Over four years in the making, Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park is now welcoming visitors in Long Island City, marking the first chapter of rejuvenation for the riverside neighbourhood in Queens, New York. The park, which occupies a site that was previously marsh wetland and a drained landfill, is part of a larger, ambitious master plan to transform the area into a modern ecological community that includes the largest affordable housing effort in New York City since the 1970s.
The waterfront park is a dynamic, multi-faceted destination that is set to bring a hoard of new visitors to the area. Designed by Thomas Balsley Associates and Weiss/Manfredi - two New York-based urban design specialists who have left their stamp on other public landscape projects around the city - Hunter's Point comprises a sprawling oval-shaped green to accommodate all types of recreational uses: an urban beach that's ready for picnickers and volleyball; a rail garden that features native fauna planted over disused freight rails; and a soaring, eye-catching pavilion that connects urban-dwelling areas to the East River waterfront and an elevated wooden pier.
Apart from its exciting design and location, what really sets Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park apart is the undercurrent of sustainability that runs through its every aspect. Aside from turning a 20-acre abandoned, post-industrial waterfront into prime real estate, the park boasts a new urban plan that includes bioswales that filter stormwater from Center Boulevard, bikeways, and upland smart streets with banquette seating to allow comfortable enjoyment of the skyline views.
Concrete bulk-heads have been replaced with new wetlands and green pathways that lead to a 30-foot high overlook that's suspended over the water's edge. The pavilion itself, which is made from folded plates to collect storm water, will also be installed with 64 photovoltaic panels that generates 37,000 kWh per year. It will start off powering 50% of the park, with the vision of adding more panels to eventually power the park entirely. Even the dog run consists of a water rill and stacked timber seating.
With the development of 5,000 permanently affordable residential units and a school both to come, the park is a perfect starting point for uniting the area's industrial past and its multi-cultural future.
The main pavilion was concieved to support the park's recreational uses, while acting as a landmark for orientation. Photography: Albert Večerka/Esto
The waterfront park is a dynamic, multi-faceted destination that is set to bring a hoard of new visitors to the area. Photography: Albert Večerka/Esto
It aims to be 'a new model of urban ecology and a laboratory for innovative sustainable design'. Photography: Albert Večerka/Esto
Sitting next a residential development and what will soon be a school, the park will provide much needed green public space for the local communities. Photography: Albert Večerka/Esto
The park's streets and pathways are designed to frame its elements and the New York City views beyond the river. Photography: Albert Večerka/Esto
ADDRESS
Hunter's Point South Waterfront Park
52-10 Center Blvd.
Long Island City
New York 11101
USA
-
Inside Miu Miu’s ‘proudly modern and minimal’ new London storeWallpaper* takes a tour of Miu Miu’s newly refurbished New Bond Street store, which is designed as a gathering place for the Italian house’s ‘spirited, intelligent, thoughtful community’
-
Herzog & de Meuron are renovating New York's iconic Breuer Building. Here's a first look at the renderingsThis fall, the brutalist icon will be re-opening as the New York headquarters for Sotheby's.
-
Eleven great things to see at 3 Days of Design 2025The scale and scope of 3 Days of Design has expanded dramatically since its inception 12 years ago. Here, we share our pick of standout exhibitions and events from the upcoming edition (18-20 June 2025)
-
Tour architect Paul Schweikher’s house, a Chicago midcentury masterpieceNow hidden in the Chicago suburbs, architect Paul Schweikher's former home and studio is an understated midcentury masterpiece; we explore it, revisiting a story from the Wallpaper* archives, first published in April 2009
-
The world of Bart Prince, where architecture is born from the inside outFor the Albuquerque architect Bart Prince, function trumps form, and all building starts from the inside out; we revisit a profile from the Wallpaper* archive, first published in April 2009
-
Is embracing nature the key to a more fire-resilient Los Angeles? These landscape architects think soFor some, an executive order issued by California governor Gavin Newsom does little to address the complexities of living within an urban-wildland interface
-
Hop on this Fire Island Pines tour, marking Pride Month and the start of the summerA Fire Island Pines tour through the work of architecture studio BOND is hosted by The American Institute of Architects New York in celebration of Pride Month; join the fun
-
A Laurel Canyon house shows off its midcentury architecture bonesWe step inside a refreshed modernist Laurel Canyon house, the family home of Annie Ritz and Daniel Rabin of And And And Studio
-
A refreshed Rockefeller Wing reopens with a bang at The Met in New YorkThe Met's Michael C Rockefeller Wing gets a refresh by Kulapat Yantrasast's WHY Architecture, bringing light, air and impact to the galleries devoted to arts from Africa, Oceania and the Ancient Americas
-
A Fire Island house for two sisters reimagines the beach home typologyCoughlin Scheel Architects’ Fire Island house is an exploration of an extended family retreat for the 21st century
-
PlayLab opens its Los Angeles base, blending workspace, library and shop in a new interiorCreative studio PlayLab opens its Los Angeles workspace and reveals plans to also open its archive to the public for the first time, revealing a dedicated space full of pop treasures
