Hudson River Park Trust to issue RFP for Pier 40 indoor space after unauthorized work; community urges P3 stay

Hudson River Park Trust said it will issue a request for proposals to select an operator for the rent-free interior space at Pier 40 after the Trust terminated a long-standing permit following unauthorized construction, Trust President and CEO Noreen Doyle told Manhattan City Community Board members and a packed public meeting on Oct. 27.

The Park Trust emphasized it has committed to retain the space for nonprofit, noncommercial youth sports while it runs a procurement process. “Hudson River Park loves youth sports,” Doyle said, and the Trust “immediately announced at that time that the space would remain for nonprofit, noncommercial, public benefit youth sports space.” She told the meeting the Trust expects to publish the RFP within about one to two weeks and to try to select an operator quickly “to minimize the interruption.”

The procurement followed the Trust's discovery earlier this year of significant, unauthorized construction inside the interior space used by P3, the volunteer-run youth baseball and softball program that has operated there for roughly 27 years. Doyle said the permitted agreement contained prohibitions on that kind of work and that the Trust, as steward of public property, had to act.

Dozens of speakers urged the Trust to keep P3 or an equivalent…