Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
Arts & Entertainment
Better Off Dead: Architect Wants To Install Giant Ski Slope Over The Lower East Side
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 4, 2012
Modified Apr 4, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
View all 4
By
Ben Yakas
Published Apr 4, 2012
Modified Apr 4, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
It's still up in the air as to what may become of the Seward Park Urban Renewal Area (SPURA), the lot of land in the Lower East Side that has been slated for redevelopment for the last 40 years or so. But one architect has a novel idea for what to do with the roof of the development: turn it into an artificial mountain. For skiing! And hiking! It's no Mt. Red Bull, but we'll take it.
Architect Ju-Hyun Kim waxed poetic to Co.DESIGN about the idea: “Just imagine how this forest in the mountain can emit fresh air and provide a habitat for animals,” he said. Kim proposes that the space should be filled with big-box stores like Ikea, Target, Best Buy, and AMC—and then on the roof, there would be a gigantic park, offering New Yorkers the chance to picnic on the hill in the summer and snowboard in the winter, mountain bike and rock climb. He described his inspiration: “I love hiking. I used to go to a mountain in Seoul when I lived there. However, in living in Manhattan for more than 10 years, that is not possible. Manhattan seems to have everything—rivers, parks, and great urban life--except a mountain.”
He's aiming big for sure, arguing that SPURA so far has had “conventional development, which can be planned in anywhere in the world…There should be a new attraction, some new shock and awe, but one that’s sustainable.” The idea seems far-fetched but worth pondering over, like the concept of extending the L train to the United Nations. Would the mountain affect plans to turn an abandoned trolley terminal beneath Delancey Street into a park? Could we drink on the slopes? And can we get a montage to skip ahead to the finished product?
Asspen
Get More: SOUTH
PARKmore...
Tagged
artificial mountain
LES
Lower East Side
manhattan
ski slope
spura
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE arts-entertainment
Would you live on a Halloween block? These Hackensackers live for it.
A guillotine, killer clowns, clownfish: They've got it all on Clinton Place.
By
James Ramsay
Published Oct 29, 2026
Owl pellets and period equity: What's happening at NYC's public libraries this November
Also: Books!
By
Alec Hamilton
Arts & Entertainment
Owl pellets and period equity: What's happening at NYC's public libraries this November
Also: Books!
By
Alec Hamilton
How the Village Halloween Parade keeps its soul
By
Hannah Frishberg
'You Can See Everything' … as long as you go to Staten Island
By
Sonia Rao
Inside the hidden chamber that controls Lincoln Center's magnificent fountain
By
Sonia Rao
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .