Pier 55 is an island park located in Manhattan’s Meatpacking District, initiated by billionaire Barry Diller and fashion mogul Diane von Furstenburg as a “gist to the city of New York”…In addition to scheduling delays due to environmental lawsuits filed by the City Club of New York (quietly supported by not-quite billionaire developer Douglas Durst), the project–designed by Heatherwick Studio and Matthews Nielsen Landscape Architects–has ballooned in cost sevenfold since its inception seven years ago, from a paltry $35 million to $250 million, causing the philanthropists to seek political intervention and taxpayer funding. So, as New York City’s vital infrastructure slowly crumbles, Andrew Cuomo has seen it fit to provide a $50 million cash infusion to the project (nicknamed “Diller Island”), to end the legal disputes and seek a matching commitment of $50 million from the de Blasio administration.
Thomas Heatherwick gets involved in work with funny-smelling and seemingly limitless budgets so often the New York Times dubbed him “The Billionaire Whisperer.” He is often…