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Last week, city officials and the Business Improvement District unveiled a beautiful new public plaza in the Meatpacking District where folks are able to eat, mingle and walk through. The destination also features a colorful pedestrian mural commissioned by the Whitney Museum just across the street.
Dubbed Gansevoort Landing and found on Tenth Avenue between Gansevoort and Horatio Streets, the location is meant to connect the neighborhood to the newly opened public beach Gansevoort Peninsula by Hudson River Park.
The Whitney commissioned Alake Shilling to create "Buggy Bear Goes on a Cool Cruise," a 120-foot mural portraying imaginary character Buggy Bear under "blue skies, the road ahead littered with flowers," reads an official press release.
“With this plaza, the greenery, seating, and beautiful public art have helped transform a formerly dangerous street into an inviting pedestrian haven with safer crossings between the Meatpacking District and Gansevoort Peninsula,” New York City Department of Transportation Commissioner Ydanis Rodriguez said in an official statement.
The Meatpacking District is clearly in the midst of a glow-up. In fact, Gansevoort Landing is part of the larger Western Gateway Vision Plan, which seeks to enhance portions of the western end of the Meatpacking District with pedestrians in mind.
A general focus on the non-motorized part of the local population has defined major city projects in the past few months. Just last week, for example, officials announced that a portion of Delancey Street will transform into a pedestrian plaza while a proposal to permanently turn Fifth Avenue into a no-car boulevard set the Internet ablaze less than a year ago.
For what it's worth, we're personally excited about all it all.