Evolving Public Uses

Evolving Public Uses. . , In the 1940s, New York City planned to reduce its dependence on landfills by building incineration plants, locally called "destructors" to process the city's waste. Despite opposition, the West Washington Market and former street grid were demolished, and the Gansevoort Destructor Plant opened in 1953 with the capacity to burn trash generated by approximately 550,000 Manhattan residents., By the 1960s, New York City was increasingly concerned about air pollution from its incinerators, some of the region's largest sources of air pollution. Passage of the federal Clean Air Act of 1970 accelerated incinerator closures across the United States. By 1977, only six incinerators, including the one at Gansevoort, were still operating in New York City., After being decommissioned in the 1980s, the Gansevoort property was next used for trash trucks and salt storage. Advocates, including Friends of Hudson River Park, brought successful litigation to spur removal of these uses at both the Gansevoort Peninsula and Pier 97, paving the way for public park construction in accordance with the Hudson River Park Act., By 2016, demolition of the sanitation infrastructure was under way. In 2019, the Hudson River Park Trust began community design processes for both the Gansevoort Peninsula and Pier 97, launching their transformations into beautiful public open spaces.