Since the signing of the Hudson River Park Act in 1998, the Park has grown piece by piece and pier by pier. Explore a brief timeline of this still-unfolding public space.
1998Hudson River Park Act is enacted by the New York State legislature in June of 1998, creating the Park on a mix of State and City land and establishing the Hudson River Park Trust as a State public benefit corporation and partnership between NY State and City following completion of an extensive environmental review process. Governor George Pataki signs the Act into law on September 8, 1998. |  |
 | 1999Following legal challenges, NYS Department of Environmental Conservation issues permits allowing Park development and construction starts on an upland park area in Greenwich Village. |
2000US Army Corps of Engineers issues final permits enabling in-water construction of the piers and bulkhead. Chelsea Waterside Park, built by the NYS Department of Transportation, opens on the east side of Route 9A. |  |
 | 2003Piers 45, 46 and 51 and the adjacent upland park areas open in Greenwich Village. |
2004The courtyard ballfield at Pier 40 and tennis courts at Canal Street are opened to the public. Both facilities are funded by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, through Community Development Block Grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. |  |
 | 2005Hudson River Park opens Clinton Cove, which includes the first non-motorized boathouse in the Park at Pier 96 and a “get down” at Pier 95. |
2006Pier 84 opens in Hell’s Kitchen and Pier 66 and the upland Habitat Area between W 26 and W 29 Streets open in Chelsea. |  |
 | 2007NYSDOT and the Hudson River Park Trust restore the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Float Transfer Bridge at Pier 66a using transportation grant funding. |
2008The Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum is rededicated following the reconstruction of Pier 86. Riverfront areas between Pier 26 and Pier 40 in Tribeca open to the public including new basketball and tennis courts, and the AIDS Memorial is dedicated in Greenwich Village. |  |
 | 2009Pier 64 opens in Chelsea. |
2010Piers 62, 63 and Chelsea Lawn open, as do Pier 25 and the upland amenities south to Chambers Street in Tribeca. |  |
 | 2013The upland area near Pier 26 opens to the public. |
2014Downtown Boathouse returns to Pier 26 following the construction of a new boathouse building for their free kayaking program. |  |
 | 2015Construction begins on widening the esplanade between Gansevoort Peninsula and W 14 Street. |
2018The Park’s LGBTQ Monument is dedicated in the West Village and the Park opens the “Pipefish Playground” at Chelsea Waterside, funded by local elected representatives and Hudson River Park Friends. |  |
 | 2020Against many odds and in the middle of a pandemic, Pier 26 opens on schedule as an environmentally-themed public Park pier with an engineered rocky salt marsh called the Tide Deck. |
2021Little Island opens as a new public pier at the former Pier 54/55 area. and the Whitney Museum of American Art donates the monumental Day’s End sculpture to Hudson River Park where the former Pier 52 once stood. Pier 76 opens as interim public open space, and Hudson River Park Trust installs 11 million oysters as part of Tribeca Habitat Enhancement project. |  |
 | 2022Pier 57 rooftop park opens, and Hudson River Park Trust installs 20 million juvenile oysters at the Gansevoort Peninsula. |
2023Re-imagined Chelsea Waterside Park “Phase 2” opens in June 2023. The ground floor of Pier 57 with public amenities opens, including the River Project’s Discovery Tank, an interactive technology-powered gallery and classroom. New Park areas at the Gansevoort Peninsula, Pier 97 and the Pier 26 Science Play Area will open in 2023. |  |