Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation

November 13, 2019

Barry Diller’s $250M offshore Pier 55 park dubbed ‘Little Island’

The offshore park currently under construction in the Hudson River has been officially christened "Little Island," the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation announced Wednesday. The Pier 55 project, which is being funded by billionaire Barry Diller and overseen by the Hudson River Park Trust, includes over two acres of public green space across a wave-shaped structure near West 13th Street in the Meatpacking District. First proposed in 2014 for $35 million, Little Island is expected to cost $250 million and open in the spring of 2021.
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April 20, 2015

The City’s Plan B for Barry Diller’s Pier 55 Floating Park Is Far Less Exciting

In February, the futuristic Pier 55 floating park planned for the Meatpacking District moved forward with a lease deal between the Hudson River Park Trust and a nonprofit group controlled by Barry Diller, the billionaire media mogul who pledged $130 million back in November to fund the $151.8 million park. Diller is allocating the funds through the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation (his wife is fashion designer Diane von Furstenberg), but under the agreement he can pull his support if he feels renovations at neighboring piers aren't up to par. And according to DNAinfo, the city's backup plan in this event is quite underwhelming, completely scratching the floating island and creating a $30 million park similar to others along Hudson River Park.
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November 17, 2014

Barry Diller Pledges $130M for Futuristic Offshore Park on the West Side

Floating space in New York's waterways is not a new concept. Take the +Pool, for example, the public pool proposed for the East River that was recently supported by Kanye West. But a new offshore park proposed for the Hudson River off 14th Street seems exceedingly ambitious, as it would cost $170 million, be located 186 feet off land, and contain wooded nooks and three performance venues including an amphitheater. Barry Diller, sponsor-to-be of this ambitious plan, gives the project a much more realistic outlook. The billionaire chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp, former head of Paramount Pictures and Fox–and husband to Diane von Furstenberg–was the single largest donor to the High Line. He's pledged $130 million from the Diller-von Furstenberg Family Foundation to make the 2.7-acre park a realty, as well as agreed to run the outdoor space and cover operating expenses for 20 years. He and his wife have starchitect-designed offices in the Meatpacking District and are clearly becoming king and queen of the neighborhood.
More on the futuristic park ahead