This short writing is based on rather hudson yards is a great urban environment or not. It also answer the question of “Is this the neighborhood New york deserves?”

Hudson yards is the largest mixed-use private real estate venture right now. Its design which is a reminder of the Rockefeller Center contains millions of square feet of offices, stores, restaurant, and cultural attractions.The design also show that high-rise developments need large public plazas to avoid feeling oppressive. Hudson yards is basically built on a platform above railroad tracks. That also proved that its architects had nowhere to go but up. The shed is one of many attraction this place has
to offer with its art performance / exhibition venue and its retractable roof. Also the Vessel which is a mechanism composed of 154 stairways occupy precious space for the people. Somehow Hudson Yards follows the model of Rockefeller Center, with its prominent retail concourses. It was built by a private firm, the Related companies, with Stephen Ross in charge of the project.But to Michael Kimmelman Hudson yards is a perfect example of a skin-deep view of architecture as luxury branding. To him all the building standing on that area act like a logo for itself and presents no appearance of human scale. He wrote“With its focus on the buildings’ shiny envelopes, on the monotony of reflective blue glass and the sheen of polished wood, brass, leather, marble and stone, Hudson Yards glorifies a kind of surface spectacle as if the peak ambitions of city life were consuming luxury goods and enjoying a smooth, seductive, mindless materialism.”

Is this the neighborhood New york deserves?

No, The area may have beautiful monument that creates amazing experience for the people but lacking in so wrong way to show a great urban design. The area should be design to create more connection with people instead its focuses by showing of luxury as if the goal of city life were materialism.