the year was 2003 countries were submitting their bid to host the 2012 summer olympics
and paralympics and you guessed it new york was one of them new york had an exhaustive proposal
for the olympics the olympic plan involved the participation of all the boroughs sports was
going to be scattered all over new york city for example queens would have had the olympic village
and tennis at billie jean king the bronx would have had baseball at yankee stadium
brooklyn would have had basketball at barclays center and staten island would have had bmx
and equestrian sports but the centerpiece of the entire plan of the new york olympics 2012 was
supposed to be west side stadium in midtown manhattan it would have had the opening and
closing olympic ceremonies plus the football finals and other athletics new york actually
made it to the final five cities vying for the chance to host the olympics unfortunately a
major deterrent of winning the bid was there was a problem with approving funding for the stadium
at the time 9/11 had happened only a handful of years ago and there were those in leadership
that wanted to focus on the development of the now world trade center site instead
ultimately new york lost the next round of votes and in the end the 2012 olympics and paralympics
was hosted in london but the development of this area didn't stop here although we didn't get to
host the olympics and the west side stadium didn't get built in its place we now have hudson yards
hello and welcome to urban caffeine my name is thea and you're watching a channel that
talks about anything and everything new york city that includes urban history transit and culture
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as always let's celebrate by hitting that like button now let's talk hudson yards
it was the attempt to get the olympic bid that spurred the rezoning of this
area from industrial manufacturing to commercial and residential if you have seen my video on
hell's kitchen you would know that hudson yards overlaps hell's kitchen and shares its history
that's because hudson yards has most of the westside's rail yards and the tracks which are
still there and fully functional hudson yards was actually built on top of the tracks which was the
original plan for westside stadium the hudson yards redevelopment project is still going on
but today we will talk about the things you can see and enjoy now in hudson yards
but first let's orient ourselves hudson yards is in manhattan specifically the western portion of
midtown manhattan it overlaps both hell's kitchen and chelsea again i invite you to watch my video
on hell's kitchen to learn a little more about the history of the western portion of manhattan
hudson yards is bounded by the hudson river 30th street 10th avenue and 38th street you can get
there by taking the 7 train you might notice right away that the station is a lot nicer cleaner and
better smelling than the other new york subway stations that's because this station has only been
around since september of 2015. that's right it's not even a decade old also if you are afraid of
heights you'll need to prep yourself this station has some of the highest escalators in the city
and at the entryway take a moment to admire the mosaic art on the ceiling
this mosaic is called funktional vibrations by xenobia bailey
the station is surrounded with some simple green space and public areas to sit and rest
south of all this is the vessel the vessel is considered the centerpiece of hudson yards
according to the design studio's website the design of the vessel was inspired by the stepwells
of rajasthan india in particular quote the powerful effect of their repeating steps flights
and landings that reach down to the earth the effect of climbing up and down vessel staircases
creates a personal rhythm in each visitor the copper color is supposed to contrast the steel
buildings surrounding it making the vessel as the heart of the district it also has a reflective
material which adds to the concept of people being able to interact with it architecturally
it's a pretty impressive structure despite being so massive it has a relatively small footprint
i remember visiting the vessel during the first week of its opening it was actually
free new attractions in new york city when they first open up are usually free for the
first few weeks so that's a little bit of a tip for you i'm not going to lie it was
pretty trippy and a bit scary being at the top but personally i don't really do too well with heights
maybe once they figure out the safety precaution it won't be such a heart pounding experience
around the vessel is open space for pop-up events like outdoor movies farmers market and others
south of the vessel is the shed the shed is an art and cultural center they promote music visual arts
theater literature dance etc they provide both programming for the arts and rental space for
events what's cool about the architecture of the shed is that the shell is movable
if you care for fancy malls and retail shopping to the east of the vessel
is the shops and restaurants of hudson yards
the mall is full of luxury brands and retailers
at the basement level is a spanish food hall
within the mall is access to the edge new york has several observatories you have one world tower
the empire state building top of the rock and the one located in hudson yards is the edge
in a future video we'll compare these observatories side by side apples to apples
so subscribe and hit that notification bell the edge has a 360 degree view
although only one side of the building has the outdoor terrace on the terrace is a glass floor
at the north end of hudson yards is the javits center
it's a venue for conventions trade shows and other large events and gatherings and just north of the
javits center is a pier for ferries that run along the hudson river this station has some
fairy lines that travel to and from new jersey and lastly hudson yards is where the high line ends
the high line is an old elevated rail that was converted to city park the high line starts where
the whitney museum is in the meatpacking district runs through chelsea and its gallery district
and ends at hudson yards the high line is a nice way to get an elevated view of the city
you get to stroll without running into vehicular traffic the high line is another area of manhattan
that we will cover in further detail so subscribe and hit that notification bell like i said the
hudson yards redevelopment project is still in construction if there are any major changes
that happen in this area we will definitely update this video so subscribe and hit that notification
bell also don't forget to hit that like button hitting that like button means more engagement
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continue making more videos so with that thank you so much for watching and happy new yorking