Waterside Plaza is a residential and business complex located on the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Quee ...

in the

Kips Bay Kips Bay, or Kip's Bay, is a neighborhood on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It is roughly bounded by East 34th Street to the north, the East River to the east, East 27th and/or 23rd Streets to the south, and Third Av ...

section of

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 List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. It was formerly a Mitchell-Lama Housing Program-funded rental project.

History

Waterside Plaza was built on landfill brought to the U.S. as ships'

ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...

from the rubble of the city of

Bristol Bristol () is a City status in the United Kingdom, city, Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county and unitary authority in England. Situated on the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, it is bordered by the ceremonial counties of Glouces ...

in the U.K., which was bombed by the

Luftwaffe The ''Luftwaffe'' () was the aerial-warfare branch of the German '' Wehrmacht'' before and during World War II. Germany's military air arms during World War I, the '' Luftstreitkräfte'' of the Imperial Army and the '' Marine-Fliegerabt ...

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

during the

Bristol Blitz The Bristol Blitz was the heavy bombing of Bristol, England by the Nazi German ''Luftwaffe'' during the Second World War. Due to the presence of Bristol Harbour and the Bristol Aeroplane Company, the city was a target for bombing and was easil ...

. The apartment buildings, as well as the neighboring

United Nations International School The United Nations International School (UNIS) is a private international school in New York City, established in 1947. Many members of the United Nations staff arriving with young families found unexpected difficulties with New York's school sy ...

, were constructed on top of platforms supported by over 2,000

concrete piles A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths. A pile or piling is a vertical structural elemen ...

sunk into the

. Developed by

Richard Ravitch Richard Ravitch (born July 7, 1933) is an American politician and businessman who served as Lieutenant Governor of New York from 2009 to 2010. He was appointed to the position in July 2009 by New York Governor David Paterson. A native of New Yo ...

, the first apartment buildings opened in 1973 and the complex was completed the following year. The housing development received the Construction Achievement Project of the Year Award from the Metropolitan Section of the

American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, p ...

in 1974. There were plans to build additional above-water apartments, offices, and a hotel in the 1980s, but environmental concerns and community opposition doomed the project. In 2004, Waterside Management Company LLC launched a three-year capital improvement program with a cost in excess of $35 million. The capital improvement program included upgrades to all new apartments as they became vacant as well as all hallways and each building's reception and concierge areas. The plaza itself was re-waterproofed and repaved and extensive park-like landscaping added. The health club, parking facilities, and security system were also upgraded.

Features

The complex is made up of four residential towers as well as a row of duplex

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type of city residence ...

s, clad in red brickwork, that encompass a large plaza overlooking the East River. There are 1,470 residential units along with a health club (open to non-residents) and a parking garage. Waterside Plaza's small retail space is occupied by a dry cleaners, a stationery store, Xia Nails and Spa, Creative Dream Parties, a

Gristedes Gristedes is a New York City-based chain of supermarkets. It serves a mostly urban customer base. History Gristede Brothers: 1891-1987 Charles Gristede and his brother Diedrich came to the United States from Germany in 1888, found work in gro ...

supermarket, and Robbins Nest Cafe. The British International School of New York also rents several large commercial spaces in the complex. The

is next to Waterside. Watersideplaza crop

Waterside is accessible to vehicles only by entering from 23rd Street. Cars and trucks leaving Waterside can do so through 23rd Street or driving along a service road to 34th Street. A

footbridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at ...

at East 25th Street allows safe passage across the

FDR Drive The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, commonly called the FDR Drive for short, is a limited-access parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts near South and Broad Streets, just north of the Battery Par ...

to the west. Waterside also contains the first two stops on the M34A Select Bus Service route. Waterside is Manhattan's only residential complex located east of the FDR Drive. The East River Greenway passes between the two. The waterfront south of Waterside Plaza, Stuyvesant Cove Park, which is part of the Greenway, includes a small manmade land mass extending out into the East River, which was created from excess cement dumped into the river.

Architectural significance

Waterside Plaza was designed by the architecture firm of

Davis, Brody & Associates Davis Brody Bond is an American architectural firm headquartered in New York City, New York, with additional offices in Washington, DC and São Paulo, Brazil. The firm is named for Lewis Davis, Samuel Brody, and J. Max Bond Jr. and is ...

. In 2001, ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' architectural critic

Herbert Muschamp Herbert Mitchell Muschamp (November 28, 1947 – October 2, 2007) was an American architecture critic. Early years Born in Philadelphia, Muschamp described his childhood home life as follows: "The living room was a secret. A forbidden zone. ...

described Waterside as a "great urban composition" that is "picturesque and historically informed." In 1975, Waterside won the Albert S. Bard Award for Distinguished Architecture and Urban Design. A year later, it won an Honor Award from the

American Institute of Architects The American Institute of Architects (AIA) is a professional organization for architects in the United States. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., the AIA offers education, government advocacy, community redevelopment, and public outreach to s ...

. In 2004, the

Municipal Art Society The Municipal Art Society of New York (MAS) is a non-profit membership organization for preservation in New York City, which aims to encourage thoughtful planning and urban design and inclusive neighborhoods across the city. The organization was ...

placed Waterside on its "30 Under 30", a watch list of future landmarks.

Events

Waterside Plaza hosts year-round events that are free and open to the public. The most popular are the outdoor summer concerts in July and the outdoor Monday night movies in August. In 2008, Waterside Plaza hosted the Make Music New York festival, during which 17 bands performed concerts on three different stages - on the waterside, in the gardens, and on the plaza. Other events include monthly playreadings, a short play festival, a dance festival, a spring flea market, and an electronic recycling day. Notable events include P. F. Chang's holding of a charity event on the roof of one of Waterside's high rise buildings on June 28, 2010, during which professional golfers

Annika Sörenstam Annika Charlotta Sörenstam (; born 9 October 1970) is a Swedish professional golfer. She is regarded as one of the best female golfers in history. Before stepping away from competitive golf at the end of the 2008 season, she had won 90 intern ...

, Briny Baird and Don Vickery took turns driving golf balls at a target floating in the East River. The event raised a total of $100,000 for several charities including the Intrepid Fallen Heroes Fund.

References

External links

*
Living at Waterside YouTube Video
{{manhattan, state=collapsed Housing in New York City Neighborhoods in Manhattan Kips Bay, Manhattan East River Residential buildings completed in 1972 Brutalist architecture in New York City Residential skyscrapers in Manhattan