The name of New York City’s newest public park, now taking shape in Hudson River Park by West 13th Street, has been announced as Little Island by The Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation.
Upon its expected completion in spring 2021, Little Island will serve as a park, free to the public, comprised of 2.4 acres of green space with approximately 100 species of trees and shrubs.
Designed to serve as an urban retreat – for both New Yorkers and out-of-town visitors – the park will host an array of arts, educational and community programming, each staged at various points within the site and all throughout the calendar year.
Little Island will be one of the latest additions to the four-mile-long Hudson River Park, which runs along the Hudson River from Chambers Street to West 59th Street.
With landscape architecture by Signe Nielsen of Mathews Nielsen Landscape Architects, the park will feature rolling hills, numerous walking paths and open lawns, with spectacular river views and a carefully curated mixes of trees, shrubs, perennials and grasses.
The terrain will be situated 15 feet above the Hudson River, and more specifically, on 132 individual concrete support structures that emerge from the water below and serve as the foundation for the site.
Designed by Heatherwick Studio, these distinct, “tulip-like” structures will allow for the site to sit at assorted topographical elevations, ranging from 15 feet to 62 feet. In addition to the undulating appearance, the elevations will allow for visitors on Little Island to take in never-seen-before views of the city and skyline.
Little Island will be located at 55 Hudson Greenway, with entrances on 13th and 14th Streets, and will be accessible via a newly constructed section of esplanade in Hudson River Park largely funded by New York State.
Once inside the park, visitors will be invited to explore the entirety of the site. Additional details regarding Little Island’s programming will be announced at a later date.
