Hudson Park and Boulevard is a greenway and

boulevard A boulevard is a type of broad avenue planted with rows of trees, or in parts of North America, any urban highway. Boulevards were originally circumferential roads following the line of former city walls. In American usage, boulevards may ...

Hell's Kitchen Hell's Kitchen, also known as Clinton, is a neighborhood on the West Side of Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is considered to be bordered by 34th Street (or 41st Street) to the south, 59th Street to the north, Eighth Avenue to the ea ...

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, being built as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project. It lies between

10th 10 (ten) is the even natural number following 9 and preceding 11. Ten is the base of the decimal numeral system, by far the most common system of denoting numbers in both spoken and written language. It is the first double-digit number. The re ...

and

11th 11 (eleven) is the natural number following 10 and preceding 12. It is the first repdigit. In English, it is the smallest positive integer whose name has three syllables. Name "Eleven" derives from the Old English ', which is first atteste ...

Avenues. The park, officially called Bella Abzug Park, is located in the median of the boulevard, which consists of two one-way roads that run parallel to each other. When complete, it will be in area, six blocks long, and run north–south between 33rd and 39th Streets. The boulevard will be in the center of the park when complete. Construction will be in two phases; the first phase, located between 33rd and 36th Streets, was under construction from 2012 to August 2015. The construction of the section between 36th and 37th Streets is underway as of summer 2021. The second phase has no timeline. The total cost of the project is more than $30 million.

History

SiteJ Future Site Work June 2014 (9084530453)

In the 1930s, there was a proposal to build a street in the middle of the block between 10th and 11th Avenues, running from 34th to 42nd Streets within roughly the same place as the current Hudson Boulevard. It would have fed into the

Lincoln Tunnel The Lincoln Tunnel is an approximately tunnel under the Hudson River, connecting Weehawken, New Jersey, to the west with Midtown Manhattan in New York City to the east. It carries New Jersey Route 495 on the New Jersey side and unsigned Ne ...

. One block of the street was actually built between 40th and 41st Streets. The road was named Galvin Avenue, after

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, PANYNJ; stylized, in logo since 2020, as Port Authority NY NJ, is a joint venture between the U.S. states of New York and New Jersey, established in 1921 through an interstate compact authorize ...

chair John F. Galvin, and was labeled as such through the 1980s. This name was still in use as recently as 2017, although there are no street signs for it. In January 2005, the New York City Council approved the rezoning of about 60 blocks from 28th to 43rd Streets, creating the neighborhood of Hudson Yards; the need for a park in the area was seen when Hudson Yards was being planned. The park and boulevard was developed concurrently with the New York City Subway's

7 Subway Extension The 7 Subway Extension is a subway extension of the New York City Subway's IRT Flushing Line, which is served by the local and express services. The extension stretches southwest from its previous terminus at Times Square, at Seventh Aven ...

to 34th Street. The park contains the two entrances to the 34th Street station. The first entrance is located between 33rd and 34th streets, and a second entrance is between 34th and 35th streets. Phase one of the park's layout, led by Michael Van Valkenburgh Associates, was finished in January 2012. Construction began in January 2012. Since the boulevard was brand-new, it would conform to

New York City Department of Transportation The New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) is the agency of the government of New York City responsible for the management of much of New York City's transportation infrastructure. Ydanis Rodriguez is the Commissioner of the Depart ...

standards set in 2012. A

traffic signal Traffic lights, traffic signals, or stoplights – known also as robots in South Africa are signalling devices positioned at road intersections, pedestrian crossings, and other locations in order to control flows of traffic. Traffic lights ...

was installed at 34th Street to facilitate pedestrian flow through the park. A business improvement district for the park, started in early 2014, is being led by Robert J. Benfatto Jr., of

Manhattan Community Board 4 The Manhattan Community Board 4 is a New York City community board in the borough of Manhattan encompassing the neighborhoods of Hell's Kitchen, Chelsea, and Hudson Yards, as well as parts of the Garment District, the Flower District, and the M ...

. The BID has a $1.2 million budget in its first year, which will go up to $3 million in subsequent years. Its budget is used for Hudson Park maintenance and operations, district-wide services and improvements, administration and advocacy. , the section of the park between 33rd and 34th Streets was completed, and was to open at the end of 2014. However, the section between 34th and 36th Streets was delayed to August 2015, while the 33rd to 34th Streets section did not open until the 34th Street station opened on September 13, 2015. On March 1, 2019, the

New York City Department of Parks and Recreation The New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, also called the Parks Department or NYC Parks, is the department of the government of New York City responsible for maintaining the city's parks system, preserving and maintaining the ecolog ...

announced that Hudson Park was to be renamed in honor of

Bella Abzug Bella Savitzky Abzug (July 24, 1920 – March 31, 1998), nicknamed "Battling Bella", was an American lawyer, politician, social activist, and a leader in the women's movement. In 1971, Abzug joined other leading feminists such as Gloria Steine ...

, a New York representative and one of the leading endorsers of the

second-wave feminism Second-wave feminism was a period of feminist activity that began in the early 1960s and lasted roughly two decades. It took place throughout the Western world, and aimed to increase equality for women by building on previous feminist gains. ...

movement. This was part of an effort by Bill de Blasio's association's plan to recognize female New Yorkers during

Women's History Month Women's History Month is an annual declared month that highlights the contributions of women to events in history and contemporary society. It is celebrated during March in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia, corresponding with ...

Description

The boulevard is split into two, with a Hudson Boulevard East and a Hudson Boulevard West. The park serves as a median. The boulevard starts from a restricted driveway (extending from 31st Street westbound) at 33rd Street and is one-way northbound to 35th Street, with the park to the west of the roadway. North of 35th Street, a southbound roadway forms and the park is located between the two roadways up to 36th Street. Future plans call for the park to be extended up to 39th Street (although the western roadway ends at 38th Street, the eastern roadway and the park go up to 39th Street). Then, a

High Line The High Line is a elevated linear park, greenway and rail trail created on a former New York Central Railroad spur on the west side of Manhattan in New York City. The High Line's design is a collaboration between James Corner Field Opera ...

-style promenade above the

entrance will be constructed in the second phase to connect the greenway to 42nd Street. The boulevard's southern end is integrated with the Hudson Yards Public Square, an L-shaped

public square A town square (or square, plaza, public square, city square, urban square, or ''piazza'') is an open public space, commonly found in the heart of a traditional town but not necessarily a true geometric square, used for community gatherings. ...

that is intended to be Hudson Yards' centerpiece. The first phase of the park and boulevard has lawns, a fountain, a café, wooden benches, planting beds, and a playground. Three fountains between 34th and 35th Street are able to detect wind speeds and shut off during high winds. A 50-foot-high pole designed by James Carpenter between 35th and 36th Streets was built as a café location. Additionally, the

Amtrak The National Railroad Passenger Corporation, doing business as Amtrak () , is the national passenger railroad company of the United States. It operates inter-city rail service in 46 of the 48 contiguous U.S. States and nine cities in Canada ...

Empire Connection The West Side Line, also called the West Side Freight Line, is a railroad line on the west side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. North of Penn Station, from 34th Street, the line is used by Amtrak passenger service heading north via ...

will run underneath the park. The park will be owned by the city. It, along with the

, Hudson Yards public square, and

Hudson River Park Hudson River Park is a waterfront park on the North River (Hudson River) that extends from 59th Street south to Battery Park in the New York City borough of Manhattan. The park, a component of the Manhattan Waterfront Greenway, stretches and ...

, will create a pedestrian-friendly greenway. The first phase and part of the second phase of Hudson Boulevard West is already completed. The boulevard is bordered on the west and east between 33rd and 34th Streets by the future locations of

55 Hudson Yards 55 Hudson Yards (originally known as One Hudson Yards or One Hudson Boulevard) is a skyscraper in Hudson Yards (neighborhood), Manhattan, Hudson Yards, Manhattan, New York City, just outside the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project. It and 50 Hudso ...

and

50 Hudson Yards 50 Hudson Yards is a 58-story, -tall building being developed as part of the Hudson Yards Redevelopment Project in Hudson Yards, Manhattan, New York City. The building is located to the north of 30 Hudson Yards, and on the east side of the Hu ...

, respectively. Currently, the 55 Hudson Yards space is occupied by a subway ventilation building, with a facade containing a

U.S. flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the ca ...

pattern on the side of the building facing the park and boulevard. On April 30, 2014,

Tishman Speyer Tishman Speyer Properties is an American company that invests in real estate. History The firm was founded in 1978 by Robert Tishman and Jerry Speyer. In March 1988, the company announced its first project in Europe, the construction of a 70-s ...

announced the acquisition of land between the Hudson Park & Boulevard and Tenth Avenue, between 34th and 35th Streets; which will be razed to make way for a " Hudson Spire", to be the tallest building in America with a potential height of over and 108 stories. Although the boulevard is six blocks long, the park extends as a non-vehicular greenway north to 42nd Street via a pedestrian bridge, and through the Hudson Yards development south to 30th Street and connecting with the

. One side of the park is to be commercial and the other side residential.

Notable sites along the boulevard

3 Hudson Boulevard 3 Hudson Boulevard (previously known as GiraSole) is a skyscraper on hold along the Hudson Park and Boulevard in the Hudson Yards and Hell's Kitchen neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City. Its developer is Joseph Moinian. History and devel ...

, planned building * 34th Street, subway station, serving the *

, under-construction building *

, building

References

External links

Hudson Yards New York pageHudson Yards Redevelopment Projectwww.hudsonyardshellskitchenalliance.org
{{Protected areas of New York City Hell's Kitchen, Manhattan Chelsea, Manhattan Hudson Yards, Manhattan Streets in Manhattan Greenways in New York City 2014 establishments in New York City