The 550-acre Hudson River Park this week reached a preliminary accord to sell $100 million worth of air rights to fund the rebuilding of its crumbling infrastructure, particularly at Pier 40. The air-rights sale is crucial for the maintenance of the park, which receives capital funding from the government but no cash for operating expenses, and stretches along a five-mile length of Manhattan's western shore.
For three years, Madelyn Wils, who previously was chair of Community Board 1 and worked at the city's Economic Development Corp., has been leading the park's restoration as chief executive of the Hudson River Park Trust, a body created by the state to oversee the construction, maintenance and operation of the green space.
Despite the park's infrastructural problems, it is seeing record numbers of visitors and is gearing up for a new restaurant and an education center to study the Hudson River estuary.
I was shocked at how long the estuary is. It runs for 500 miles.
It's the seventh-largest estuary in the nation, and part of our mission is to teach people about it.
The park is long as well. How do you decide what to put in each section?
There is a general project plan for the park that was developed in the 1990s. But because [the park] has taken so long to build, we only use that general project plan as a guiding principal. We'll still stay with what the community wanted, but we will update what might have been considered good design 15 years ago.
How does the park serve the city on a broader scale?
I've always been one of those people who believe that parks play a greater role in people's quality of life than most think. They also bring more health and economic benefits.
You just reached a tentative deal with the owner of St. John's Terminal Building to sell air rights over Pier 40 to fund repairs. What about the rest of the park?
We are in discussions now with City Planning, and we've talked to the community boards. My notion is simple: If someone is going to build one more extra square foot across from the park, we should be able to sell our air rights to them. Given the impact the park has had on property values they shouldn't get it for free. In terms of Pier 40, it's no secret its future hinges on the development of the St. John's Terminal [across the West Side Highway] to provide the resources necessary to repair the infrastructure.
Hudson River Park's operating expenses are funded through revenue and donations. Do you see this as a model for other parks?
We were built as a model for waterfront parks. Brooklyn Bridge Park has been able to make changes and do things because they learned from us. But I think in some form or fashion, private-public partnerships are the wave of the future.
Do you think there always has to be a private element to park upkeep in the city?
I do, because I think it is up to communities to decide what other things they want for their parks. So then you might have a conversation. But the city or state should provide enough money to keep everything in working repair, to keep the landscaping in good condition. And if you want to show movies or build a new playground—anything outside of that scope—then the neighborhood should come together and try to figure that out.
What about the argument that government should fund everything?
I don't think you'll ever get government to pay what they should pay for parks, because they never have. But you can't use that as an excuse not to take action. So if government should do something, but isn't, then you still have to figure out how you're going to survive in this world.
What about neighborhoods with low-income families?
You could create a not-for-profit for parks in less-fortunate areas. I do think that would make sense. It would be a sort of conservancy that takes care of parks around the city.
Correction: Hudson River Park receives capital funding from the city and state, but funds operations and maintenance through its income and donations. The sources of its funding were misstated in an earlier version of this article, originally published online May 16, 2014.
A version of this article appears in the May 19, 2014, print issue of Crain's New York Business.