Conservancy Is 'Deeply Concerned' About UWS Boat Basin Design

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Riverside Park Conservancy is mincing no words when it comes to its opinion on the proposed design for the new West 79th Street Boat Basin dock house.

The Conservancy took to Twitter on Monday morning to say that it was "deeply concerned" about the design proposal for the dock house, calling it "boxy and dense."

We are deeply concerned about the proposed design of the 79th Street Dock House. It is boxy & dense, and incongruent to the surrounding area of the Park. We were neither briefed nor consulted on this design, and we are making our views known directly to the @NYCParks Department.
— Riverside Park Conservancy (@RiversideParkNY) December 6, 2021

The Riverside Park Conservancy oversees the west side of Manhattan green space, working throughout the year to restore, maintain, and improve the park from 59th Street to 181st Street.

The Conservancy works side-by-side with the New York City Parks Department to make these improvements.

In the matter of the new dock house, though, the city did not brief or consult the Conservancy about the design, according to its tweet Monday morning.

• Read More: Revised New UWS Boat Basin Design Gets Pushback: Photos

In a November meeting of Community Board 7's Parks & Environment Committee, representatives from the New York City Park's Department and the New York City Economic Development Corporation presented designs of the new Boat Basin for the second time in the past few months.

The new dock house is proposed to rise two stories above the Hudson River while being held up by thick 9-foot cylindrical columns. The water-facing side of the building has see-through glass panels.

Multiple UWS community board members spoke out against the design.

The city is spending the majority of its $89.2 million budget to reconstruct the West 79th Street Boat Basin on the suggested 6,000-square-foot facility that is more than five times the size of the dock house currently standing.

"I would love nothing more than to make this look lighter and more open, but we sort of have to balance with what's going on inside the building and complying with the energy code that gets more strict with every passing year," said Vadit Suwatcharapinun, the designer overseeing the project, during the community board meeting.

The Riverside Park Conservancy also invited people to voice their opinion on the design by writing to boatbasic@parks.nyc.gov.