Google’s 2-Acre Rooftop Park Opens to the Public at Pier 57 in Chelsea, Manhattan

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

New York City’s largest rooftop park opened to the public last week atop Pier 57 in Chelsea. Designed by Handel Architects and developed by RXR RealtyYoungWoo & Associates, Hudson River Park Trust, and The Baupost Group, the 2-acre space is part of a $410 million renovation to the 70-year-old structure in Hudson River Park and now features 350,000 square feet of office space with Google as the anchor tenant. The building will also feature 50,000 square feet of public-oriented amenities on the ground floor developed by Jamestown that include a food hall curated by the James Beard Foundation, community space with flexible layouts available for booking by local organizations, a public gathering place called the Living Room, and an outdoor screening space for the annual Tribeca Film Festival. Pier 57 formerly served as a shipping port and bus depot and is located at the intersection of West Street and West 15th Street.

An opening ceremony was held last week with Mayor Eric Adams, Governor Kathy Hochul, and Google CFO Ruth Porat in attendance.

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

A large sign greets guests inside the entrance and guides them to the elevator to the top floor. An adjacent interior staircase is also present.

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Upon exiting the elevator, doors to the roof deck open out with views looking directly down on Little Island and Lower Manhattan. Seating is built across the length of the park, nestled in between the green steel structure of the pier. Visitors can see a variety of notable landmarks: the Whitney Museum, Meatpacking District, and Thomas Heatherwick‘s Little Island over the former Pier 55; the World Trade Center towering over the Lower Manhattan skyline; the Stature of Liberty; and Hudson Yards, Manhattan West, the Empire State Building to the north.

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Little Island and Lower Manhattan from Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

The World Trade Center and Little Island from Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Little Island from Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

The Empire State Building from Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

To the east is a large elevated green lawn with a grid of circular light fixtures that illuminate at nighttime. Bathrooms are located at the very eastern end.

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Midtown and Chelsea from Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

A set of staircases and stepped wooden seats orient people toward the Manhattan skyline and bring visitors to the highest point of the space.

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

To the north is also Chelsea Piers and Bjarke Ingels Group‘s The XI prominently rising just a few streets away.

The view from the second level of Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Sunsets over the Hudson River will be a year-round spectacle with more green lawns and walkways surrounded by tulips and other shrubbery currently planted across the multiple garden beds.

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

A large covered space with additional seating is located on the second level of the park near the back end.

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Pier 57. Photo by Michael Young

Current operating times are from 7:00am to 10:00pm daily. The nearest subways to the site are the A, C, E, and L trains at the 14th Street station on Eighth Avenue.

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13 Comments on "Google’s 2-Acre Rooftop Park Opens to the Public at Pier 57 in Chelsea, Manhattan"

  1. David : Sent From Heaven. | April 26, 2022 at 8:49 am | Reply

    Famous landmarks in the big city, and views on land along the edge onto large body of water. Moving to a location on the surface of beautiful urban, so relaxed inner-city areas: Thanks to Michael Young.

  2. The pier is owned by the city so everything has to be open to the public.

    • It’s owned by NY State, not City. The pier is part of Hudson River Park, a state project that is supposed to be financially self-sustaining, and this pier is one of a small number where the park’s enabling legislation allows the park to lease out space to commercial tenants to help pay for operations. That’s why this pier will have office space (Google) and also the food service tenants like City Winery and the food hall.

  3. This is the building City Winery occupies? A photo of the front of the building showing where the entrances to the park, food court and office components. Looks like a very nice project. RXR does a lot of landscaping on their suburban properties.

  4. Patrick C Valentino | April 26, 2022 at 10:57 am | Reply

    Glad this happened. There are so many open spaces that make Manhattan and NYC great

  5. Yet another lovely space for great views.

  6. Beautiful views and a great location. Impressive!

  7. Angela Medina | April 27, 2022 at 1:22 am | Reply

    My favor area chelsea i love there, i think is one of the best place to live in manhattan hope to finde an apartment again one day to live and enjoy the rest of my life. If any way possible yimby org of realestate can help me. Thanks

  8. The whole setting looks like a cacophony of inept adolescent ‘form-making’ self-indulgence, unmoored from natural landscape. Prettied up with marigolds? Try again. From here. We see a collection of dystopian concoctions from a ‘leaning tower’ (oh my goodness how terribly ‘avant grade’!!! Oh boy how deliciously ‘culturally subversive’!!!) to “Mommy’s Closet Floor”, a collection of high-heeled ‘stilettos’ – turned planter boxes (just too ‘imaginative’ and ‘creative’ for words!!!). (Just so much ‘excitement’ everywhere one looks!!!). New York looking like a retro third world ‘Worlds Fair’. What’s next on this ‘pseudo’ horizon? Stay tuned? Nah, a bore.

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