(21 May 2021) A new park that appears to float on pilings above the Hudson River opened to the public just off the Manhattan shoreline Friday, four years after a fight between media mogul Barry Diller and a billionaire real estate developer threatened to derail it.
The new park, called Little Island but nicknamed Diller Island while under construction, was built with $260 million from the foundation of Diller, the former 20th Century Fox CEO, and his wife, fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg.
"Some of the features at Little Island are our pathways they're winding and some people call them meditative because you find you just sort of slow down because you want to take in the landscape and appreciate all the views," Trish Santini, Executive director, Little Island said.
Little Island's flowers, trees and performance spaces rest on 132 concrete pots that the park's creators call tulip pots.
The pots are set on pilings of different heights, so that paths wind through the 2.4-acre (1-hecare) park at a gentle, rolling grade.
The design is from Thomas Heatherwick, who also created the climbing structure known as the Vessel some 20 blocks north of Little Island.
Diller, also a major donor to the nearby High Line, has spoken of Little Island as an enchanted forest or a visit to Oz.
The park is reachable by two bridges.
"We have three different overlooks that give you different perspectives of the city and the river," Santini pointed out.
Plans for the project, part of the state-run Hudson River Park, were announced in 2014, but several lawsuits were filed arguing that the park had been planned without public input and could threaten marine wildlife.
Real estate developer Douglas Durst, who had been pushed out of his position as chair of the fundraising group Friends of Hudson River Park a few years before, was revealed to have bankrolled the lawsuits filed by the nonprofit City Club of New York.
"We've seen this thing being built for a long time, and it's nothing like what you've imagined because it was in the process of being built and there was a lot of controversy," Tequila Minsky said. "I think it's very beautiful," Minbsky, who lives in the SOHO neighborhood of New York City, but "once you walk all these areas and you check out everything and it's quite lovely, then what?"
Facing rising costs because of the litigation, Diller announced in September 2017 that he was pulling the plug.
He agreed to revive the project the next month after Gov. Andrew Cuomo brokered a deal.
"It's amazing. It's absolutely beautiful and it's well constructed," Jupiter said.
"It's a good place for tourists to come. And New Yorkers," Jupiter, who lives in the Little Italy neighbor of the city, stressed.
Melissa Ballantyne was in the park with her three daughters.
Ballantyne wanted them to experience the new park. She also thought it was a good place for them to sign on for thier on-line classes.
"We walked around just to get a feel of it," Ballantyne said. "The views are amazing."
Little Island will be open from 6 a.m. to 1 a.m. every day, but there will be timed entry noon to 8 p.m. at least through September, Santini said.
Entertainment including musical performances, theater and dance will start in mid-June, she said.
There will be a mix of free and ticketed performances at the park's a 687-seat amphitheater.
A smaller stage in an area called the Glade will host additional performances.
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