Community Corner PHOTOS: Hudson Yards Debuts Shops, Restaurants, Public Spaces The new neighborhood on Manhattan's west side opened to the public Friday. Reply Public spaces and the Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards opened to the public Friday. (Photos by Brendan Krisel/Patch) HUDSON YARDS, NY — Hudson Yards, the new mega-development on Manhattan's west side that has been in the works for more than a decade, opened its public spaces, shops and restaurants to the public Friday. Much of Hudson Yards is still under construction, but the portions opened Friday include a seven-story retail and dining center called the Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards and a large five-acre open space that features public art and places for people to gather. Businesses setting up shop at the Shops & Restaurants at Hudson Yards include: Neiman Marcus, Brooks Brothers, H&M, Lululemon, Sephora, Rolex, Tiffany & Co. and other high-end retail destinations. Notabal chefs such as David Chang, Michael Lomonaco and José Andrés will open dining ventures. Much of New York City's political set attended Friday's grand opening including City Council Speaker Corey Johson, Senator Chuck Schumer, Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. and former two-time MTA Chairman Joe Lhota. Mayor Bill de Blasio was a notable absence. Celebrities such as Carmelo Anthony, Martha Stewart and Anderson Cooper — who helped MC the ceremony — also made an appearance. "The opening of Hudson Yards is a big day for my district and the entire city," Johnson said in a statement. "I am particularly excited for the good union jobs this project has created and continues to create, the city's tax base expanding as a result of this project and the affordable hosing and the new public spaces and cultural offerings that Hudson Yards will bring to the neighborhood.<doc-sep>It’s being called the largest private real-estate development in the history of the United States: Hudson Yards, a collection of shopping centers, restaurants, apartments and office buildings on Manhattan’s west side. Don’t miss:Hudson Yards offers shoppers a look at the mall of the future It officially opens Friday, and on Thursday evening it heralded the opening with a party for celebrities and VIPs, as well as the press. The last time the city saw a development this size, it was Rockefeller Center in the 1930s, according to the New York Times. Already, Hudson Yards is home to corporations including L’Oreal BLK, +0.28% , BlackRock and VaynerMedia, as well as retailers like Dior CDI, +0.31% , Fendi MC, +0.14% , Kenzo and Neiman Marcus. New York has afforded Hudson Yards some $6 billion in tax breaks and other government assistance, according to the New York Times, citing data from the New School. It reportedly cost more than $20 billion to build. Naturally, the development, which according to its website promises to be “the cultural center of Manhattan’s New West Side” and “a template for the future of cities,” has gotten residents and visitors to New York stirred up. One of the most outspoken critics: Michael Kimmelman, an architecture writer for the New York Times. He had choice words about the “Vessel,” a sculptural object that is part of the Hudson Yards development. “The object — I hesitate to call this a sculpture — is a 150-foot-high, $200 million, latticed, waste-basket-shaped stairway to nowhere, sheathed in a gaudy, copper-cladded steel,” he wrote. He called Hudson Yards “a supersized suburban-style office park” and a “relic of dated 2000s thinking.” The focus of the buildings is their exterior “shiny envelopes.” “Hudson Yards glorifies a kind of surface spectacle — as if the peak ambitions of city life were consuming luxury goods and enjoying a smooth, seductive, mindless materialism,” he wrote, with each building existing chiefly “to act like a logo for itself.“ “The assortment,” Kimmelman evocatively suggested, “suggests so many crowded perfume bottles vying for attention in a department-store window display.” He wasn’t the only one exuding skepticism. Hudson Yards is a “billionaire’s fantasy city,” wrote Justin Davidson of New York magazine. When he enters, he feels a mix of “wonder and dejection,” he wrote. “I can’t help feeling like an alien here, as though I’ve crossed from real New York, with all its jangling mess, into a movie studio’s back-lot version. Everything is too clean, too flat, too art-directed.” Phillip Picardi, the editor-in-chief of Out magazine, said he attended the development’s opening night, and left “thoroughly confused.” And some on Twitter teasingly compared the “Vessel” at Hudson Yards to objects including pinecones and fruit covered in netting. That said, some expressed excitement about the food and shops that are part of Hudson Yards, including a food hall called Mercado Little Spain, assembled by chef and philanthropist José Andrés. It will also include a fried-chicken restaurant called “Fuku,” from the owners of the well-known Momofuku and related restaurants. Momofuku’s owners are also opening Peach Mart, a to-go restaurant. Could it be those types of attractions that bring the real New Yorkers in? “If New Yorkers take to the Shed and eat at the mall, Hudson Yards may come to seem less like some gated community in Singapore,” Kimmelman wrote for the New York Times.<doc-sep>
Complete Coverage: NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – After 10 years in the making, the Hudson Yards development is officially open to the public. Anderson Cooper and Andra Day were joined by choirs, Broadway stars, athletes, even Big Bird for the grand opening Friday. Full Video: Hudson Yards Grand Opening Ceremony “Today, we are a new neighborhood where the West Side all comes together. Today, we created a new model for the world to see a neighborhood development that encourages sustainability and resiliency. Today, we created a dynamic hub of creativity and innovation. Today, once again, we showed that New York will always be the greatest city in the world,” Related Companies CEO Stephen Ross told the crowd. Hudson Yards is the most expensive private real estate project in U.S. history, featuring more than 100 stores, restaurants and luxury condos. It’s the city’s largest development since Rockefeller Center. A new city within a city will be officially unveiled today… Hudson Yards shops and restaurants are open to the public starting at 12 noon, and so is the Vessel, a giant sculpture art-piece that you can climb for free @CBSNewYork pic.twitter.com/MPIrww8EJq — Natalie Duddridge (@CityNatalie) March 15, 2019 The sprawling complex that sits on top of a Long Island Rail Road yard was six years in the making since they first broke ground. “It was a little bit like open heart surgery, swinging steel and really working with the railroad,” said Hudson Yards President Jay Cross. “There was a lot of structural gymnastics.” Web Extra: CBSN New York’s Alice Gainer Tours The ‘Vessel’ Within Hudson Yards It’s a place where New Yorkers can work, live and play, with 18 million square feet of commercial and residential space. “We’re not just selling a building,” Senior Vice President Sherry Tobak said. “The reason why people are living here is because of the lifestyle.” Condos start at $3 million and range up to $32 million, but there will be 1,100 units of affordable housing. The neighborhood is expected to generate new jobs and opportunities for New Yorkers with 100 shops, dozens more restaurants, 14 acres of gardens and parks, and even a performing arts center, called “The Shed,” which has a retractable roof. There’s also “Vessel,” a 150-foot structure the public can visit and climb. Absent from Friday’s festivities was Mayor Bill de Blasio. The project was initiated by former mayor Michael Bloomberg. For a chance to check out the Vessel, click here.