NYC is home to some pretty gorgeous parks–from those offering stunning waterfront views to parks serving as the perfect place to have a picnic–so it was no surprise to us when NYC ranked in the top ten for having the best parks in the U.S.
And now NYC’s Little Island is getting the recognition it deserves–last week it received a 2023 Urban Land Institute (ULI) Americas Award for Excellence in Urban Open Space!
Little Island is a public park in Hudson River Park envisioned as a solution to repair Pier 54 (which was damaged by Hurricane Sandy) through a lush, seasonal landscape with rolling hills, walking paths and open lawns, a range of performance spaces, and dazzling views of NYC.
Since opening on May 21, 2021, Little Island has welcomed over 3.5 million visitors and hosted over 572 free performances and 245 arts workshops–many of which are going on now during their third summer season!
“Beyond being a jaw-dropping engineering achievement and stunning landscape, Little Island is also an extraordinary public-private partnership…Through our partnership, the Hudson River Park Trust achieved its goal of delivering new public open space at one of the piers long planned to be rebuilt, but in a way that no one could have conceived of when the Park was being planned,” said Noreen Doyle, President & CEO of the Hudson River Park Trust.
ULI began the Awards for Excellence program in 1979 to recognize truly superior development projects, and today the real estate and land use industry widely recognizes the ULI Global Awards for Excellence as one of its most prestigious awards programs.
Little Island will now advance to the Urban Land Institute Global Awards for Excellence, competing against projects from the Europe and Asia Pacific regions.
Winners will be announced October 2023.
“I’m so glad that in addition to making so many people happy when they come to Little Island, we are getting an award for excellence by the Urban Land Institute. It is a very special honor,” said Barry Diller, Little Island Founder.