Longtime Hudson River Park Trust President To Step Down

MIDTOWN MANHATTAN, NY — The longtime leader of the Hudson River Park Trust will step down next month after a decade on the job, which saw a significant expansion of the West Side park network .

Madelyn Wils will resign on Feb. 5 as the Trust's President and CEO, she told Deputy Mayor Vicki Been and state environmental commissioner Basil Seggos in a letter Tuesday.

"Together with your leadership, we have been able to accomplish so much of the last decade, and we are well on our way towards accomplishing our shared goals of completing the Park's construction while ensuring it is also on solid financial footing," she wrote.

A spokesperson said Wils had long planned to retire after about 10 years, but held off in order to supervise a few of the park's major projects.

The top accomplishment Wils mentioned in her letter was the creation of the Hudson River Park special district, in which the Trust sold air rights from its piers to private developers, netting more than $152 million for park operations.

Wils also listed nearly a dozen other projects, including:

• Pier 55/Little Island, a planned park pier and performance space set to open this spring on Pier 55 near the West Village
• Pier 57 in Chelsea, where tenants including Google and City Winery have signed leases for office space, and a food market is planned
• Gansevoort Peninsula, which will host a 5.5-acre park complete with Manhattan's first beach
• Pier 97 in Hell's Kitchen, where work will begin this spring on a lush new park
• Pier 26, an ecologically-themed park in Lower Manhattan that opened in September

Wils did not mention Pier 76 in Hell's Kitchen, where a high-profile battle between the city and state has played out over the NYPD's tow pound, which is expected to finally close this month to make way for a new park.

"We have also shared some tough times – Tropical Storm Irene, Superstorm Sandy, the terrorist attack on Halloween 2017 and now the pandemic," she wrote. "Our staff has repeatedly risen to the occasion, and we have rebuilt the Park when needed and emerged stronger from these crises together."

In a statement, City Council Speaker Corey Johnson said it had been "a true pleasure working with Madelyn Wils over the years.

"We've accomplished so much together; from helping expand organic waste collection program for the community, to renovating the children's playground area at Chelsea Waterside Park," Johnson said. "Generations of New Yorkers will be able to enjoy Hudson River Park thanks to Madelyn's vision and commitment to this amazing park."

In prepared statements, Seggos and Been both thanked Wils for her work bringing Hudson River Park closer to its eventual goal of expanding further along the Manhattan waterfront.

"With Governor Cuomo’s support, we will soon realize our shared goal to complete Hudson River Park for even more New Yorkers and visitors to enjoy," Seggos said.

Related coverage:

• What Does The Future Hold For Hell's Kitchen's Pier 76?
• Hudson River Park Will Takeover Non-Profit As 'Visionary' Retires
  
• Hudson River Park Broke Attendance Records In 2019, Park Says