New Yorkers enjoy new public park floating on Hudson River

(MENAFN - Gulf Times) A new public park skimming the surface of the Hudson River atop 132 concrete ''tulips” opened on Friday for New Yorkers eager to emerge from a year of pandemic restrictions. ''Little Island”, which can be accessed free-of-charge by two pedestrian bridges, offers lush green spaces and scenic views into southern Manhattan and New Jersey for those who want to get away without getting away. Its opening follows the lifting of most of New York’s coronavirus (Covid-19) restrictions last Wednesday, when more than 60% of the 8.4mn population had received at least one dose of vaccine. ''I am so happy to be here today as New York has suffered so much during this pandemic,” said Barbara Kenner, a 60-year-old office manager who is currently unemployed. The city lost over 30,000 lives during the crisis, while New Yorkers were forced to forgo indoor dining and observe capacity limits in shops, gyms, hair salons and offices. Landscape designer Signe Nielsen, who is responsible for the park’s giant flowerpot design containing more than 350 species of flower as well as shrubs and trees, wanted visitors to ''leave the city, the traffic, and come into a space and just be surprised”, she told AFP. The ''tulips” that make up the park’s base – each one unique and weighing up to 75 tonnes – were made in upstate New York and brought 130 miles (210km) down the Hudson River before being lifted by floating crane onto the site and filled with soil. The artificial island, which cost $260mn, was financed mainly by billionaire Barry Diller and his wife Diane von Furstenberg, the project’s creator. Diller told the New York Times that he would bear the costs of maintaining the park for the first 20 years.MENAFN22052021000067011011ID1102116806