I appreciate that this channel is not simply, "look at these amazing new developments!", but also looks critically at the effect these developments have on the communities in which they're built. It would be easy to just make a fluff piece, but taking into account the lack of affordable housing and the risk to taxpayers really elevates The B1M to a journalistic standard.
@@tannermanasco2110 I think the episodes about Dubai were also too much marketing while skimming over issues like foreign labour living conditions, sustainability etc. This one is a good balance
Well, that is exactly what make me disagree with the conclusion of this video. If every development only focuses on "the communities in which they're built", then Manhattan should build its own airport and don't use JFK, LGA or EWR. To me, a community is much larger than a few blocks around the area, and in this case, "the community" is effectively the whole New York Metropolitan Area of over 20 million inhabitants. Manhattan, especially Midtown Manhattan, is the epicenter of this area and should be developed as such. If everyone has such selfish thoughts as the person in this video, then New Jersey can refuse Amtrak trains from Manhattan to cross their land, and Queens can block LIRR trains to cut through their neighborhoods. I do agree that we should balance development to ensure sustainability, but that should be looked at in a larger scale. Do we need more affordable housing? Definitely yes, but not necessarily in Manhattan. I personally moved far away from Manhattan and commuted to Midtown everyday (pre-pandemic) for work so I can afford a home, and no, I don't complain about that. I do enjoy coming to Manhattan, including Hudson Yards, for things that are not available in my immediate neighborhood just in the similar way Manhattanites enjoy going to Queens when they need a flight. Before the existence of Hudson Yards, there is no similar neighborhood in New York City, so I welcome it as an addition to the diversity of this city. Yes, "diversity" includes diversity of availability. One cannot find the stores and restaurants there at every corner of this city.
@@honeytgb I don't quite understand your comment but still try to answer: First, when mentioning "eating Harlem's lunch", do you mean a TH-cam video a guy created last year or something else? I cannot verify the validity of that so I decide not to have an opinion. Secondly, the so called $4.5 billion tax money has 2 parts: a $750 million tax break to the developer and the rest on capital development of the area, of which the majority amount goes to the extension of the 7 train. The latter, in my opinion, is something that the City should have done anyway, and that still benefits average citizens including myself, who do not afford to live in Hudson Yards or anywhere near it but do enjoy going there. As income from the new development will generate taxes in the future, the tax break means basically not collecting tax revenues that would have not been there to begin with. In addition, as this buildout happens over many years, the annualized impact on tax $ is much less. In term of how this project affects other areas, then it is something outside of my knowledge. Thirdly, and most importantly, my comment is to voice my disagreement on the opinion that development should only focus on the needs in that immediate area. If you go through my comment and try to answer to yourself every item I mentioned: "Yes" if you agree and "No" if you do not agree, then you will know what I mean. Lastly but certainly not least, every city on earth uses public funds for different projects such as airports, and airports certainly do not directly serve everyone in the city, but are vital to the development of the city. Pointing at one project to raise awareness about inequality is more a propaganda than a credible claim. A proper way, in my opinion, is to understand the allocation of cost and compare them to a benchmark, possibly a model city of the same size, then draw a conclusion.
Regardless of the specifics of Hudson Yards, building over "empty" areas of cities like that is such a great idea. I would love to see something like that done for stretches of the Mass Pike in Boston (the already did at Back Bay).
New York is great at gentrification, but at least they tried to put it somewhere that literally didn't get used for buildings. Still, it's just exacerbating the problem in some ways.
The best closing statement of all B1M videos yet, IMHO... "It's lasting success can be determined by the culture and community that grows there. To be truly embraced as a new NYC neighborhood, it has to deliver on what people of Manhattan really need, not just what developers think they want."... that is the issue around of every dollar put on urban development in the world right now.
8:13 "To be truly embraced as a new NYC neighborhood, Hudson Yards will need to deliver what the people of Manhattan really need, not just developers think they want." 💯💯
Except, what the people need and can afford to pay, does not justify the cost of building in NYC. The city is nearing the point of no return and will start resembling Detroit as more and more businesses move out of the city for more business friendly states, where it is cheaper to build and live.
Developers are the ones taking on billions of dollars of debt. That would be like telling a college student to take on a $200K student loan for a degree in the medical field in order to spend a life doing charity services for free. People are free to do what they want with their investments. Supply/demand will balance out what a developer can do because if no one buys condos / rents apartments, the developer would have to come down in price. But if there is a market there, then let the developer serve that market. No one is entitled as a matter of right to live in Manhattan any more than I am entitled to own a Ferrari.
@@SagaciousSilence liberals don’t care about economics. Everything should be free, the rich can pay for it since they have unlimited money. Or something like that.
@@SagaciousSilence the issue in NYC is that these buildings aren't going to cost the companies anything to not rent out. They'll just write off the "rent" for the empty real estate. That's why NYC looks like a ghost town right now.
Well done once again The B1M. You make me regret not having fallen in love with Engineering when I was younger and am now envious of people who work on these projects. Thanks a lot. Great video.
I’ve been there once.. I actually liked it. But yeah, it’s kindda sterile at the moment. It has a Dubai feel where everything is just for display. But Hey, it’s still in NYC! In 2-5 years time & when the pandemic is over, this area will be thriving for sure.
yea i live direclty next to it for school and it looks really cool. The Vessel is nice looking and its cool to walk around the stores inside, but I kinda agree. The Edge is probably the best thing there
@@TyNeverLied I am in South Africa, I didnt study any construction program in college but i learnt the about the trade where i was working as HR manager
Yes, too many projects are “let’s just build it as is and the city around it will adapt to it” and not, “should we build it so it functions better, and can be altered over time?”
It’s actually kinda of hard to even get over there. The 7 train station be closed for no reason and waiting for a bus in the shadows of those skyscrapers be having you feel like Spongebob at Rock Bottom. Hopefully the area gets better over time.
@Harry | Didn’t a cluster of y’all skyscrapers form a wind tunnel on street-level and was blowing people away? Cause if it’s still there, I wanna experience it.
Oh you must watch a different channel. The channel started with highly informative, long videos about special topics. And ended as a 6-10 minutes/video mass production with click oriented topics and content depth of a weak wikipedia article. But I guess in times of TikTok & co., thats all what people can take and they feel really intellectual when they finished this high quality 8 minutes information marathon of a video.Omg. Btw. the only interessting parts in this whole video is a copy of a 7 years old video released when the project started...gg.
I don't think Hudson Yards is necessarily "bad", but there's so many ways it could be better. Its desolate feeling is almost an inevitability when constructing a district from scratch, rather than it growing incrementally, but I do believe it will acquire more character over time, as people live and grow-up in the area. I agree with the point in the video, stating that the housing-heavy Western phase of the project should have been built first, rather than flooding a retail-rich area with more retail. NYC desperately needs much more housing supply, and the project could have made a small but noticeable impact in rents in Midtown, though it will never become "cheap". People decry HY as "gentrification", but Midtown and Manhattan as a whole have been gentrified for quite a long time. More development for the city is generally good, but with the amount of public funds that have gone into it, the level of attention to providing social amenities to West Manhattan should have been much greater. The Western phase should be built, and I am confident it will have some benefit to the area, but the developers and the city need to learn from the shortcomings of the Eastern phase when building the new residences and the school.
I like the Hudson Yards feeling "empty" as how he proclaims that it is! Cause in fact it isn't. Cause it keeps that glamorous, and that rich neighborhood feel in which I like it. I like it at peace where you can walk freely and feel slightly "safe" lmao.. cause you never know.. but I like the clean look of the neighborhood. I prefer it like that. It's wayyy better.
I think part of it feeling sterile is that there isn't a lot going on at street level... yet. The western part only linked up to the High Line relatively recently. That blockade really reduced a lot of potential traffic from the highline. Add in the Pandemic and yea... desolation. The big thing to me is the lack of outdoor dining. I think Hudson Yards would have been a great place to have a lively plaza with stores surrounding a plaza that people could relax and eat in, like in Europe. But hey, Friedman's is just an avenue away on 33rd, lol, at least they have outdoor dining now.
Most of what goes on in Manhattan real estate isn't about "doing good." It's about making massive amounts of money for real estate agents and developers, and to make sure that the rich can dodge taxes, since those who run the city, like Eric Adams, are all about protecting the rich over the working people.
I’m not too sure its what NY needed but I cant deny it looks good. The 7 train takes you there, then probably the longest escalator I’ve ever been on takes you up to street level. The High Line Park starts/ends there its a very pleasant walk. I still have to check out the Edge what a cool vantage point to see the city from
The longest escalator I took was actually the National Zoo metro escalator. It’s a solid 2 minutes from the bottom to the top and it’s a 20 minute walk uphill to reach the zoo.
Check out the ones for the Moscow (Russia) subway; IIRC they had to put that subway system way deep, so all the escalators are really long. I'm sure there are plenty of videos of them on TH-cam.
Even though I'm not an engineer, engineering student, nor do I have any great interest in engineering, I love this channels vids. They make it so much easier to understand and appreciate.
It is a 'coincidence'...a 'coincidence' that shows how many people in the NYC have lost that spark that made the NYC a world capital of finance and culture. They have all the money and political power in the world, they are the 0.0000000000001% of the world. With all the money they could have done something innovative, technologically and scientifically groundbreaking. Instead they copied a skyscraper from a movie adaptation of a 60 year old Comic book....smh.
@@javierpacheco8234 Thats fine. thats your opinion. I think it looks great. Everytime I am down there looking up. I think Starks actually live up there
Like Samuel, I live half a mile from Hudson Yards but I've been there a total of two times. Once to buy mustard at the Whole Foods and another time in an ill-fated attempt to see the Vessel with my friends. Even though the location isn't all that bad, the 7 train is relatively accessible to all my friends, it just feels so sterile, with all of its spaces and activities catered to the extremely wealthy. When you and all of your friends make less than 50k, the whole neighborhood feels alien. Honestly, there are more things for us to do and eat on the traditionally expensive UES.
It's like the system that was used in the Venice marshes, hundreds of years ago. Drive wooden logs, in a compact grid, into the marsh soil, then build up a plinth (above the lagoon tide levels), on which were built most of the existing structures.
It took forever for Neiman Marcus to come to Manhattan, and in less than three years, it's already gone. Nobody wants to go to a mall when they go to New York City. Hudson Yards, is just that, a mall. An empty mall at that. Even before the pandemic, it was virtually empty. Department stores are one thing, but malls don't belong in city centers.
Really, all NY has become is one giant mall. There's little difference between NYC and a mall apart from the smell and the rampant crime. Same stores repeated every two blocks. Starbucks on every corner like a cancer cell. It's all the same. The stuff that actually used to make NY what it was is nearly gone. Now, it's just an overgrown, over-priced, over-hyped NY theme park.
tbh hudson yards fucked up by going for luxury stores. if they instead copied flushing ny's model and put like 50+ small restaurants and a ton of super small shops (at a breakeven or slight loss) then the area would be instantly cool and after 2-3 years they can systematically jack up rent. Going for a small number of massive luxury department stores was the height of incompetence here. That strategy only makes sense if NY didnt already have rich and posh areas. The developers here seemed to just lack the will to be profitable and wanted to repeat the same cookie cutter strategies that worked in say 1980
The Hudson Yards is an extraordinary development and very creative architecturally, especially considering it is built over active rail yards. 30 Hudson Yards in particular, with its protruding observation deck is a very unique and interesting building. Thank you for your work on this wonderful video and channel.
Once again, an amazing presentation of Architectural Construction “Facts” with no bias (hopefully) showing us some of the phenomenal possibilities and positives but at the same time noting and sorting out some of the absolute negatives involved (particularly the struggling middle class in inner city life) in a project of this magnitude. Again and again, thanks. Great job, - We expect nothing less.
All of the residential space was bought up by wealthy foreigners looking for tax-advantaged investments in the USA-- so no one actually lives there :-(
Our impossibly cool "New York by The B1M" mugs are now up on our merch store (no Hudson Yards though) - theb1m.creator-spring.com/listing/new-york-by-the-b1m-mug
Vessel was closed temporarily this year after the third suicide. Who could have ever predicted that a 150ft staircase to nowhere would be used for that purpose. Another sign that the designers and developers here were completely disconnected from community requirements and just bundled together some buildings that looked cool in CAD and labelled it a "precinct"
That whole area will be under water. It’s just a bullshit way for the super rich to hide some of their money, before they die trying to make it to their underground bunkers lmao
I live in NYC and I’ve been in Hudson Yards a few times. The station is clean and it’s right next to the Javits Convention Center. The pandemic has really affected traffic not to mention the Vessel has attracted some negative attention in the form of people jumping off it, they have officially closed it off indefinitely.
If they want to "fix" the development, make the western development mostly the same, but connect the buildings with ground level street facing shops and restaurants instead of mall-like development, and make the park an area to sit, eat and enjoy. That will make the place a destination for upper/middle class people for restaurants, which will bring more people to the entire area as a whole. Also allow the park to be used for rotating art installations, public free events, and flea/farmers markets. That will bring the area economic prosperity up and down the socioeconomic range. But since these developers only care for the ultra wealthy, they wont change anything and hudson yards will become a worse and more boring fidi in 5 years
In many ways Hudson Yards will end up taking a similar path to the World Trade Center and World Financial Center. The first phase of Hudson Yards is the World Trade Center in this relationship, the trailblazer and proving grounds for the area, and for that I respect it. The second phase is the World Financial Center in this relationship, the one which corrects the mistakes of the first and humanizes the former by virtue of additional context. Then there is the third phase in the surrounding areas and the other unassociated developments in them that still benefit from the builds.
Exactly, they won't do this because they don't WANT outsiders to come in. They won't hold markets or events because this is an enclave for the superwealthy and loitering laws will be strictly enforced!
This Hudson Yards project reminds me of a song Melanie wrote years ago, and performed by the New Seekers: Look What They Done To My Song, Ma. When I visited New York before the pandemic hit, I wasn't too thrilled to see those ginormous skyscrapers which ruined one of the most beautiful skylines in America. I missed seeing the classic Empire State and Chrysler Buildings as the bus I rode on was making its way to the Lincoln Tunnel. What the hell were they thinking? my mind was screaming! None the less, when the other projects, a new stadium for the Olympics and other proposals fell through, this one came along. I did see it up close, but was not too impressed by it. I liked the video's explanation of how this work was done and how they manage to keep a delicate balance between the buildings and the rail yards underneath. It may be years after the pandemic or other urban challenges until these places gain acceptance from New Yorkers and visitors. I liked this video. Keep up the good work!
This reminds me of the problems that the area known as Porto Maravilha (Marvelous Port) is facing in Rio de Janeiro. It is a good development because it occupies an empty region, but there is also a desolation and lack of residents.
I personally love Hudson Yards. It's a breathe of fresh air compared to the rest of the city. There's a lot of public space to just chill and hangout and the High Line Park leads right up to it. The architecture is amazing. My friends and I live in Brooklyn but it's starting to become our hangout spot. Access to it is easy, 34th St Station is only two blocks away, so we don't have to take the 7 and transfer. We enjoy it a lot, and I hope Phase Two expands the experience. I know it'll bounce back once the effects of the pandemic starts to lessen, so enjoy it now before it gets too crowded!!
same here,just seeing it during my bike rides from uptown on the westside bike path just has me in awe.i don't know anyone who doesn't like it.it's just expensive and there's no need to go there because we already have everything in each neighborhood but i'm confident it will age like fine wine
Who'd ever think that an anonymous, shiny staircase to nowhere reminiscent of all cyberpunk zaibatsu nightmare scenarios would become a popular suicide location 🤔
As stated at 8:15 in the video: "To be truly embraced as a new New York City neighborhood, Hudson Yards will need to deliver what the people of Manhattan really need - not just what the developers think they want."
@@jeffpetrie7744 let's stay in-country, the golden gate is also a massive piece of transport infrastructure traversed by millions of people a year, and can be seen for miles. You can see it from *space*. The vessel is a dinky "art" piece you wouldn't know was there in unless you were told and can't see unless you drove right in front of it or, until the project is incomplete, boated in front of it. GGB is omnipresent in the mental landscape of anyone living in the area, and is one of the most recognizable images in the world. Vessel exists in the mental landscape of basically nobody at all on the whole planet. So I would say yes, relative to the number of people who do see it, traverse it, visit it, or give it any consideration at all, yes, vessel is disproportionately popular.
Was just there two weeks ago, it was rather crowded for a Friday around noon, I took my daughter for a walk up the High Line, and since the last phase was closed for work, we had to walk out through the Hudson Yards to get to the subway station. I will say, that “Vessel” thing is kind of dumb since it’s just a bunch of stairs with zero disabled access. That western section is still just a rail yard as far as I can tell, but I do know they did shift the tracks around slightly a few years ago while they were also digging a tunnel bell a future Hudson River tunnel (something that would have been impossible once the Hudson Yards was built) so there’s space for the support columns.
I love how these huge mega projects that cater to the ultra wealthy get free money from the government at the local, state, and federal level to build it. All to benefit people who don’t need a cent of the money. They could easily fund it themselves. How disgusting.
That seems to be a thing in the US, if a billionaire owner of a sports team wants a new stadium they can demand the city pays for it or threaten to take their team elsewhere.
@@yakub3962 I believe the funding was meant for the less wealthy Harlem and Bronx areas but these business owners fudged the numbers to divert a chunk of the fund to Manhattan.
Architecturally and conceptually I think Hudson Yards is great, but if it can't fulfil its purpose it's not that great... Great video once again! E: Also, the footage you get from The Dronalist is fantastic!
I know lots of people who have seen The Vessel, but didn't know it was in New York. It's really weird because it's actually fairly iconic where a decent amount of people have seen it, but don't know the name, what it is or where it is (even if they know it's in New York). No one talks or shares photos of the other public spaces or even the mall. This is especially true for The Edge which really should be the kind of place that draws people to post on Instagram. But I see it much less often "in the wild" (where I'm not looking specifically for it or anything related to it) than I do The Vessel, which again I see fairly often.
Architecture critic Kate Wagner described the Vessel best: THE VESSEL IS REALLY A PERFECT NAME for the sixteen-story monument nestled in the midst of the now complete “neighborhood” (read: real estate scheme) of Hudson Yards, New York City. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, one of architecture’s premier grifters, a man who should be banned internationally from using the term “parti,” the Vessel is composed of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings. Apparently the architect drew inspiration from an early experience with, to nobody’s surprise, an old staircase. The depth of architectural thinking at work here makes a kiddie-pool seem oceanic. The Vessel is a structure that invites parody-it has already been likened to a giant shawarma, a beehive, a pine cone, a wastebasket. Apparently, there is to be a competition for a new name, as “The Vessel” was only supposed to be a temporary one. It really is the perfect name, however, not least because it implies a certain emptiness. One asks, though, what it is a vessel for? It is a Vessel for the depths of architectural cynicism, of form without ideology and without substance: an architectural practice that puts the commodifiable image above all else, including the social good, aesthetic expression, and meaningful public space. It is a Vessel for the architecture of views, perhaps the hottest spatial commodity of all. It is a Vessel for capital, for a real estate grift that can charge more for an already multi-million dollar apartment because it merely faces it. It is a Vessel for a so-called neighborhood that poorly masks its intention to build luxury assets for the criminally wealthy under the guise of investing in the city and “public space.” What is public space if not that land allocated (thanks to the generosity of our Real Estate overlords) to the city’s undeserving plebeians, who can interface with it in one of two ways: as consumers or interlopers, both allowed only to play from dawn ‘til dusk in the discarded shadows of the ultra-rich? Unlike a real neighborhood, which implies some kind of social collaboration or collective expression of belonging, Hudson Yards is a contrived place that was never meant for us. Because of this, the Vessel is also a Vessel for outrage like my own. It is a Vessel for labor without purpose. The metaphor of the stairway to nowhere precludes a tiring climb to the top where one is expected to spend a few moments with a cell-phone, because at least a valedictory selfie rewards us with the feeling that we wasted time on a giant staircase for something-perhaps something contained in the Vessel. The Vessel valorizes work, the physical work of climbing, all while cloaking it in the rhetoric of enjoyment, as if going up stairs were a particularly ludic activity. The inclusion of an elevator that only stops on certain platforms is ludicrously provocative. The presence of the elevator implies a pressure for the abled-bodied to not use it, since by doing so one bypasses “the experience” of the Vessel, an experience of menial physical labor that aims to achieve the nebulous goal of attaining slightly different views of the city. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, to which the Vessel has been unfathomably compared, the Vessel is just tall enough to make you feel bad for not hiking up it. To climb the Eiffel Tower is equally pointless, but its sheer size makes taking the elevator the de facto, socially normalized experience. The elevators of the Vessel and their lackluster architectural integration belie the architectural profession’s view of accessibility as a code-enforced concession rather than an ethos, a moral right to architecture for all. By taking the elevator up the Vessel, you are both inviting the judgment of your peers who insist on hauling ass up sixteen stories and confirming its sheer pointlessness as a structure; for, unlike the Eiffel Tower, which has a restaurant and shop, there is nothing at the top other than a view of the Hudson and the sad promise of the repeat performance of laboring your way back down. The Vessel is a vessel for another type of labor: digital labor. Until a few days ago, after a moment of social media outrage, if you were to take a selfie or a photo at the Vessel, the Hudson Yards developers would own the rights to your content in perpetuity. (Now they have the right to circulate and use your media, but not to own it outright.) Regardless of these changes, by taking a selfie or photograph (an act that, to be fair, is perhaps the only true purpose of the Vessel), you are still doing the unpaid work of promotion and content creation for a developer conglomerate, regardless of your intent. By merely stepping foot in the complex, you waive your right to privacy and are ruthlessly surveilled by subtly hidden cameras. What is done with this footage can only be suspected, but it doesn’t stop our malevolent shawarma from serving as a convenient, yes, architectural vessel-not only for affective labor but also the dystopian world-building of surveillance capitalism itself. The Vessel betrays the fact that behind the glitzy, techno-urbanist facade of the Smart City™ lies the cold machinations of a police state. That architecture is used as live bait for these purposes is but one of many symptoms pointing to a field in a state of ethical decline. The Vessel has invited nearly universal vitriol, even amongst the politest architecture critics. It is an object lesson teaching us that, in our neoliberal age of surveillance capitalism-an era where the human spirit is subjected to a regime of means testing and digital disruption, and a cynical view of the city as an engine of real estate prevails-architecture, quite frankly, sucks.
Damn, this person is good at over-analyzing. It's just a bunch of silly stairs that you can climb for exercise and a nice view. I would totally do it next time I'm in New York, as long as it's free and not annoyingly full of people
@@jacoblevenson7934 That's a very interesting piece by an equally interesting young lady. Just reading more about her - she will do well (she already is)! 🙂
If you can visit the Edge definitely go! Day or night it is incredible. It’s the highest outdoor observation deck and besides the views and the restaurant you can look straight down through glass at the street below. You’re sooo high up it is dizzying.
4 Suicides as of December 2021, The Vessel of suicide is a prime example of disconnect with the 6 or 7 figure salary developers and the community that lives barely paycheck to paycheck. "To be truly embraced as a new NYC neighborhood, Hudson Yards will need to deliver what the people of Manhattan really need, not just developers think they want."
I visited back in 2019 and was underwhelmed. The mall concept with an unsightly attraction didn’t make sense to me. I go to New York frequently and have still not seen all the “classic” attractions which abound throughout the city. One other thing about the Vessel. At the time that I visited, the staff seemed confused about what to do. I was given a ticket (it was free back then) and thought it would be nice to take the elevator up and then walk back down. But I found out the elevator was only for the disabled and there was a line and it was very disorganized. Also, I don’t believe the elevator went all the way to the top. The long and short of it is that Hudson Yards falls far short of the average NYC neighborhood- seems to be the antithesis of what a NYC neighborhood should be. It lacks distinctive character and seems to be the brainchild of someone who doesn’t like the “grittiness” of New York with its mishmosh of cultures, high and low end stores, and diverse food choices. I don’t know if or when I’ll ever visit that particular area again. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it.
@@mats7492 exactly.. It could be modern, but still lacks distinctive features? boring as hell. being modern doesn't have to do with it. It depends on how they execute it.
i went there and the whole time, i felt like a thief. it felt so wealthy that i couldn’t think of any reason why i was there except to pull off a heist
Lucy, Hudson Yard is for everybody. Just relax and enjoy it as if it's your back yard. I love Hudson Yard, especially the ruthless Wind blowing up from Hudson River on cold rainy winter days. All in all, Hudson Yard is an interesting addition to the Big Apple.
I’m impressed how much you packed in this 9 minute video! I’m a native New Yorker and marvel how that area has been completely transformed over the years.
Hudson Yards is pretty damn cool, i can't wait to visit when i get home to the NY/NJ area. The "Edge" looks amazing, i just want to walk around this place and have lunch/dinner there, i think it would make a great story and event as well as something fun to do.
I really appreciate ALL your features. They are always fascinating, entertaining and very educational. Thank you so much. That said, I am sorry you didn't speak in more detail about the Trouble with The Vessel.
The whole area just seems too sterile and superficial. It was obvious designed for people with a certain income level. You’re not going to find the regular NY’er over there because there really is no need to go there. The mall is very high end and seems quite unwelcoming. The only good things to visit over there is the observation deck called The Edge and the connection to the high line park which is one of my favorite attractions on that side of the city.
They built and planned for executives and hedge fund managers to buy investment properties they can resell at a later date for a profit, while using them short term as rental spaces. The need was LOW COST HOUSING!! Millennials having been saying that for ages now. Our grandparents bought their homes with a single person working in a family with three to five children. Now, a 2 bedroom apartment built 20 years ago gets shared by 5 working people, all of whom have no full time job, but has 3 part time jobs that pays next to nothing.
A two bedroom apartment here in a new concrete highrise here costs nearly two grand a month! With two or three young women living in it. That is what I was told at the store were I bought my beer.
Even though this project was a bit controversial when it went into planning and also when it first opened. You do got admit, this is a pretty cool engineering marvel. Just the idea of building a whole section of a city (let alone, the most populated city in all of the US) over an active train yard is pretty mind-blowing and impressive.
I still wonder how you can still access the train yard beneath, via Hudson Yards? I wonder if there's like secret passageways and entrances that can access it in like the mall on the site.
Really insightful quote when he said he goes everywhere in a half mile radius BUT Hudson Yards. Really shows the impact of the place currently, especially for someone not from NY
I feel like that's most New Yorkers. People that live in NYC never go to the places that make the city famous. Most have only been to Times Square once. Most have never been to the new World Trade Center or the High Line. It's quite sad actually
This film, like all your others, is “quality “ at its best. Love your channel, interested in the one comment, that cash would allow the second phase. Who in this day and age is going to put up the billions needed. Forget all that still the best channel for construction, keep growing.
I visited hudson yards in 2019. And even before covid it was quite lifeless. Only tourists were there for the vessel. The whole area seemed isolated from the rest of the city.
Honestly I have basically no interest in civil engineering or architecture but you really make it interesting, especially when you look at the bigger picture and not just "oh hey look at this wonderful development that has no negative consequences!"
Great video. I think Samuel's wording in almost calling it "desolate" feels right with all these developments that look more like real estate fortresses than human scale places for meeting with friends or having a beer. It's cool to look at though.
Building mega projects does take a lot of people ... but where are they now? They weren't retained, were they? Time will tell whether this project will ever meet the promises and projections made to corrupt city officials and if they don't (which is very likely), the public will be stuck holding the bag.
@@stevec5465 While there was nothing there it wasn’t something the city needed at the moment with the compiling issues we are drowning in. That entire area built on tax payers dollars are designated for luxury housing. I’m talking $3500 to $4000 for a 500sft studio. Majority of these are empty. The Vessel alone was $100,000,000. All when the city has a housing crisis, transportation suffering and retail going up in smoke due to overvalued property. I live and build this city. It’s not great
@@ruffthecow8890 A lot of my NYC tax dollars go to poor people in this city. I am sure my property taxes alone are more than your annual salary! It's nice that I can see my taxes going towards something beautiful versus to people who are worthless and complain all day about housing. If you can't afford to live here, MOVE!!! Stop complaining about it. I am sick and tired of poor people complaining about THEIR issues!!! They are YOUR PROBLEMS!!! YOU RESOLVE THEM!!! FYI - I do not benefit from white privilege because I am not white. So save that bs
How developers steal money meant for affordable housing: 1: Advertise that they're going to build a mixture of luxury and affordable housing 2: Build the luxury housing 3: Whoopsie poopsie! Something went wrong and we can't build the affordable housing! Sorry! Thanks for all the money though!
They'll end up selling the land back to the City and State and have the peasants (Taxpayers) fund a new public waterfront park on the undeveloped West side of Hudson Yards. Forget about the school and affordable housing etc. It's not happening! Change of plans! Sorry! Thanks for the massive public funding and tax breaks though! 😂
I was always a big Box & GBStory watcher & once GBS went away I was sad but now I’m so happy I found B1M! It has great stories & this guys voice is so calming & uplifting at the same time!🤟✅💯 #TopNotchB1M
I'm not sure which was planned first, Hudson Yards, or the Penn Station expansion, but now there's the Empire Station complex coming to the area too. That's definitely a lot of work, even if it's pricing people out of the neighborhood.
Surprised there wasn't more said about the Vessel and its closing due to multiple people jumping and committing suicide. If you go there today there are security guards blocking its entrance. From what I gather it's eventually going to be torn down, which may be for the best to allocate more square footage to the public.
Like much of Dubai, Hudson Yards is a wasted opportunity, they had a chance to reimagine city living to be greener, more accessible, and inclusive but it's much easier to continue building glass towers for the rich. I at least applaud them for building such a vast development and hope that it improves
I like the critical perspective! Something I often still was missing on this channel, especially regarding ecological and social impacts of technical interesting construction projects. Please keep it this way 👍🏼
One of my good friends lives about 2-3 blocks away so I've visited quite a few times and I agree with the analysis that it isn't clinically vibrant but not really dead either other than at night when you might not see a single person on the street. The Highline is buzzing with tourists most of the day and there are often some people gathered near the Vessel but it doesn't feel like there is a ton going on unless you're really into Soulcycle or clout chasing at Equinox in the Wild (outdoor gym for socialites and wannabes) lol... Not a bad area at all, a very pleasant and centralized location (very easy to get to Queens or up/downtown Manhattan) but it feels a tinge like a sterilized version of New York. Building over the railyard in the middle of dense and land-constrained Manhatten was a very good idea regardless of your feelings on the project itself. Hope they can build affordable housing in stage two...
The reason why the area is so desolate is because nobody lives there. They’re investment properties for billionaires. I bet you the lights are all off in the evening.
It has a new subway stop located there and connected by a brand new subway line to the busiest rail station in North America. The connection is there, it's just Hudson Yard is not "gritty" or "organic" enough to be a true New York neighborhood.
I have been working in the real estate development industry for 6 years, and I can tell you outright that project like this will never accommodate average folks. The simple reason is, when you build tall, cost goes up, and the high construction cost will be reflected on the tenants' monthly rent or the condos' listing price. The developers have to get their money back somehow. these buildings do look beautiful, but they will not become homes for your average New Yorker who make around 50K. What I do not understand is, if local government has the money to finance this project, why not just use that money to build a large public park on top of the old rail yard? Building a public park will be a lot cheaper than building these fancy skyscrapers, and allow everyone (rich or poor) around it enjoy this newly created public amenity.
Because…the City does not have the money to finance this. It’s owned by the MTA, and they, not the city, decided to make millions selling the development rights. Also: parks do not generate property tax revenues. They do encourage development, but the tracks did that as well. Parks? You mean the skinny park over the railroad tracks, which connects to the subway station and which is proposed to extend up to the Tunnel? Parks? Like the High Line which terminates at Hudson Yards? Parks? Like the pathway behind Javits which connects to miles of riverside parks and piers?
I love going to this neighborhood! I do agree though that the development is unfairly shared throughout the city. They could have built some subway/light rail lines in actual transit deserts that already had people living there, but they chose to develop a station at Hudson Yards instead.
I appreciate that this channel is not simply, "look at these amazing new developments!", but also looks critically at the effect these developments have on the communities in which they're built. It would be easy to just make a fluff piece, but taking into account the lack of affordable housing and the risk to taxpayers really elevates The B1M to a journalistic standard.
@@tannermanasco2110 I think the episodes about Dubai were also too much marketing while skimming over issues like foreign labour living conditions, sustainability etc. This one is a good balance
Well, that is exactly what make me disagree with the conclusion of this video. If every development only focuses on "the communities in which they're built", then Manhattan should build its own airport and don't use JFK, LGA or EWR. To me, a community is much larger than a few blocks around the area, and in this case, "the community" is effectively the whole New York Metropolitan Area of over 20 million inhabitants. Manhattan, especially Midtown Manhattan, is the epicenter of this area and should be developed as such. If everyone has such selfish thoughts as the person in this video, then New Jersey can refuse Amtrak trains from Manhattan to cross their land, and Queens can block LIRR trains to cut through their neighborhoods.
I do agree that we should balance development to ensure sustainability, but that should be looked at in a larger scale. Do we need more affordable housing? Definitely yes, but not necessarily in Manhattan. I personally moved far away from Manhattan and commuted to Midtown everyday (pre-pandemic) for work so I can afford a home, and no, I don't complain about that. I do enjoy coming to Manhattan, including Hudson Yards, for things that are not available in my immediate neighborhood just in the similar way Manhattanites enjoy going to Queens when they need a flight. Before the existence of Hudson Yards, there is no similar neighborhood in New York City, so I welcome it as an addition to the diversity of this city. Yes, "diversity" includes diversity of availability. One cannot find the stores and restaurants there at every corner of this city.
@@lactran7475 Did you hear the part about using public funds to create high-end real-estate and "eating Harlem's lunch"?
@@honeytgb I don't quite understand your comment but still try to answer:
First, when mentioning "eating Harlem's lunch", do you mean a TH-cam video a guy created last year or something else? I cannot verify the validity of that so I decide not to have an opinion.
Secondly, the so called $4.5 billion tax money has 2 parts: a $750 million tax break to the developer and the rest on capital development of the area, of which the majority amount goes to the extension of the 7 train. The latter, in my opinion, is something that the City should have done anyway, and that still benefits average citizens including myself, who do not afford to live in Hudson Yards or anywhere near it but do enjoy going there. As income from the new development will generate taxes in the future, the tax break means basically not collecting tax revenues that would have not been there to begin with. In addition, as this buildout happens over many years, the annualized impact on tax $ is much less. In term of how this project affects other areas, then it is something outside of my knowledge.
Thirdly, and most importantly, my comment is to voice my disagreement on the opinion that development should only focus on the needs in that immediate area. If you go through my comment and try to answer to yourself every item I mentioned: "Yes" if you agree and "No" if you do not agree, then you will know what I mean.
Lastly but certainly not least, every city on earth uses public funds for different projects such as airports, and airports certainly do not directly serve everyone in the city, but are vital to the development of the city. Pointing at one project to raise awareness about inequality is more a propaganda than a credible claim. A proper way, in my opinion, is to understand the allocation of cost and compare them to a benchmark, possibly a model city of the same size, then draw a conclusion.
AGREED this is what I love
Regardless of the specifics of Hudson Yards, building over "empty" areas of cities like that is such a great idea. I would love to see something like that done for stretches of the Mass Pike in Boston (the already did at Back Bay).
There is a project in the works next to back bay station. It’s been in development for much longer then Hudson yards though.
1001 Boylston
It kinda reminds me of Gotham City where they literally built the new city over the old one.
New York is great at gentrification, but at least they tried to put it somewhere that literally didn't get used for buildings. Still, it's just exacerbating the problem in some ways.
Similar to "The 78" megaproject in Chicago
The best closing statement of all B1M videos yet, IMHO... "It's lasting success can be determined by the culture and community that grows there. To be truly embraced as a new NYC neighborhood, it has to deliver on what people of Manhattan really need, not just what developers think they want."... that is the issue around of every dollar put on urban development in the world right now.
8:13 "To be truly embraced as a new NYC neighborhood, Hudson Yards will need to deliver what the people of Manhattan really need, not just developers think they want."
💯💯
Except, what the people need and can afford to pay, does not justify the cost of building in NYC. The city is nearing the point of no return and will start resembling Detroit as more and more businesses move out of the city for more business friendly states, where it is cheaper to build and live.
Developers are the ones taking on billions of dollars of debt. That would be like telling a college student to take on a $200K student loan for a degree in the medical field in order to spend a life doing charity services for free. People are free to do what they want with their investments. Supply/demand will balance out what a developer can do because if no one buys condos / rents apartments, the developer would have to come down in price. But if there is a market there, then let the developer serve that market. No one is entitled as a matter of right to live in Manhattan any more than I am entitled to own a Ferrari.
@@SagaciousSilence liberals don’t care about economics. Everything should be free, the rich can pay for it since they have unlimited money. Or something like that.
@@qwerty112311 Modern Monetary Theory/Magic Money Tree financing. Because [emotional arguments]!
@@SagaciousSilence the issue in NYC is that these buildings aren't going to cost the companies anything to not rent out. They'll just write off the "rent" for the empty real estate. That's why NYC looks like a ghost town right now.
Well done once again The B1M. You make me regret not having fallen in love with Engineering when I was younger and am now envious of people who work on these projects. Thanks a lot. Great video.
It's not too late Kay
I’ve been there once.. I actually liked it. But yeah, it’s kindda sterile at the moment. It has a Dubai feel where everything is just for display. But Hey, it’s still in NYC! In 2-5 years time & when the pandemic is over, this area will be thriving for sure.
I went there two weeks ago, the outside park is very busy but the mall within is kinda slow for around 11am. hopefully it all works out soon
it is a lot like Dubai in that it only serves the wealthy, many of which aren't even New York residents, meaning they contribute nothing to the city
Bro the development is almost 10 years old I think we past the point where "this area will be thriving"
yea i live direclty next to it for school and it looks really cool. The Vessel is nice looking and its cool to walk around the stores inside, but I kinda agree. The Edge is probably the best thing there
Don’t bet on it
As an African developer in Africa BM1 has been my go to guide in understanding how real estate can be functional for as long as it exists.
Very nice. What country in Africa are you working in? I’d love to visit the continent one day.
@@TyNeverLied I am in South Africa, I didnt study any construction program in college but i learnt the about the trade where i was working as HR manager
Yes, too many projects are “let’s just build it as is and the city around it will adapt to it” and not, “should we build it so it functions better, and can be altered over time?”
@@foxbat473 which country in south Africa?
@@James-cb7nb South Africa is a country
It’s actually kinda of hard to even get over there. The 7 train station be closed for no reason and waiting for a bus in the shadows of those skyscrapers be having you feel like Spongebob at Rock Bottom.
Hopefully the area gets better over time.
That spongebob reference was priceless!
I CAN'T *THBPTH* UNDERSTAND *THBPTH* YOUR *THBPTH* ACCENT
didnt the 7 train close today?
Massive construction projects usually shape public transportation.
@Harry | Didn’t a cluster of y’all skyscrapers form a wind tunnel on street-level and was blowing people away? Cause if it’s still there, I wanna experience it.
These videos are getting better and better. Awesome topics, high quality videos and consistent uploading, i love this channel
Thank you so much! We're working hard to raise our game 💪
@@TheB1M yay you replied :D
Oh you must watch a different channel.
The channel started with highly informative, long videos about special topics.
And ended as a 6-10 minutes/video mass production with click oriented topics and content depth of a weak wikipedia article.
But I guess in times of TikTok & co., thats all what people can take and they feel really intellectual when they finished this high quality 8 minutes information marathon of a video.Omg.
Btw. the only interessting parts in this whole video is a copy of a 7 years old video released when the project started...gg.
I don't think Hudson Yards is necessarily "bad", but there's so many ways it could be better. Its desolate feeling is almost an inevitability when constructing a district from scratch, rather than it growing incrementally, but I do believe it will acquire more character over time, as people live and grow-up in the area. I agree with the point in the video, stating that the housing-heavy Western phase of the project should have been built first, rather than flooding a retail-rich area with more retail. NYC desperately needs much more housing supply, and the project could have made a small but noticeable impact in rents in Midtown, though it will never become "cheap". People decry HY as "gentrification", but Midtown and Manhattan as a whole have been gentrified for quite a long time. More development for the city is generally good, but with the amount of public funds that have gone into it, the level of attention to providing social amenities to West Manhattan should have been much greater. The Western phase should be built, and I am confident it will have some benefit to the area, but the developers and the city need to learn from the shortcomings of the Eastern phase when building the new residences and the school.
I like the Hudson Yards feeling "empty" as how he proclaims that it is! Cause in fact it isn't. Cause it keeps that glamorous, and that rich neighborhood feel in which I like it. I like it at peace where you can walk freely and feel slightly "safe" lmao.. cause you never know.. but I like the clean look of the neighborhood. I prefer it like that. It's wayyy better.
Manhattan is mainly a blend for its citizens and tourists. So, the balance must be there.
I think part of it feeling sterile is that there isn't a lot going on at street level... yet.
The western part only linked up to the High Line relatively recently. That blockade really reduced a lot of potential traffic from the highline. Add in the Pandemic and yea... desolation.
The big thing to me is the lack of outdoor dining. I think Hudson Yards would have been a great place to have a lively plaza with stores surrounding a plaza that people could relax and eat in, like in Europe.
But hey, Friedman's is just an avenue away on 33rd, lol, at least they have outdoor dining now.
@@zqpcydbfoqbdiehdj Hudson yards is very empty and not very fun. It feels like a tourist attraction gone wrong.
Right. We need to assume that the Eiffel Tower once hated by Parisians so much. But look at it now.
Thanks!
Most of what goes on in Manhattan real estate isn't about "doing good." It's about making massive amounts of money for real estate agents and developers, and to make sure that the rich can dodge taxes, since those who run the city, like Eric Adams, are all about protecting the rich over the working people.
Real estate in general*
Absolutely
Visited in July and went to the Vessel and Edge and this place is amazing.
I’m not too sure its what NY needed but I cant deny it looks good. The 7 train takes you there, then probably the longest escalator I’ve ever been on takes you up to street level. The High Line Park starts/ends there its a very pleasant walk. I still have to check out the Edge what a cool vantage point to see the city from
That escalator is scary to look down on behind you
The longest escalator I took was actually the National Zoo metro escalator. It’s a solid 2 minutes from the bottom to the top and it’s a 20 minute walk uphill to reach the zoo.
Check out the ones for the Moscow (Russia) subway; IIRC they had to put that subway system way deep, so all the escalators are really long. I'm sure there are plenty of videos of them on TH-cam.
@DDD
longest escalator🤣🥱...Wheaton, MD, USA metro station laughs and laughs.....
I have no taste. They’re ugly
Even though I'm not an engineer, engineering student, nor do I have any great interest in engineering, I love this channels vids. They make it so much easier to understand and appreciate.
Much love from NYC, B1M! Your channel is a part of the good content on YT. Please keep it up. Cheers!
The Deck looks like the Stark Tower.
Ikr? I was thinking exactly that
It is a 'coincidence'...a 'coincidence' that shows how many people in the NYC have lost that spark that made the NYC a world capital of finance and culture.
They have all the money and political power in the world, they are the 0.0000000000001% of the world. With all the money they could have done something innovative, technologically and scientifically groundbreaking. Instead they copied a skyscraper from a movie adaptation of a 60 year old Comic book....smh.
It's ugly
@@javierpacheco8234 Thats fine. thats your opinion. I think it looks great. Everytime I am down there looking up. I think Starks actually live up there
Hm right 😆
The production quality on these videos is absolutely incredible. The B1M is by far the best architecture/engineering channel on TH-cam.
Like Samuel, I live half a mile from Hudson Yards but I've been there a total of two times. Once to buy mustard at the Whole Foods and another time in an ill-fated attempt to see the Vessel with my friends. Even though the location isn't all that bad, the 7 train is relatively accessible to all my friends, it just feels so sterile, with all of its spaces and activities catered to the extremely wealthy. When you and all of your friends make less than 50k, the whole neighborhood feels alien. Honestly, there are more things for us to do and eat on the traditionally expensive UES.
Hard to believe that massive sky scraper is held up with those tiny pylons between TIGHT train tracks.
Longer than forty years I hope! The building in Florida and the tower in San Francisco did/may not last!
I hope those small tiny pillars won’t sink into the ground under the massive pressure they are in, or worst, topple on the side.
It's like the system that was used in the Venice marshes, hundreds of years ago.
Drive wooden logs, in a compact grid, into the marsh soil, then build up a plinth (above the lagoon tide levels), on which were built most of the existing structures.
@@A0A4ful except that Venice is sinking...
@@porkysharma8423 or the sea level is rising...either way, marshy subsoils are not the best strata
It took forever for Neiman Marcus to come to Manhattan, and in less than three years, it's already gone. Nobody wants to go to a mall when they go to New York City. Hudson Yards, is just that, a mall. An empty mall at that. Even before the pandemic, it was virtually empty. Department stores are one thing, but malls don't belong in city centers.
Really, all NY has become is one giant mall. There's little difference between NYC and a mall apart from the smell and the rampant crime. Same stores repeated every two blocks. Starbucks on every corner like a cancer cell. It's all the same. The stuff that actually used to make NY what it was is nearly gone. Now, it's just an overgrown, over-priced, over-hyped NY theme park.
@@e.l.norton 100% accurate. It sucks and blows at the same time
F.a.K.e.D.e.m.i.c
tbh hudson yards fucked up by going for luxury stores. if they instead copied flushing ny's model and put like 50+ small restaurants and a ton of super small shops (at a breakeven or slight loss) then the area would be instantly cool and after 2-3 years they can systematically jack up rent. Going for a small number of massive luxury department stores was the height of incompetence here. That strategy only makes sense if NY didnt already have rich and posh areas. The developers here seemed to just lack the will to be profitable and wanted to repeat the same cookie cutter strategies that worked in say 1980
The Hudson Yards is an extraordinary development and very creative architecturally, especially considering it is built over active rail yards. 30 Hudson Yards in particular, with its protruding observation deck is a very unique and interesting building. Thank you for your work on this wonderful video and channel.
NYC + The B1M = best combination! I can't wait to go back to New York....
Once again, an amazing presentation of Architectural Construction “Facts” with no bias (hopefully) showing us some of the phenomenal possibilities and positives but at the same time noting and sorting out some of the absolute negatives involved (particularly the struggling middle class in inner city life) in a project of this magnitude. Again and again, thanks. Great job, - We expect nothing less.
This guy supports only modern architecture. He is biased.
I don't know but that observation deck looks incredible!
It still looks like a spout to me though, that building would be nicknamed "the skinny kettle" if it was in London 🤣
I think it’s the only good thing to come out of this project. The views are incredible.
Hudson Yards does have an incredible outdoor observation platform. Just imagine what Jeddah Tower will be like. Lol. Amazing structure(s)
Do you have to pay to get out on it?
All of the residential space was bought up by wealthy foreigners looking for tax-advantaged investments in the USA-- so no one actually lives there :-(
I just visited there a few days ago as a tourist and I’m in love with every aspect of it
Our impossibly cool "New York by The B1M" mugs are now up on our merch store (no Hudson Yards though) - theb1m.creator-spring.com/listing/new-york-by-the-b1m-mug
You should do a video about "The 78" megaproject in Chicago 🙂
Can you do a video on Detroit
Hudson Yards is very HALO.
Hudson Yards is my favorite neighborhood in the city!
chuck schummer is the reason new york is a toilet.
Another absolutely superb presentation by The B1M. Supreme content every time. Thankyou!
Thank you so much!
Vessel was closed temporarily this year after the third suicide. Who could have ever predicted that a 150ft staircase to nowhere would be used for that purpose. Another sign that the designers and developers here were completely disconnected from community requirements and just bundled together some buildings that looked cool in CAD and labelled it a "precinct"
Why are they choosing to jump off an art installation instead of any of the many bridges, balconies and tall buildings?
@@baz1184 because I placed a curse on The Suicide Cone
That whole area will be under water. It’s just a bullshit way for the super rich to hide some of their money, before they die trying to make it to their underground bunkers lmao
Bridges are used for suicide too, shall we close them all as well?
@@baz1184 It's easy to get into and there weren't very many safety features. I've been to the Vessel. It's easy to fall from if you want to.
I live in NYC and I’ve been in Hudson Yards a few times. The station is clean and it’s right next to the Javits Convention Center. The pandemic has really affected traffic not to mention the Vessel has attracted some negative attention in the form of people jumping off it, they have officially closed it off indefinitely.
If they want to "fix" the development, make the western development mostly the same, but connect the buildings with ground level street facing shops and restaurants instead of mall-like development, and make the park an area to sit, eat and enjoy. That will make the place a destination for upper/middle class people for restaurants, which will bring more people to the entire area as a whole. Also allow the park to be used for rotating art installations, public free events, and flea/farmers markets. That will bring the area economic prosperity up and down the socioeconomic range. But since these developers only care for the ultra wealthy, they wont change anything and hudson yards will become a worse and more boring fidi in 5 years
In many ways Hudson Yards will end up taking a similar path to the World Trade Center and World Financial Center. The first phase of Hudson Yards is the World Trade Center in this relationship, the trailblazer and proving grounds for the area, and for that I respect it. The second phase is the World Financial Center in this relationship, the one which corrects the mistakes of the first and humanizes the former by virtue of additional context. Then there is the third phase in the surrounding areas and the other unassociated developments in them that still benefit from the builds.
Exactly, they won't do this because they don't WANT outsiders to come in. They won't hold markets or events because this is an enclave for the superwealthy and loitering laws will be strictly enforced!
This Hudson Yards project reminds me of a song Melanie wrote years ago, and performed by the New Seekers: Look What They Done To My Song, Ma. When I visited New York before the pandemic hit, I wasn't too thrilled to see those ginormous skyscrapers which ruined one of the most beautiful skylines in America. I missed seeing the classic Empire State and Chrysler Buildings as the bus I rode on was making its way to the Lincoln Tunnel. What the hell were they thinking? my mind was screaming! None the less, when the other projects, a new stadium for the Olympics and other proposals fell through, this one came along. I did see it up close, but was not too impressed by it. I liked the video's explanation of how this work was done and how they manage to keep a delicate balance between the buildings and the rail yards underneath. It may be years after the pandemic or other urban challenges until these places gain acceptance from New Yorkers and visitors. I liked this video. Keep up the good work!
Fhakedemic
I work in the neighborhood, it's great to get a better idea of what the area is like now. Still lots of construction to go!
Wow! I love your editing, high quality video
My phone : battery 2%
Me : "But B1M just uploaded new video"
My phone : oke I'll wait
This reminds me of the problems that the area known as Porto Maravilha (Marvelous Port) is facing in Rio de Janeiro. It is a good development because it occupies an empty region, but there is also a desolation and lack of residents.
Hudson Yards reminds me of Mordor, with the Edge being Barad-dûr and the Vessel as Mt. Doom.
I loved the balance of the video. No matter how impressive the infrastructure project it needs to meet the needs of people to bring life to it.
I personally love Hudson Yards. It's a breathe of fresh air compared to the rest of the city. There's a lot of public space to just chill and hangout and the High Line Park leads right up to it. The architecture is amazing. My friends and I live in Brooklyn but it's starting to become our hangout spot. Access to it is easy, 34th St Station is only two blocks away, so we don't have to take the 7 and transfer. We enjoy it a lot, and I hope Phase Two expands the experience. I know it'll bounce back once the effects of the pandemic starts to lessen, so enjoy it now before it gets too crowded!!
same here,just seeing it during my bike rides from uptown on the westside bike path just has me in awe.i don't know anyone who doesn't like it.it's just expensive and there's no need to go there because we already have everything in each neighborhood but i'm confident it will age like fine wine
@@airroyal Areas like Hudson Yards do not age well. They age like a super pretty girl who is 20 years old but after 25 they fall apart.
@@ChairmanMo show me somewhere in Manhattan that doesn’t age well.
@@ChairmanMo Of course not. Any place like Hudson Yards from the 1960s or 1970s is kinda dated now.
Fuck the highline, railroad parks need to be replaced by actual railroads.
Who'd ever think that an anonymous, shiny staircase to nowhere reminiscent of all cyberpunk zaibatsu nightmare scenarios would become a popular suicide location 🤔
As stated at 8:15 in the video: "To be truly embraced as a new New York City neighborhood, Hudson Yards will need to deliver what the people of Manhattan really need - not just what the developers think they want."
@@jeffpetrie7744 let's stay in-country, the golden gate is also a massive piece of transport infrastructure traversed by millions of people a year, and can be seen for miles. You can see it from *space*.
The vessel is a dinky "art" piece you wouldn't know was there in unless you were told and can't see unless you drove right in front of it or, until the project is incomplete, boated in front of it.
GGB is omnipresent in the mental landscape of anyone living in the area, and is one of the most recognizable images in the world.
Vessel exists in the mental landscape of basically nobody at all on the whole planet.
So I would say yes, relative to the number of people who do see it, traverse it, visit it, or give it any consideration at all, yes, vessel is disproportionately popular.
@@jeffpetrie7744 The poor people who have to pull the body out of the water do.
And of course, so many who jumped from the Twin Towers on 9/11...
@@Taverius GGB? Whatzat?
Was just there two weeks ago, it was rather crowded for a Friday around noon, I took my daughter for a walk up the High Line, and since the last phase was closed for work, we had to walk out through the Hudson Yards to get to the subway station. I will say, that “Vessel” thing is kind of dumb since it’s just a bunch of stairs with zero disabled access. That western section is still just a rail yard as far as I can tell, but I do know they did shift the tracks around slightly a few years ago while they were also digging a tunnel bell a future Hudson River tunnel (something that would have been impossible once the Hudson Yards was built) so there’s space for the support columns.
A new B1M video to start my day. Excellent as always.
I love how these huge mega projects that cater to the ultra wealthy get free money from the government at the local, state, and federal level to build it. All to benefit people who don’t need a cent of the money. They could easily fund it themselves. How disgusting.
They should have just gave the money to the homeless BIPOC people!
That seems to be a thing in the US, if a billionaire owner of a sports team wants a new stadium they can demand the city pays for it or threaten to take their team elsewhere.
@@yakub3962 Is that a joke?😂
@@yakub3962 I believe the funding was meant for the less wealthy Harlem and Bronx areas but these business owners fudged the numbers to divert a chunk of the fund to Manhattan.
Welcome to the USA
Architecturally and conceptually I think Hudson Yards is great, but if it can't fulfil its purpose it's not that great...
Great video once again!
E: Also, the footage you get from The Dronalist is fantastic!
It will fulfill its purpose given time. We did just have a global pandemic.
What’s great about it? Lame, bland boring architecture and building. And crap stores and chain restaurants that suck.
I know lots of people who have seen The Vessel, but didn't know it was in New York. It's really weird because it's actually fairly iconic where a decent amount of people have seen it, but don't know the name, what it is or where it is (even if they know it's in New York). No one talks or shares photos of the other public spaces or even the mall. This is especially true for The Edge which really should be the kind of place that draws people to post on Instagram. But I see it much less often "in the wild" (where I'm not looking specifically for it or anything related to it) than I do The Vessel, which again I see fairly often.
Architecture critic Kate Wagner described the Vessel best:
THE VESSEL IS REALLY A PERFECT NAME for the sixteen-story monument nestled in the midst of the now complete “neighborhood” (read: real estate scheme) of Hudson Yards, New York City. Designed by Thomas Heatherwick, one of architecture’s premier grifters, a man who should be banned internationally from using the term “parti,” the Vessel is composed of 154 flights of stairs, 2,500 steps, and 80 landings. Apparently the architect drew inspiration from an early experience with, to nobody’s surprise, an old staircase. The depth of architectural thinking at work here makes a kiddie-pool seem oceanic.
The Vessel is a structure that invites parody-it has already been likened to a giant shawarma, a beehive, a pine cone, a wastebasket. Apparently, there is to be a competition for a new name, as “The Vessel” was only supposed to be a temporary one. It really is the perfect name, however, not least because it implies a certain emptiness. One asks, though, what it is a vessel for?
It is a Vessel for the depths of architectural cynicism, of form without ideology and without substance: an architectural practice that puts the commodifiable image above all else, including the social good, aesthetic expression, and meaningful public space. It is a Vessel for the architecture of views, perhaps the hottest spatial commodity of all.
It is a Vessel for capital, for a real estate grift that can charge more for an already multi-million dollar apartment because it merely faces it. It is a Vessel for a so-called neighborhood that poorly masks its intention to build luxury assets for the criminally wealthy under the guise of investing in the city and “public space.” What is public space if not that land allocated (thanks to the generosity of our Real Estate overlords) to the city’s undeserving plebeians, who can interface with it in one of two ways: as consumers or interlopers, both allowed only to play from dawn ‘til dusk in the discarded shadows of the ultra-rich? Unlike a real neighborhood, which implies some kind of social collaboration or collective expression of belonging, Hudson Yards is a contrived place that was never meant for us. Because of this, the Vessel is also a Vessel for outrage like my own.
It is a Vessel for labor without purpose. The metaphor of the stairway to nowhere precludes a tiring climb to the top where one is expected to spend a few moments with a cell-phone, because at least a valedictory selfie rewards us with the feeling that we wasted time on a giant staircase for something-perhaps something contained in the Vessel. The Vessel valorizes work, the physical work of climbing, all while cloaking it in the rhetoric of enjoyment, as if going up stairs were a particularly ludic activity. The inclusion of an elevator that only stops on certain platforms is ludicrously provocative. The presence of the elevator implies a pressure for the abled-bodied to not use it, since by doing so one bypasses “the experience” of the Vessel, an experience of menial physical labor that aims to achieve the nebulous goal of attaining slightly different views of the city. Unlike the Eiffel Tower, to which the Vessel has been unfathomably compared, the Vessel is just tall enough to make you feel bad for not hiking up it. To climb the Eiffel Tower is equally pointless, but its sheer size makes taking the elevator the de facto, socially normalized experience. The elevators of the Vessel and their lackluster architectural integration belie the architectural profession’s view of accessibility as a code-enforced concession rather than an ethos, a moral right to architecture for all. By taking the elevator up the Vessel, you are both inviting the judgment of your peers who insist on hauling ass up sixteen stories and confirming its sheer pointlessness as a structure; for, unlike the Eiffel Tower, which has a restaurant and shop, there is nothing at the top other than a view of the Hudson and the sad promise of the repeat performance of laboring your way back down.
The Vessel is a vessel for another type of labor: digital labor. Until a few days ago, after a moment of social media outrage, if you were to take a selfie or a photo at the Vessel, the Hudson Yards developers would own the rights to your content in perpetuity. (Now they have the right to circulate and use your media, but not to own it outright.) Regardless of these changes, by taking a selfie or photograph (an act that, to be fair, is perhaps the only true purpose of the Vessel), you are still doing the unpaid work of promotion and content creation for a developer conglomerate, regardless of your intent. By merely stepping foot in the complex, you waive your right to privacy and are ruthlessly surveilled by subtly hidden cameras. What is done with this footage can only be suspected, but it doesn’t stop our malevolent shawarma from serving as a convenient, yes, architectural vessel-not only for affective labor but also the dystopian world-building of surveillance capitalism itself. The Vessel betrays the fact that behind the glitzy, techno-urbanist facade of the Smart City™ lies the cold machinations of a police state. That architecture is used as live bait for these purposes is but one of many symptoms pointing to a field in a state of ethical decline.
The Vessel has invited nearly universal vitriol, even amongst the politest architecture critics. It is an object lesson teaching us that, in our neoliberal age of surveillance capitalism-an era where the human spirit is subjected to a regime of means testing and digital disruption, and a cynical view of the city as an engine of real estate prevails-architecture, quite frankly, sucks.
I'm following this lady.
Damn, this person is good at over-analyzing. It's just a bunch of silly stairs that you can climb for exercise and a nice view. I would totally do it next time I'm in New York, as long as it's free and not annoyingly full of people
@@jacoblevenson7934 That's a very interesting piece by an equally interesting young lady. Just reading more about her - she will do well (she already is)! 🙂
@@SlackActionBumble Don't worry, it'll be empty as I'm sure you're the only one interested
Sounds cool and I like how she ties it into the symptoms of why it exists but the writing seems gaudy and over analytical
If you can visit the Edge definitely go! Day or night it is incredible. It’s the highest outdoor observation deck and besides the views and the restaurant you can look straight down through glass at the street below. You’re sooo high up it is dizzying.
I have visited this place a few times already, thanks to the Megabus stop :)
It's cool because I just watched your Hudson yards video from three years ago and now today there is a new one. Nice coincidence.
4 Suicides as of December 2021, The Vessel of suicide is a prime example of disconnect with the 6 or 7 figure salary developers and the community that lives barely paycheck to paycheck.
"To be truly embraced as a new NYC neighborhood, Hudson Yards will need to deliver what the people of Manhattan really need, not just developers think they want."
This has to be one of the best if not the best channel on TH-cam
I visited back in 2019 and was underwhelmed. The mall concept with an unsightly attraction didn’t make sense to me. I go to New York frequently and have still not seen all the “classic” attractions which abound throughout the city. One other thing about the Vessel. At the time that I visited, the staff seemed confused about what to do. I was given a ticket (it was free back then) and thought it would be nice to take the elevator up and then walk back down. But I found out the elevator was only for the disabled and there was a line and it was very disorganized. Also, I don’t believe the elevator went all the way to the top. The long and short of it is that Hudson Yards falls far short of the average NYC neighborhood- seems to be the antithesis of what a NYC neighborhood should be. It lacks distinctive character and seems to be the brainchild of someone who doesn’t like the “grittiness” of New York with its mishmosh of cultures, high and low end stores, and diverse food choices. I don’t know if or when I’ll ever visit that particular area again. I certainly wouldn’t recommend it.
The Boston aquarium is designed that way.
You take an elevator to the top and then walk down the ramps looking at the exhibits.
So you don't want the city to adopt to modern changes at all ?
Same for me.. went in 2019 and was very underwhelmed..
@@ahmedzakikhan7639 modern doesn’t mean good automatically
@@mats7492 exactly.. It could be modern, but still lacks distinctive features? boring as hell. being modern doesn't have to do with it. It depends on how they execute it.
A classic, high-quality B1M video, I love it! ❤️
i went there and the whole time, i felt like a thief. it felt so wealthy that i couldn’t think of any reason why i was there except to pull off a heist
lmao you put into words how I felt
I'm definitely not one of these 'Class War' or 'Antifa' types... but I kinda wish someone WOULD!
Tax the rich!!
Lucy, Hudson Yard is for everybody. Just relax and enjoy it as if it's your back yard. I love Hudson Yard, especially the ruthless Wind blowing up from Hudson River on cold rainy winter days. All in all, Hudson Yard is an interesting addition to the Big Apple.
Lol same
I’m impressed how much you packed in this 9 minute video! I’m a native New Yorker and marvel how that area has been completely transformed over the years.
Hudson Yards is pretty damn cool, i can't wait to visit when i get home to the NY/NJ area. The "Edge" looks amazing, i just want to walk around this place and have lunch/dinner there, i think it would make a great story and event as well as something fun to do.
2:00 A silent 't' in 'arts'. Amaizin.
Ofc it is 🔥🔥 especially during Christmas season everything lights up love it definitely a must see while your in New York
I really appreciate ALL your features. They are always fascinating, entertaining and very educational. Thank you so much. That said, I am sorry you didn't speak in more detail about the Trouble with The Vessel.
Gotta love when drone footage gets put to good use! ❤️
Beautiful footage as always!
The whole area just seems too sterile and superficial. It was obvious designed for people with a certain income level. You’re not going to find the regular NY’er over there because there really is no need to go there. The mall is very high end and seems quite unwelcoming. The only good things to visit over there is the observation deck called The Edge and the connection to the high line park which is one of my favorite attractions on that side of the city.
The rich never go way over there!
They are found on Madison Avenue from north of 57th Street!
@@stuartlee6622 All the people from Chelsea and the High line go there. Super hip now.
Every time I go to Hudson yards is busy and hopping
They built and planned for executives and hedge fund managers to buy investment properties they can resell at a later date for a profit, while using them short term as rental spaces. The need was LOW COST HOUSING!! Millennials having been saying that for ages now. Our grandparents bought their homes with a single person working in a family with three to five children. Now, a 2 bedroom apartment built 20 years ago gets shared by 5 working people, all of whom have no full time job, but has 3 part time jobs that pays next to nothing.
A two bedroom apartment here in a new concrete highrise here costs nearly two grand a month!
With two or three young women living in it. That is what I was told at the store were I bought my beer.
Even though this project was a bit controversial when it went into planning and also when it first opened. You do got admit, this is a pretty cool engineering marvel. Just the idea of building a whole section of a city (let alone, the most populated city in all of the US) over an active train yard is pretty mind-blowing and impressive.
I still wonder how you can still access the train yard beneath, via Hudson Yards? I wonder if there's like secret passageways and entrances that can access it in like the mall on the site.
Really insightful quote when he said he goes everywhere in a half mile radius BUT Hudson Yards. Really shows the impact of the place currently, especially for someone not from NY
I feel like that's most New Yorkers. People that live in NYC never go to the places that make the city famous. Most have only been to Times Square once. Most have never been to the new World Trade Center or the High Line. It's quite sad actually
I went to Hudson yards 1 day ago, it was truly amazing! The balcony provides amazing views of the New York skyline!
We need more B1M videos!
Thank you so much.
When I was there in June, there was a TON of activity. Might just be an influx of tourists during peak season though.
The warm weather I would think. What will it be like in a cold New York winter?
This film, like all your others, is “quality “ at its best. Love your channel, interested in the one comment, that cash would allow the second phase.
Who in this day and age is going to put up the billions needed.
Forget all that still the best channel for construction, keep growing.
I visited hudson yards in 2019. And even before covid it was quite lifeless. Only tourists were there for the vessel. The whole area seemed isolated from the rest of the city.
Agree
Before Hudson Yards there was nothing but train tracks.
Honestly I have basically no interest in civil engineering or architecture but you really make it interesting, especially when you look at the bigger picture and not just "oh hey look at this wonderful development that has no negative consequences!"
Developers making what they want, not what people need.
Sounds like the Big 3 car manufacturers and big gaming companies.
when the notification pops up for B1M, can't click fast enough, another great vid guys
Great video. I think Samuel's wording in almost calling it "desolate" feels right with all these developments that look more like real estate fortresses than human scale places for meeting with friends or having a beer. It's cool to look at though.
IT LOOKS ABSOLUTELY INCREDIBLE! WOW! 😊
It’s amazing and employed A LOT of people. What an improvement over the dump it was before - yet people still complain.
Building mega projects does take a lot of people ... but where are they now? They weren't retained, were they? Time will tell whether this project will ever meet the promises and projections made to corrupt city officials and if they don't (which is very likely), the public will be stuck holding the bag.
Wasn't there nothing there before??? Empty space over the railroad tracks.
@@stevec5465 While there was nothing there it wasn’t something the city needed at the moment with the compiling issues we are drowning in. That entire area built on tax payers dollars are designated for luxury housing. I’m talking $3500 to $4000 for a 500sft studio. Majority of these are empty. The Vessel alone was $100,000,000. All when the city has a housing crisis, transportation suffering and retail going up in smoke due to overvalued property. I live and build this city. It’s not great
@@ruffthecow8890 A lot of my NYC tax dollars go to poor people in this city. I am sure my property taxes alone are more than your annual salary! It's nice that I can see my taxes going towards something beautiful versus to people who are worthless and complain all day about housing. If you can't afford to live here, MOVE!!! Stop complaining about it. I am sick and tired of poor people complaining about THEIR issues!!! They are YOUR PROBLEMS!!! YOU RESOLVE THEM!!! FYI - I do not benefit from white privilege because I am not white. So save that bs
Yeah, there's something where there was nothing, but I think it's still fair to gripe about how much better the something could have been.
Truly fantastic analysis and presentation. Thanks B1M, you’re really the definitive construction channel.
How developers steal money meant for affordable housing:
1: Advertise that they're going to build a mixture of luxury and affordable housing
2: Build the luxury housing
3: Whoopsie poopsie! Something went wrong and we can't build the affordable housing! Sorry! Thanks for all the money though!
They'll end up selling the land back to the City and State and have the peasants (Taxpayers) fund a new public waterfront park on the undeveloped West side of Hudson Yards. Forget about the school and affordable housing etc. It's not happening! Change of plans! Sorry! Thanks for the massive public funding and tax breaks though! 😂
@@MichaelGiordano777 don't forget the 0% interest loans the massive developers benefit from
I was always a big Box & GBStory watcher & once GBS went away I was sad but now I’m so happy I found B1M! It has great stories & this guys voice is so calming & uplifting at the same time!🤟✅💯 #TopNotchB1M
I'm not sure which was planned first, Hudson Yards, or the Penn Station expansion, but now there's the Empire Station complex coming to the area too. That's definitely a lot of work, even if it's pricing people out of the neighborhood.
Surprised there wasn't more said about the Vessel and its closing due to multiple people jumping and committing suicide. If you go there today there are security guards blocking its entrance. From what I gather it's eventually going to be torn down, which may be for the best to allocate more square footage to the public.
Like much of Dubai, Hudson Yards is a wasted opportunity, they had a chance to reimagine city living to be greener, more accessible, and inclusive but it's much easier to continue building glass towers for the rich.
I at least applaud them for building such a vast development and hope that it improves
I like the critical perspective! Something I often still was missing on this channel, especially regarding ecological and social impacts of technical interesting construction projects. Please keep it this way 👍🏼
Hudson Yards is like Melbourne’s Docklands - all steel, glass and concrete, and totally devoid of life.
u right mate
One of my good friends lives about 2-3 blocks away so I've visited quite a few times and I agree with the analysis that it isn't clinically vibrant but not really dead either other than at night when you might not see a single person on the street. The Highline is buzzing with tourists most of the day and there are often some people gathered near the Vessel but it doesn't feel like there is a ton going on unless you're really into Soulcycle or clout chasing at Equinox in the Wild (outdoor gym for socialites and wannabes) lol... Not a bad area at all, a very pleasant and centralized location (very easy to get to Queens or up/downtown Manhattan) but it feels a tinge like a sterilized version of New York. Building over the railyard in the middle of dense and land-constrained Manhatten was a very good idea regardless of your feelings on the project itself. Hope they can build affordable housing in stage two...
The reason why the area is so desolate is because nobody lives there. They’re investment properties for billionaires. I bet you the lights are all off in the evening.
they would have timers on the lights just to make it looklike some one is home. sorry not there.
This is easily one of my favorite channels.
I'm blown away by the engineering but saddened by the lack of connection to and consideration of what regular citizens need.
It’s a neighborhood that attracts good jobs and tourists, not “regular citizens” National pass time
It has a new subway stop located there and connected by a brand new subway line to the busiest rail station in North America. The connection is there, it's just Hudson Yard is not "gritty" or "organic" enough to be a true New York neighborhood.
@@nightflyer3242 You're right. True neighborhoods can't be designed. Give it 20 or 30 years and something might develop.
High end luxury residential does NOT want "regular citizens", except as workers or staff.
@@UTArch1 that’s literally what I said, regular citizens do not have a constitutional right to be part of it lol
That intro... One of my favorite songs :) good editing
Edit: The song is Swif7 - All for Me, if anyone's wondering...
“Use that ambition to meet the actual social needs of people here.” Best of luck! 😂😂
Just want to express my appreciation for this channel. Thanks folks, always very pro and super interesting.
It's basically a NYC version of Canary Wharf in London then...
Or La Defense or Dubai.
Thank you for the sharing.
I have been working in the real estate development industry for 6 years, and I can tell you outright that project like this will never accommodate average folks. The simple reason is, when you build tall, cost goes up, and the high construction cost will be reflected on the tenants' monthly rent or the condos' listing price. The developers have to get their money back somehow. these buildings do look beautiful, but they will not become homes for your average New Yorker who make around 50K.
What I do not understand is, if local government has the money to finance this project, why not just use that money to build a large public park on top of the old rail yard? Building a public park will be a lot cheaper than building these fancy skyscrapers, and allow everyone (rich or poor) around it enjoy this newly created public amenity.
Because…the City does not have the money to finance this.
It’s owned by the MTA, and they, not the city, decided to make millions selling the development rights.
Also: parks do not generate property tax revenues. They do encourage development, but the tracks did that as well.
Parks? You mean the skinny park over the railroad tracks, which connects to the subway station and which is proposed to extend up to the Tunnel?
Parks? Like the High Line which terminates at Hudson Yards?
Parks? Like the pathway behind Javits which connects to miles of riverside parks and piers?
@7:55 "Trickle-down economics":
Where have we heard that term before?
It's a great place to live if you have money to live in fancy new apartment buildings and travel outside the neighborhood for everything else.
Walking the Highline ends in the Hudson Yards. We walked it at night in November. Very festive atmosphere gearing up for Christmas.
I love going to this neighborhood! I do agree though that the development is unfairly shared throughout the city. They could have built some subway/light rail lines in actual transit deserts that already had people living there, but they chose to develop a station at Hudson Yards instead.
The problem is funding.
Bloomberg used a tax trick so that Hudson Yards development pays for the subway station.