NEW YORK CITY-The Hudson Square neighborhood, home to many of the city's creative industries, is getting a $27 million revamp. The area, which once housed New York's printing industry, is filled with more than 1,000 businesses working in advertising, architecture, media and design. To reflect this shift in industries, public spaces including sidewalks, parks and other outdoor venues will be refashioned to capture the creative energies contained within the buildings. A project of the Hudson Square Connection Business Improvement District, the funds are being provided by the New York City Economic Development Corp. and the New York City Council, as well as matching funds from the BID itself.
First phase enhancements will include: a transformation of the park at Spring Street and Sixth Avenue into a welcoming gateway to Hudson Square, with new seating, lighting and trees; turning Spring Street, which connects Hudson Square to SoHo on the east and Hudson River Park on the west, into a "main street" with distinctive lighting; and installing WalkNYC pedestrian wayfinding signs throughout the neighborhood.
“Hudson Square is a growing neighborhood that plays home to a diverse array of creative companies and individuals,” says NYCEDC president Kyle Kimball. “Our investment in this community helps to ensure the success of businesses in the area, while also significantly bettering the infrastructure and providing critical upgrades that will benefit Hudson Square both now and in the future.”
“With this significant investment in the infrastructure of the neighborhood, we are ensuring that New York continues to attract businesses and employment opportunities in the creative sector,” adds NYC Council Speaker Christine Quinn.
In addition to matching the City's funds for the phase one improvements, the Hudson Square Connection will invest $1.2 million for its work with the Dept. of Parks and Recreation—which recently recognized the neighborhood as a “platinum model” for urban forestry and sustainability—and private property owners to plant 300 trees. The first 30 trees will be planted by the end of 2013, with an additional 150 trees scheduled to be in the ground over the next 3 years.
Says Hudson Square Connection president Ellen Baer, “Thanks to an innovative public-private partnership between the City and the Hudson Square Connection, the Hudson Square neighborhood will continue to thrive as a place where creative companies build their businesses, workers and residents recreate in inviting open spaces, visitors enjoy safer street crossings, and new businesses and retailers set up shop. The Hudson Square Connection's streetscape improvement plan is the first major infrastructure project in the neighborhood in over 80 years and it will make Hudson Square an ideal neighborhood to live, work and play."
Funding for the first phase of the plan includes $2 million from NYCEDC, $1.2 million from the City Council, a $3.2 million matching contribution from the Hudson Square Connection and an additional $1.2 million from the Hudson Square Connection for tree planting—making the grand total phase one investment $7.6 million.
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Rayna Katz
Rayna Katz is a seasoned business journalist whose extensive experience includes coverage of the lodging sector, travel and the culinary space. She was most recently content director for a business-to-business publisher, overseeing four publications. While at Meeting News, a travel trade publication, she received a Best Reporting award for a story on meeting cancellations in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina.
