City officials are hosting two community meetings this coming week to discuss updated plans for storm-proofing East River Park.
Details emerged earlier this fall about the construction phase to protect the East Side against catastrophic flooding along the East River from Montgomery Street to 25th Street.
As reported in October, the city plans to "lift" East River Park by up to 10 feet when work starts in March 2020. However, to do this, the city will need to close East River Park for up to three and a half years, bulldozing all the current amenities, including the new running track and soccer field.
Monday's meeting is from 7-8:30 p.m. at the Gouverneur Health Auditorium, 227 Madison St. Tuesday's meeting is 6:30-8 p.m. in the Hunter-Brookdale Rotunda, 425 E. 25th St. (And the flyer notes dinner will be served!) The flyer notes that the same material will be presented each night (not sure if the same dinner will be served each night).
This link takes you to the website for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project ... where you can find various background reports and presentations.
Updated 12/10
Ahead of tonight's first meeting, local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera released this statement:
“After being briefed last week on the new design for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, I am still seriously concerned that many important questions regarding this monumental project have not been sufficiently answered by the Mayor’s Office and that the community’s pain-staking work over four years is being completely pushed aside. This new plan represents a fundamental departure from anything the City had previously discussed, particularly with respect to East River Park, which would be closed for three years.
Moreover, the proposed changes would reportedly bring the projected cost of the project to $1.45 billion, which the Mayor’s Office has failed to provide detailed analyses for explaining why the cost increase is necessary. We want a resilient city, and this projects needs to demonstrate that that is possible in all Five Boroughs. If the Mayor can clearly show that the previous, community-led version of ESCR would not provide the sufficient coastal protections needed, the city needs to be forthcoming about that. If they are pursuing this version out of convenience for the drivers who use the FDR or because they are concerned about finishing the project on time, they should also detail that as well. But until these questions are answered, I cannot back the direction the Mayor’s Office has decided to take.”
Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: The reality of storm-proofing East River Park in 2020
4 comments:
This the most absurd, stupid thing the city can do right now. Let me guess. It was DeBlasio's idea that spearheaded this. He is as dense as a bag of rocks. If this goes through, they are virtually destroying downtown coastal areas. As someone whom uses this park quite often, it might cause me to move to the West Village. I cannot believe this shit. It is already beautiful. I thought the city has no money. Why would they invest in a brand new soccer field and park and do this? Am I missing something here? I am so pissed over this. WTF!!???!!!
City had a nice plan for closing small parts of the park, in sections, and integrating the protection into the existing fabric. It was worked out in consultation with the community.
And then they ignore it, and try to ram this monstrosity through instead. Why? Who benefits? WTF?
I hope that someone will be able to attend and report back. Unfortunately I cannot attend either session due to previous commitments, but this seems really important.
Complete bullshit. Attending meeting tonight.
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