Tom Fox: the Hudson River Waterfront Before the Park
This collection includes images of the Hudson River Waterfront dating from the 1970s, 80s and 90s taken by Tom Fox, who played an influential role in the research, planning, and advocacy for the redevelopment of the Hudson River waterfront. Tom was the first president of the Hudson River Park Conservancy and completed the Concept and Financial Plan for the park. Many of these images show the waterfront in a state of neglect, disrepair, or misuse in the time before it was transformed into a public park.
Several of these photos were included in Tom’s 2024 book, “Creating the Hudson River Park: Environmental and Community Activism, Politics, and Greed” (watch Village Preservation’s program with Tom about the book here). It’s a 40-year, first-person history of this project from the 1985 defeat of Westway, negotiating the 1998 Hudson River Park Act that officially created the Park, the 1999-2023 planning and construction focused on creating active and passive recreation opportunities on the Tribeca, Greenwich Village, Chelsea, and Hell’s Kitchen waterfronts, and the real estate development schemes in and adjacent to the park.
Since 1975, Tom has galvanized public, private, philanthropic, and media support of projects that create and enhance open spaces in neighborhoods where it’s critically needed, as well as preserve nature and enhance the economy, sustainability and livability of cities. Tom has received numerous awards from professional, civic, and environmental organizations, a B.S. in Biology from Brooklyn College, and a Loeb Fellowship in Advanced Environmental Studies from Harvard University’s Graduate School of Design. The Fox Collection at the Brooklyn College Archives documents Tom’s 50-year career in advocating for increased public open space.
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