont’s Longwood. North-east of Wilmington in Delaware. Yes, even in winter. Maybe especially in winter! Dupont loved fountains in the same way that Hearst loved swimming-pools, to recall our remark about Hearst last December. The pump-house at Longwood is a real monster. And Dupont also loved his really huge conservatory. This in his day was a very successful money-making operation, with its winter fruit, vegetables and flowers. The largest of the fountain shows, with the lights and the music, only happen in the summer. But you can see at least two fountains playing through the winter. Also in winter you can see the winter lighting effects (some shots below). And of course the conservatory (also shots below) which in part has just emerged from an extensive makeover. Longwood is west of Philadelphia and north-west of Wilmington. Directions are here. You should make it there in just over 90 minutes, faster down the NJ Turnpike, but more interesting via Philly. Again, all year round, Longwood is worth the trip.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #18
Answer: Shots taken in March (the height of the wild-flower season) at Dea… Dea… Dea… [croaks]
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #17
Answer? Yes, still more of those great fishing ports of western Maine. From Portland to Rockland.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #16
Answer? Of course. The Grand Canyon. These shots are from the southern (Arizona) rim. This is one phenomenon on Earth that is reliably larger than ANYONE ever expects. Very toe-tingling.
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #15
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #14
Seems that the automobile has not yet reached…..
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #13
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #12
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #11
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #10
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #9
Tourism Watch: Mystery Destination #8
Large Dangerous Project To Galaxy’s North Provisionally Approved By North Bergen
Click on the three image below for the three reports
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Posted by Peter Quennell on 03/30/11 at 12:54 AM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 2 Gold Coast Towns, North Bergen
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 2 Gold Coast Towns, North Bergen
NJ Development Watch: The Case Against The Spoleti Project - A Quick And Handy Guide
[Above: Spoleti’s design at the rear, and Hovnanian’s Views II at the front; the sites zoned for construction are similar in size.]
First posted here in February 2007 and essentially still up to date.
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North Bergen’s zoning masterplan and the pattern of all the other North Bergen riverfront developments point to a maximum on the site north of the Galaxy of around 30 apartments.
The Mirabelle and Hovnanian’s Views II just across River Road are both 24 units, on similar-sized sites.
Spoleti is seeking approval for a design vastly larger than this. In fact, he wants to squeeze NEARLY SIX TIMES that mass into his small space: 140 units, with around 300 car spaces.
That is almost as big a mass as Hovnanian’s entire Views I, which sits on a site across River Road eligible for a footprint maybe five times the size.
The value hit to the Galaxy, in our estimation, could be in the $20 million to $50 million range. All the Galaxy apartments you can see above would be impacted directly.
- Many of those at right would lose their views, and the others would look down onto a jumbo structure instead of the present green space.
- All our other apartments would face new dangers, new environmental problems, new traffic problems, and probably higher insurance costs.
And if THIS happens Tower III could be toast. Quite literally.
[Below: Most apartments at right would lose their views, and the others seen here would look down onto the jumbo structure.]
Working in our favor and against the developer is this: the Spoleti site may be THE WORST site for heavy residential use on the entire Gold Coast.
It is one of only three developments on the west side of River Road, and the other two have distinct advantages.
The Mirabelle has unobstructed views from all its 24 units, and One Hudson Park has the feng-shui design and the shopping, restaurants and theaters right across the street.
So what does the Spoleti site have?
- It has a large, noisy and sometimes stinky sewage plant for a very near neighbor, which by Federal requirement must soon become nearly twice as large. It has almost no good, unobstructed views. It is almost permanently in the dark shadow of the Galaxy. It is hard up against a terrible traffic situation along a highly congested part of River Road, which also frequently floods.
- And it comes with a whole huge raft-full of dangers. Manhattan’s main 36-inch gas pipeline traverses the site. Toxic waste is down there in the soil, and could readily explode into the air and so into the Galaxy. A major sewage line traverses the site. Excavation into the palisades slope could damage or destroy the Summit House parking building, undermine Ferry Road, and affect even the Galaxy parking building. Noise and dust and darkness and the risk of a crane collapsing into the Galaxy would prevail throughout the 24-month construction phase.
What successful developers call a true nightmare. One remarked to us that this looks like a case of tin-ear and some REALLY bad instincts.
In the past 10 months, we’ve posted over 30 substantive probes of what we think is a dangerous, damaging, and very ugly design; and another dozen or so heads-up on the approval process and the developer.
Here is a quick and handy guide to all of our design posts. We hope you find it inspirational, in the fight that starts tonight.
1. The proposed size, especially the height, depth and bulk, vastly exceeds the masterplan
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Vastly Overstuffed “New” Proposal
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti’s Size Problems
- Development Watch: Is This Spoleti Project Messianic, Or What?!!
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Fantasy Is 180 Degrees Contrary To North Bergen Planning
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Lobby, Pool, And Units, Units, Units, Units…
- Development Watch: More On Spoleti Trying To Squeeze An Elephant Into A Shoebox
2. The design appears dangerous or overly obtrusive in a large number of respects
- Fire Experiences - A Raw But Vital Lesson Drawn
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Gas-Pipeline Nightmare
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Gas-Pipeline Nightmare (2)
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Gas-Pipeline Nightmare (3)
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Gas-Pipeline Nightmare (4)
- Development Watch: A Way to Block the Spoleti Project [Toxic Waste]
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Toxic Waste Nightmare
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti’s Sewerage-Plant Nightmares
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti Zaps The Galaxy Sewer Line!!
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Traffic Nightmare
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Parking Nightmare
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Flooding Nightmare
3. The design will hurt not only the Galaxy; it will hurt many other parties too
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Contemptuous Scheme - Who Gets Hurt
- Development Watch: The Growing Bandwagon Against Spoleti’s Scheme
4. The proposal in fact seems to hurt the interests of North Bergen’s own residents
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti - Swimming Against The Developers’ Tide
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Rateables-Fallacy Nightmare
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti Wrecks North Bergen?!
- Development Watch: Furious Zoning Battle Is Raging Just North Of Us
- Development Watch: Is The Spoleti Team Playing Tricks On North Bergen?
5. The design is likely to be a real dog on a slow and saturated market
These negatives are in addition to the negative sales-points of living (1) in almost permanent shadow, (2) next to repeated traffic snarl-ups, (3) over toxic waste, (4) next to a gas pipeline, and (5) hard up against a large (and getting-larger) sewage plant
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti’s Fantasy - Problem-Ridden East View
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti’s Fantasy - Problem-Ridden North View
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti’s Fantasy - Problem-Ridden West View
- Development Watch: Carmelo Spoleti’s Fantasy - Problem-Ridden South View
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Lack-Of-Premium-Views Nightmare
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Views Nightmare (North)
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Views Nightmare (West)
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Views Nightmare (South)
- Development Watch: Spoleti’s Views Nightmare (East)
- Development Watch: Are The Centex And Spoleti Projects About To Drop Dead?
- Development Watch: Centex’s And Spoleti’s Economic Nightmare
Posted by Peter Quennell on 02/02/11 at 01:43 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 2 Gold Coast Towns, North Bergen
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 2 Gold Coast Towns, North Bergen
Formula One Racing In 2013 Just One Mile South Of The Galaxy?
Now THIS looks good for local property values. Possible hundreds of millions in investment and spending. Read the full story here on NJCom. Excerpts below.
The mayors of Weehawken and West New York have entered into discussions with a group of investors about the possibility of Formula One racing in the North Hudson communities as early as 2013.
Both Weehawken Mayor Richard Turner and West New York Mayor Dr. Felix Roque confirmed today that they had met with the motor racing investors, headed by former cable network TV head Leo Hindery Jr., about the possibility of hosting an annual Formula One race.
The race is expected to make use of Boulevard East and River Road on the waterfront with a TV view of Manhattan in the background…..
Turner said an agreement could mean millions of dollars for both municipalities but that they are still early in talks.
“We want to make sure this will also be enjoyable for the residents and we have more negotiations to complete,” Turner said.
Both mayors said that besides the monetary remuneration for the two North Hudson communities, the economic benefits for the area would be big—also in the millions of dollars….
“It is already clear that the economic impact on our towns and local businesses from this Formula One race could be dramatic, in the order of several hundred million dollars to the region annually. In these uncertain economic times when every direct and indirect revenue source is vital, our own Formula One race could be a very positive boost to our citizens. This said, we need to ensure that the financial benefits from the privilege of having these races in our towns are equitably shared and that no tax dollars are used.
“The investor group has already told us that our towns would be substantially compensated annually. If this advances, we will make every effort to ensure that these events will be highly enjoyable for the people of our towns.”
Previous Flooding: First Posted 2 February 2008
Flooding of the Hackensack and Passaic Rivers
Previous Flooding: First Posted 16 April 2007
Previous Flooding: First Posted 16 April 2007
Previous Flooding: First Posted 3 October 2006
Past Flooding: First Posted 3 February 2006
Check out the unexpected ending to this expensive project captured live over six months for you.
1. August 2005: The flooded carpark when we first took note of cars floating around over there.
2. October 2005: A large expensive project is started to raise the carpark by several feet.
3. November 2005: What seems to be perhaps the worst-ever flooding of the Hudson surrounds.
4. January 2006: The first phase of the project, the south end, is completed and the cars return.
5. February 2006: The river is baaack! The river is baaack! And the engineers are, er, just thrilled.
City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #5: North Of The Ocean Terminals
[click for larger images]
This shot above is from the Port Imperial ferry terminal in Weehawken.
Clinton Cove is the riverside area with its own small park and some recreational piers between Pier 99 and Pier 94.
- Pier 99 (large white structure at left) is the Sanitation Department pier, the one that is brightly lit up at night.
- Pier 94 is the low white structure at extreme right and it is used as an exhibition space alternative to the Javits center.
- In between are a new park, two working piers (soon to be one) and two smaller recreational piers (soon to be three).
A lot is happening here now, as the trucks move out to the new sanitation parking building across West Side Highway.
And the free-kayaking operation (you can use it) is very popular.
Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.
Below: Five shots of Pier 99, a waste-paper transfer station, may change to handling other kinds of waste
Below: Three shots of Pier 98, which houses one of Con Edison’s small local power generating stations; not expected to change
Below: Four shots of Pier 97, now used by the Sanitation Department, but about to be transformed into a recreational pier
Below: The Sanitation Department’s new parking building where trucks will park that once parked on Piers 99 and 97.
Below: Five shots of Clinton Cove Park and Pier 96, a recreational pier used for the city’s free kayak excursions
Below: One shot of Pier 94 and, foreground, Pier 95, part of the park which is there for walking on and fishing
Below: And three shots of Pier 94, the spillover exhibition space, due to be made over, perhaps as shown at bottom here.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/05/11 at 03:21 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #4: The New Riverside Park South
[click for larger images]
Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/04/11 at 03:21 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #3: The 79th Street Boat Basin
[click for larger images]
Looking for a great place to walk or to eat? With a memorable view?!
You have 22 days left to walk or eat here. Thereafter the Boat Basin’s Dock A and the Boat Basin Cafe both close for the season. Not to reopen again until May of next year.
How did this one sneak into our Projects group? Dock A has just been expensively refurbished and extended. Now among the nicest and most interesting piers to spend time on.
Several points of interest. Some of the craft that you can see in the marina have year-long residents on board. The cafe is generally well reviewed. And the sail-boat you can see in the last shot below, which often sails from the Boat Basin? Riverkeeper’s famous Clearwater Sloop.
We owe a lot to Riverkeeper, by the way. For the relative purity of the water in the Hudson. And for the restrained and generally benign development up and down its shores.
Very value-adding, the green thrust around us - and especially along the river.
Home values in Greenwich Village have increased 300 percent since the Hudson River Park plan was announced in 1990, according to a study released today by the not-for-profit group Friends of Hudson River Park. That is 100 percent more than the overall increase in Manhattan for the 18-year period. The Greenwich Village section of the park was completed in 2003, and between 2002 and 2005, home values rose 55 percent and the average sales price rose 135 percent, the study said.
Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/03/11 at 03:21 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #2: Riverside Park Widening
[click for larger images]
Okay. No prizes for guessing where this project is happening!
This is the widening of the Riverside Park walkway between 83rd and 96th Streets. Where, as you can see above and just below, the Henry Hudson Drive almost touches the river.
It did not have to be. If you drive by and look at the alignment of the highway and the landscaping up above, you’ll see that Robert Moses really dropped the ball on this one.
Can you figure what they’re actually constructing here? Probably not. The diagram at bottom explains: a long, narrow offshore platform on piles, out over the water.
The grand inauguration was just over a year ago and this was to be an 18-month project. It seems though that not one pile is in place yet. So count on another year for this one.
But still, a really welcome project for the many Upper West Side walkers, cyclists and skaters. And good to look onto.
Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.
Below: First shots here at the north end of the project, near the river end of 96th Street
Below: A shot at the north end looking north, toward the previous project in the post below
Below: Two shots of the platform now at the center of the project; its purpose was not very clear
Below: A shot from the south end, around 82nd Street, where park users are being diverted up the hill
Below: A shot from the 79th Street marina, opposite the Galaxy, the subject of the next post in this series
Below: Explanatory notice at the south end - kinda hard to read for some, tucked away behind a fence
Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/02/11 at 03:21 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
City Hudson Projects We Look Onto #1: 125th Street Pier And Park
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This is the structure right across the street from the big Fairway store and its car-parks.
Also known as the West Harlem Pier it is actually the replacement for a pier that stood there many years ago.
Tantalizingly close to completion now. It keeps missing deadlines on account of the city’s frugal spending, though, and it has failed to open two summers in a row.
As usual with these Hudson projects, the design, construction and landscaping are to a very high standard.
So. Next summer? We hope!
Here are all the posts in our Hudson projects series.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/01/11 at 03:21 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 5 New York Devel, On Hudson, West Upper
Value Watch: One Of Jersey’s Tallest Structures - Up Close
Shots are all clickable for larger images
Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/01/11 at 02:00 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 1 Galaxy Focus, Views Of Galaxy, 7 Economic + Value, Property Values
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 1 Galaxy Focus, Views Of Galaxy, 7 Economic + Value, Property Values
Value Watch: One Of Jersey’s Tallest Structures - Further Away
Posted by Peter Quennell on 01/01/11 at 01:00 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 1 Galaxy Focus, Views Of Galaxy
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 1 Galaxy Focus, Views Of Galaxy
North Bergen Hearings On Spoleti’s Giant Scheme
Here are DOZENS of posts on the entire saga with this very klutzy builder - who has built NOTHING like this before. See the post just below this for key past posts in key areas.
It includes serious treachery by Williams Continental Pipeline. We alerted them (this website did) to grave dangers to their huge gas pipe - and then they did a dangerous deal with Spoleti, without telling any of us.
This below arrived today from the Galaxy Organizing Group, which is asking for help from all the Galaxy residents and the near neighbors at a key hearing in North Bergen on Thursday.
We are writing to let you know that the developer for the Appleview condo development has resubmitted his application to the North Bergen Planning Board. A public hearing has been scheduled for this Thursday, June 24th, at 7 pm. It is a special public hearing dedicated to this application only, so your participation will be extremely important.
The current proposal is slightly scaled back from its original plans, but it is still an oversized development that poses many safety issues. The project requires 2 key variances- lot size and building coverage. Due to its oversized footprint, it is abutting the Transco Gas pipeline, a major 36-inch, high pressured gas pipeline that supplies over 50% of Manhattan’s gas. Construction within such close proximity of a major gas pipeline is a serious threat to the pipeline safety and the safety of our community.
According to statistics, the number one cause of gas pipeline explosions is damage by outside forces, such as excavation accidents. A case in point was June 8th’s explosion in Texas, and June 7th’s in West Virginia. Please see attached Texas article for more details. One of our goals therefore is to reduce the project size and have the developer build further away from the pipeline, and maintain a reasonable setback. (Edison, since their explosion in 1996, had put in place their zoning ordinance a min. 75 feet between pipeline and building)
There are also several other serious concerns, including air-borne toxicity from ground breaking so close to other residential properties. Another concern is the destabilization of the Palisades Cliffs. For more information, please refer to the attached summary of the project and its issues. As this is a community issue, we have invited and probably will be joined by representatives of the neighboring developments, and Mayor Gerry Dreshoff. Your attendance at this hearing is critical, as it will convey to the Planning Board that the community is concerned and motivated.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 06/21/10 at 07:41 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 2 Gold Coast Towns, North Bergen
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 2 Gold Coast Towns, North Bergen
Gold Coast: Resort-Style Living, With A Skyline View - A List Of Good Value Points
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An encouraging appraisal last year of our area, published in the Jersey Journbal
By CHARLES HACK
JOURNAL STAFF WRITERT he growing city on the North Hudson waterfront offers the well-heeled resident resort-style amenities, multi million-dollar views of the New York City skyline and spacious condominiums and townhouses.
Just try getting all that in Manhattan.
New communities in the Port Imperial mega-project and nearby Roc Harbor have sprung up over the last few years with names like Henley on Hudson, the Brownstones, Grandview and Watermark on the Hudson - all designed to appeal to both young professionals who want the city at their fingertips but are looking for more than they can afford in Manhattan and older ones whose families have fled the nest so they no longer need rambling suburban mansions.
Despite the well-publicized credit crunch that has slowed and halted construction across the country, industrious developers in North Hudson continue to pour concrete over rebar - though at a slower pace than before.
Developments usually come with amenities such as 24-hour concierge services, fitness centers, outdoor swimming pools, high-speed Internet, extra bathrooms and dens, high ceilings, hardwood floors, granite or marble countertops, picture windows and designer fixtures and fittings.
Then there is the Weehawken ferry terminal and Hudson-Bergen Light Rail, which put Weehawken and West New York waterfront residents within walking distance of a 10-to 15-minute ride to and from midtown Manhattan, Hoboken and Jersey City. Shuttle buses run up to Guttenberg and North Bergen, making developments in those towns just a few minutes away.
And despite a cooling of interest over the last year or two, Realtors and developers say they have seen an uptick over the last couple of months, with more people making repeat visits to sales offices, suggesting they are more serious about buying.
COMING OFF THE SIDELINES
Andrew Marshall, senior vice president of development at Roseland Properties Company, says lower interest rates and rising rents have meant that the “market is getting to a balancing point” between rental and buying.
“People who have been sitting on the sidelines while they wait to decide where to put their capital are now looking in earnest,” Marshall said.
The cost of fuel, tolls and transportation is also driving commuters from the suburbs closer to Manhattan, said David Schoner, vice president of the New Homes Division of Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage.
While K. Hovnanian Homes is selling property for $600 to $700 a square foot, the minimum for Manhattan would be $1,000 a square foot rising to “well north of” $2,000 per square foot for similar amenities, Schoner said.
The 8-minute ride across the river is a “small tradeoff given the price disparity,” he said.
Roseland Properties is in the middle of a decades-long project to develop the Port Imperial waterfront from Lincoln Harbor to Guttenberg Port Imperial with luxury townhouses and retail. They will have developed 2,348 units on 92 acres in Weehawken and 4,000 units on 60 acres of the West New York waterfront.
The focal point for Port Imperial is a 650,000-square-foot commercial district planned for west and north of the Port Imperial ferry terminal in Weehawken that will include offices, retail space and commuter parking. Roseland is also building a flagship 294-room, four-star hotel and 79 timeshares for the Parsippany-based Wyndham Hotels & Resorts.
Port Imperial in Weehawken is being developed in a joint agreement between Roseland Properties and ferry-magnate Arthur E. Imperatore Sr., who founded the NY Waterway.
GIFTS TO THE PUBLIC
As part of the deal with the town, the partners recently opened a new 10-acre park and outdoor sports complex that includes a 21/2-acre athletic field, tennis courts, children’s play facilities and sports fields. Weehawken will add another five acres at a later date.
Developers have also provided new soccer fields in West New York as well as renovating a Little League field and facilities above the Palisades. They even coughed up cash to build the North Hudson Regional Firehouse on Port Imperial Boulevard.
Under New Jersey state law they also must contribute toward a 30-foot-wide Hudson River Waterfront Walkway in front of any property they develop, which the state hopes will one day run uninterrupted from the George Washington Bridge to the Bayonne Bridge.
On the site of the old Banana Building, meanwhile, Roseland Properties and Lennar Urban are putting the finishing touches on the second of a four-phase luxury development, Henley on Hudson.
When complete, the development will consist of 94 two- and three-bedroom condos ranging from 1,500 to 2,300 square feet, and 64 three- to four-bedroom townhouses that are equally luxurious at 2,100 and 4,500 square feet. Designed to maximize views of the river and Manhattan skyline, it will also have a swimming pool and fitness club.
Multimillion-dollar views and homes
Selling for around $2.5 million, the three-bedroom, 31/2-bathroom townhouses include elevators, balconies, gold marble finishes in the bathrooms, and a social room or office in the lower floor.
Just south of the Port Imperial ferry terminal Roseland plans 10 mixed-use residential buildings, delivering a total 2,000 homes - including 300 affordable units - with some retail.
Construction has begun on the first building.
K. Hovnanian’s Grandview I & II, meanwhile, provide 30,000 square feet of retail space with 300 condos on either side of Riverwalk Place in West New York.
Of the 168 homes at Grandview II, which was completed in the fall, 41 homes remain unsold.
Construction also has started on 268 condos and 45,000 square feet of retail space at the Lofts at Riverwalk, a development of one- to three-bedroom units. Completion is a couple of years away, according to Doug Fenichel, a spokesman for K. Hovnanian.
The housing giant has approval to construct four other buildings between Riverwalk and the Guttenberg border, but the company is waiting to see how the market plays out before deciding exactly what to build, Fenichel said.
In North Bergen, waterfront development is expected to boost the township’s coffers by $1 billion in increased taxes.
WCI is now marketing a 12-story development at Watermark On Hudson, 8100 River Road. One-bedroom units are being sold for around $1 million, while three-bedroom homes are advertised for $2.3 million. At the top end, a 3,342-square-foot corner penthouse, with a view of the George Washington Bridge, is advertised for $4.35 million.
Also in North Bergen, K. Hovnanian is selling 146 two- and three-bedroom condos at Views at Hudson Pointe, 7200 River Road. The homes range from $500,000 to $1.5 million. Although some construction remains to be done, half the units have been sold and new homeowners started moving in in October, Fenichel said.
A $210 million development, the 526-unit Riverview, at River Road and Bull’s Ferry Road, is still in the planning approval process.
At the southern end of Weehawken, Hartz Mountain Industries Inc. is the leading developer of the 60-acre Lincoln Harbor. Plans to build three 10-to 12-story residential buildings with 430 residential units have been approved and a multi-story parking garage is already up.
A public plaza facing Manhattan will have its official opening later this year.
Terrific Annual Sheep, Wool, Food And Crafts Show, At Rhinebeck Fairgrounds This Sat And Sun
Images from previous years. Wildly popular. Crowds are way bigger than appear here. Great great show
Protecting The Palisades: Our Past Posts, And Our New Ones Planned
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Our first series on the Palisades (not yet complete) can be seen here.
That series will soon include all our past posts on any palisades-impinging developments.
And we will have a second series of posts up very soon, with new detail shots of the cliffs.
Thoughtless out-of-control and probably dangerous hacks of the palisades are ocurring in North Bergen more than anywhere.
Edgewater seems quite respectful of what palisades they has left. West New York, Weehawken and Hoboken all seem about equally so.
‘Catastrophic’ One-Metre Sea Rise Predicted
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Catherine Jacob of Sky News at a climate change conference in Copenhagen
With a tenth of the world’s population living in areas vulnerable to flooding, a global sea level rise of a metre could have catastrophic consequences.
But a rise of at least that size - and perhaps more - by the end of the century is now being predicted by many climate experts at a conference here in Copenhagen.
They say the higher temperatures and sea levels could put hundreds of millions of lives at risk.
The one-metre forecast is twice as big as the estimate given by the UN’s official scientific body, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), just two years ago.
IPCC chairman Dr Rajendra Pachauri told Sky News Online: “We have to be driven by what the science tells us that… you will see massive dislocation in different parts of the world.”
Unlike the last official report, the new sea level rise figures take into account the fact that ice sheets near the Antarctic and Greenland are melting faster than previously estimated.
A one-metre rise would mean low-lying areas like Bangladesh face severe flooding.
Parts of Florida could disappear and the Maldives would be submerged….
Professor Stefan Rhamstorf of the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research told the conference that sea level rise could be as high as 1.9m by 2100, if carbon emissions continued unabated.
“New data has come out and unfortunately it has been pointing at a much faster rise in sea level being observed now than was predicted. So it was about 50% faster than the models suggested,” he told Sky News online.
“And the projections for the future are also looking a lot more pessimistic.”
Until now, scientists have always said if we can constrain global temperature rises to 2 degrees by 2100, we will avoid catastrophic climate change.
But many here now believe this will not be possible.
It is hoped that the urgency of the updated science that will emerge from Copenhagen will inspire the world’s leaders to thrash out the most ambitious emissions reduction deal possible when they return to negotiations here in December.
The Hudson Detox From North To South #4: The Amazing New Tunnel System
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Under the whole area of these next two posts is a large new tunnel system.
There is a diagram at bottom. It is to drain those PCBs that lie deep in the mud (PCBs are very heavy), in this large pool directly below the hydro plant and the falls.
The tunnels consist of a vertical shaft on the opposite bank of the river (shots to come) and a y-shaped arrangement of horizontal tunnels.
The tunnels themselves have already been blasted out. They are deep down inside the limestone, under all of the water you can see in the pool.
What remains to be done now is the lining of the tunnels, the small vertical holes many feet up into the mud, and a catchment system for what comes down those holes. We believe it will be hung from the ceilings.
Also the piping along the tunnels, and a pumping system to pump the water, mud and PCBs up the shaft. And then into a separation and treatment plant which is already nearly ready (shots also to come).
These shots start down level with the hydro plant. Here it is from above.
See the black rock along the sides of the road down to the plant and the shore? Again, it is the very porous rock which filled up like a sponge.
And then contributed so much to the PCB problem.
Posted by Peter Quennell on 11/21/08 at 03:03 PM
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 4 Harbor + Hudson, PCB Detox, 7 Economic + Value, Environment
Click here for the permanent link • Archived in 4 Harbor + Hudson, PCB Detox, 7 Economic + Value, Environment