Little Island to Open for Live Performances in Spring 2021

Little Island, a new $250 million three-acre park built on a former pier in Hudson River Park, will open in the late spring of 2021 and host live entertainment. The park, located on Pier 55 at West 14th Street just south of the new City Winery, will present a series entitled "Perform in the Park" which will feature "performers, artists, buskers, merrymakers, entertainers, troupes, bands, and players of all disciplines," from June to September 2021, according to its website.

The park will include a 689-seat waterfront amphitheater overlooking the Hudson River, as well as a more intimate performance area, the Glade, at the pier’s southeastern corner. Programming will consist of music concerts, theater and dance, readings and talks, art, film and more. Most events will be presented for free or at a low cost. The events at the amphitheater will end at midnight. Like the rest of Hudson River Park, the pier’s curfew will be 1 a.m.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said in his State of the State address on January 12 that he would conclude his proposed New York Arts Revival with the opening of the park in June 2021. See the related article, "Gov. Cuomo Launches Live Entertainment in Three weeks, but No Relief for Local Promoters," at  

https://themanhattanbeat.blogspot.com/2021/01/gov-cuomo-launches-live-entertainment.html.

Applications for the summer program closed on September 18, 2020. The Little Island website invites performers to check for  future cycles of "Perform in the Park."

Little Island is funded largely by the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation, in the largest single gift to a park in New York City history. The "entertainment island" will be a lushly landscaped maritime botanic garden with 35 species of trees, 65 species of shrubs, and 270 varieties of grasses, perennials, vines, and bulbs, many of which were selected for their fragrance and attractiveness to birds and pollinators.

The park operators have submitted an application to the State Liquor Authority for a tavern wine license in order to operate four bars on the island. The park’s central plaza would have two bars, along with 100 tables and 300 seats, and the amphitheater and Glade each would have one bar. This proposal has caused concern within the local community.

The Village Sun reported that Community Board 2 met on January 21 and approved a resolution that would confine the consumption of beer and wine to the 12,100-square foot main plaza, except during permitted events in two of the park’s designated performance areas. Board members also voted that alcohol served on the main plaza should end at 10 p.m., except on Fridays and Saturdays, when it would end at 11 p.m. Some neighbors would like to see the bars closing even earlier, one hour after sunset. The resolution passed by a vote of 33 yes, 10 no, one recusal and one abstention. The resolution’s language states that the board supports a denial of the wine tavern license unless Pier 55, Inc., agrees to the C.B. 2 stipulations. The board will forward this recommendation to the State Liquor Authority.

The promoters of the "entertainment Island" events oppose a 10 p.m. alcohol cutoff and seek to allow visitors to be able to stroll throughout most of the park with their wine or beer from 11 a.m. until 11 p.m. The Pier 55, Inc., team would not compromise on “free-range alcohol” in the park or agree to ending alcohol sales on nonperformance nights at 10 p.m.

All community board resolutions are advisory. The State Liquor Authority will determine whether or not to grant Little Island's license and, if so, what stipulations would be enforced.

(all photographs are courtesy of littleisland.org)