Dive Brief:
- A U.S. District Court judge has revoked the permit for a $200 million New York City pier project, putting the future of the performing arts island in serious jeopardy, according to The New York Times.
- Judge Lorna G. Schofield said the Army Corp of Engineers did not give enough weight to the fact that the proposed 2.75-acre Pier 55, or Diller Island, was in a protected fish and wildlife sanctuary on the Hudson River and ordered project officials to come up with alternate plans.
- If the development moved forward, it would feature three performance venues, each divided by landscaping and all sitting on top of 550 pilings. IAC/InterActiveCorp Chairman Barry Diller would fund most of the project.
Dive Insight:
Project officials lost the decision despite the support of New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo, New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio, other local officials and the Hudson River Park Trust, which manages the 5-mile stretch of park where Diller Island would be built.
Preconstruction reviews have the potential to scuttle even the most popular and expensive projects, and they consider more than just whether wildlife or some other natural resource will be negatively impacted. Such is the case for the $5.6 billion Maryland Purple Line light-rail project, which has been indefinitely delayed because its review threw up red flags around the issue of ridership, or potential lack thereof.
A federal judge ruled that the Federal Transit Administration must take another look at the Purple Line's anticipated ridership figures and whether it adequately considered the declining use of the Washington, DC, Metrorail. The project is schedule-sensitive and is in danger of losing the intricate private financing that Purple Line officials secured prior to losing the court ruling. To compound the rail's problems, crews have not been able to start work on the necessary preconstruction deforestation work. If they can't complete it by April 1, they must wait until September, when the area will be clear of migratory bird nests.