STAPLETON — After nearly a dozen years of planning and three years of construction, the city officially opened a waterfront park they said will connect several of the large developments headed to the North Shore.
The city cut the ribbon on the $35 million new Stapleton Waterfront Park, adjacent to the large Urby Staten Island development on Front Street, which has 6 acres of greenspace, benches, a fish cleaning station and several resiliency measures to help prevent flooding in the neighborhood.
"This is no longer the forgotten borough," Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver said. "Staten Island is cool, things are happening. It's great to see this amenity come to life."
The project, which started construction in 2013, has bioswales designed to absorb flood waters, drainage and other measures intended to make the area more resilient in case another Hurricane Sandy hits the borough.
Elected officials also commended the initiative for finally giving the neighborhood access again to the waterfront and starting to provide a connection to upcoming projects like the New York Wheel and Lighthouse Point in St. George.
"We know this is the start of something really big along this corridor," Borough President James Oddo said. "We want to connect this esplanade, we want to connect it to the people of Staten Island, we want to connect it parts of it to each other."
The park takes over the former U.S. Navy Homeport which was put out to developers by the city in 2003, 10 years after it was decommissioned by the Navy, the Staten Island Advance reported.
"EDC was an early believer and proponent to developing Stapleton to reconnect the upland neighborhood with its waterfront," said Maria Torres-Springer, president of the EDC. "This is such an amazing park."
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Ironstate Development recently opened the first phase of their $150 million Urby Staten Island project on the former Homeport, that has 104-apartments with prices for studios starting at $1,735, one-bedrooms at $2,165 and two-bedrooms at $3,310.
The second phase of Urby Staten Island is expected to break ground in the summer with another building that has more than 300 apartments and 30,000 square feet of retail space, the developers said.
The city also plans to open a new tidal wetlands area, dubbed "The Cove," in the summer between Canal and Water streets and start work on the next phase of their Stapleton Waterfront Development site, Torres-Springer said. The project will also include upgrades to the streets and infrastructure of the neighborhood, Torres-Springer said.
