Phase One of Hudson Yards Project Set to Open Friday

Inside the marble floors are being polished, while outside the final pieces come together. All this work is in preparation for the completion of the first phase of New York City’s newest neighborhood — a whopping real estate development set to open Friday.

The Hudson Yards project is a 15 acres, $16 billion investment featuring 100 retail stores, including the city’s first Neiman Marcus.

"It is a one-stop destination — remember, you have 40,000 employees here a day," Esty Ottensoser, the retail director for Hudson Yards, said.

At the end of the week, the project’s “Vessel” public sculpture and four out of six towers are slated to open on the West Side between 30th and 34th streets, just steps from The Highline, will also open.

The project has its critics, though. Only 10 percent of the 4,000 planned apartments will be affordable.

“It’s New York – I don’t think anything’s too affordable if we’re being honest,” Younger Evans, from Midtown, said.

Additionally, the developer got major tax breaks.

“They basically sold the city out – that’s what we have to deal with now,” Glen Michaels, who lives in Midtown, says.

However, Jay Cross, the president of the Hudson Yards project, says it was built for everyone.

“It’s for all New Yorkers but all New Yorkers includes the wealthy – so it has to have a little bit of everything,” Cross said, adding that the project "becomes a major anchor in a much broader neighborhood — a neighborhood that is actually growing all around us today."

Former Mayor Mike Bloomberg launched the project about six years ago after his bid for a west side stadium failed. Bloomberg committed billions of taxpayer dollars to extend the 7 train to the location first, and now, the city’s new skyline sits atop the LIRR railyard.

While the first phase of the huge real estate project opens Friday, a $9 billion second phase, with several more towers and a school, is planned for the years ahead.