UPDATE: Northside Pier isJust Another Part-Time Park

Oh man, when will this stuff end? At some point between 9 am and 4 pm today, next to an already-ragged quit-smoking ad, someone posted an official NYC Parks sign reading "OPEN SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS ONLY". Guessing they stole the copy from the State Park two blocks north, since by all appearances this will be the city's only part-time park.


If NYC Parks is taking cues from the state, then based on East River State Park's short history, here's what we should expect from the pier:

March, 2009: North 5th Pier emerges from beta; goes to 7-day schedule. Still closes at dusk - er, really about 30 minutes before the sunset gets really good.

July 4th, 2009: City announces pier will stay open late for fireworks-viewing. However, Parks workers panic at sight of large crowd, abruptly locking gates and separating families, forcing many to watch fireworks display as reflected off shiny glass of Northside Piers Tower 2.

October, 2009: Squatters, living in the never-sold Northside Piers Tower 2 - and abandoned Tower 1 condos, crowd the pier with makeshift fishing gear, in a vain attempt to harvest meals from the hopelessly-polluted East River.

June, 2010: In the face of budgetary collapse, 3rd-term Mayor Bloomberg announces the pier will close until September '10, saving the city the $120K in salary and overtime for the lucky Parks worker who's sole responsibility it is to lock and unlock the gate each day.

So there you have it. The near-future history of Williamsburg's second part-time park. See you on the pier tomorrow morning!

Update (Jan 12th): We have it from multiple reliable sources that the weekends-only status is temporary. The Parks Press Office says the pier will be open "seven days a week in the spring". On Saturday morning we spent some time on the pier, but on Sunday around 5 pm we went back to shoot some sunset pics and found it locked. Despite the Park Rules signs saying it "Closes at Dusk", the Toll Brothers security guard said the hours are 7 am to 4 pm Saturdays and Sundays. We've put our two cents in to Parks, suggesting that 10 am to 7 pm weekends is probably more practical, given that most 'Burg residents are barely in bed by 7 am...and it would be nice to catch the winter sunsets and twilight over the river and Midtown skyline.