Little Island
New York’s new, one-of-a-kind public space keeps the cultural community afloat.
New Yorkers have a whole new space to chill this summer. Little Island, or Little Island @Pier 55, which sits on the banks of the Hudson, is a public park and outdoor performance space that opened in May.
What looks like a floating island with organically shaped water-roots is built on the remnants of the historic Pier 54, which Hurricane Sandy severely damaged in 2012. The island’s designers, Heatherwick Studio and landscape architect Mathews Nielsen, devised an elevated 2.4-acre space with rich greenery and varying levels that invites people of all ages to walk, run, read, and be creative. The island offers wheelchair-accessible paths and, most intriguingly, a wooden-benched amphitheater, “The Amph,” where visitors can lounge and enjoy in cultural happenings such as weekly artist performances.
Little Island offers daily events, and The Amph stage will host its first performance in late June. Most performances will be free for all vaccinated individuals; select events are ticketed or will require reservations. While the construction of the island was mostly funded by the Diller-von Furstenberg Foundation, it is run by a non-profit organization called Pier 55. The island will partner with local organizations and schools in neighboring Chelsea and the West Village to offer internship and fellowship opportunities.
New York never shies away from innovative solutions to address the City's limited green spaces, and this is one project that stretches our imagination. Over and over again, projects like Little Island give us hope: from what was destroyed we can build something that makes people happy and enriches the cultural community in sustainable ways.
Sources: Little Island | Image: Little Island (Michael Grimm)