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Long-Delayed South Street Seaport Park Slated to Open in 2015

By Irene Plagianos | November 29, 2013 9:31am
 The long-delayed Peck Slip Park, which will sit between on Peck Slip, between Water and South Streets, is slated to open in 2015.
Peck Slip Park Slated to Open in 2015
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SOUTH STREET SEAPORT — A long-delayed South Street Seaport park is finally sailing ahead.

Peck Slip Park, a green space and granite plaza set to be built along the middle of a wide slice of cobblestone Peck Slip, between Water and South streets, is slated to open in the fall of 2015, Parks Department officials said.

The idea for a park that reflects the maritime history of Peck Slip — an area once used as a docking slip for boats, which offered George Washington and his troops protection as they fled from the Battle of Brooklyn — has been in the planning stages since 2006, with the city presenting several versions of the design over the years before winning public support.

The design for the park is now ready, but construction of the park is still on hold until the city finishes revamping the old water mains beneath Peck Slip, work that started in 2011.

Lawrence Mauro, a project manager for the Parks Department, has said at Community Board 1 meetings this year that Hurricane Sandy set back the infrastructure work on Peck Slip, which in turn pushed back the park's construction.

But at a meeting last week, the Parks Department said a contractor would finally begin building the park next October and finish about a year later, in October 2015. 

The park's "ghost-ship"-inspired design is shaped like a boat, getting slightly wider as you move toward South Street. The greenery-dotted granite plaza with benches will also have a pool of water, surrounded by several curved wooden beams, evoking the skeleton of an old ship. The space was previously a parking lot.

"We are thrilled for this park to finally be moving forward," said CB1 chairwoman Catherine McVay Hughes.