5 Minutes With The Pier 57 Team

Pier 57, Awards for Excellence in Adaptive Reuse Finalist 

Scott Rechler, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, RXR

Who has had the greatest influence on your career and what was the best advice he or she gave you?  

Mike Bloomberg proved that doing good and doing well are not mutually exclusive but rather mutually reinforcing. As a business leader and mayor, he demonstrated that building strong communities creates the foundation for greater business success. This powerful principle has shaped my own approach at RXR, where we have made building community central to our business model. 

As a ULI NY Awards nominee, what makes you most proud of your project?  

Pier 57 demonstrates the transformative power of public-private partnerships by reimagining historic infrastructure for modern use. In collaboration with Young Woo and the Hudson River Park Trust, we transformed a 1950s marine structure into a vibrant waterfront destination with offices, entertainment venues, and an 80,000-square-foot public rooftop park. The project not only preserves the pier’s historic engineering elements but also introduces cutting-edge sustainability in the heart of New York City. 

What excites you about the future of New York City?

Five years after the onset of COVID-19, New York City hasn’t just recovered – it’s thriving. Unprecedented investments in infrastructure, from Moynihan Train Hall to Grand Central Madison to the transformed LaGuardia Airport, are making New York more connected and accessible than ever. While we continue to face challenges with public safety and affordability, the city’s magnetic pull for talent, culture, and innovation keeps growing stronger, proving that betting against New York is always a losing proposition.