Give a developer an inch and he will take a mile; give him a mile and you get Hudson Yards…We can’t pretend to be shocked. The city has been in bed with the Real Estate Boards for several decades now.

We can’t pretend to be shocked. The city has been in bed with the Real Estate Board for several decades now, and no mayor has been able to say no to the kind of tax revenues that accrue from increased FARs and taller buildings in fashionable areas of town. Throw in the 10% “affordable” housing that the law requires and you can’t be blamed for selling out to the 0.1%, as Mayor De Blasio has discovered in his second term. Never mind the acute housing shortage that isn’t being addressed.

Any socially progressive architect or urbanist will lament the loss of civic polity that has allowed developments like Hudson Yards to proliferate in global cities throughout the world, from London to Hong Kong. What many have missed is the mindless proliferation of urban typologies that long ago ceased to benefit the citizens of these metropolitan areas—shopping malls with boutique stores, museums for boutique collectors, and high viewing/living platforms for people with boutique incomes.

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But if middle class shoppers in America are abandoning the “public” shopping experience for the comfort of their own homes (and computer screens), the super-rich can apparently afford the leisure time to walk through sparsely populated mini-malls near their gated enclaves in Costa Mesa, Rancho Santa Margharita, and Del Mar. Perhaps when they are in Manhattan they will take an Uber to Hudson Yards to mingle with the oligarchs who purportedly reside there. They can grab a bite at Nobu or Thomas Keller’s latest gastro extravaganza. 

The fate of the super-tall apartment tower is even more puzzling to contemplate. .... 

Nothing suggests that constructing a “super-tall” will become economically viable for anyone but the super-rich. Why continue to pay architects super-high fees for doing so? There are many more pressing design problems that could fruitfully occupy the minds at SOM, HOK, AEC, OMA and KPF in the near future. (OMG, did I miss anyone?)

Will “the public” be able to enjoy the cultural wonders that are part of Hudson Yards, as they do the skating rink and Lee Lawrie sculptures at Rockefeller Center?
Will “the public” be able to enjoy the cultural wonders that are part of Hudson Yards, as they do the skating rink and Lee Lawrie sculptures at Rockefeller Center? - Reporters have climbed the 150 staircases that make up the Vessel and their impressions are enthusiastic—new views of Manhattan and New Jersey will always be a draw. Though I haven’t yet had the experience myself, I can’t help but notice some painfully obvious resemblances between the Shed and the back of a garbage truck, and an even more disturbing image looking down into the bottom of the Vessel. Did Ross and his partners just pour $200 million down the toilet? Sadly, with all the money they’ll be making, it won’t matter one bit.   © Mark Allen Hewitt