Work on the $1.45-billion East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project will close the southern section of East River Park — below the Houston Street entrance — starting on Nov. 21 ... with construction completion not set for by the end of 2026 "given project pause during COVID and procurement delays."
The city released the first set of dates for ESCR construction and a revised phasing plan for this Project Area 1 last Wednesday during Community Board 3's Parks, Recreation, Waterfront, & Resiliency Committee.
As we first reported here, the Compost Yard has been relocated, and that area will be turned into "a passive lawn" during the interim.
On Nov. 1, all but four tennis courts will close, with the remainder to shutter on Nov. 21 along with most of the southern end of East River Park.
According to the latest timeline from the city, leagues will be able to use the ballfields through Nov. 30. Permits for the BBQ areas and amphitheater will no longer be available after Nov. 30.
Click on the image below for more detail on all this...
Also, on Nov. 21, the entire "shared-use path" — the Greenway that runs between East River Park and the FDR — will close until the end of 2026. Looking at the city's presentation, it's not immediately apparent what route cyclists and pedestrians need to take in the interim. (The presentation only shows a bike detour for the area starting at Stuyvesant Cove on 20th Street.)
Meanwhile, the rest of East River Park — the area north of Reach F on the city's snapshots — will be open for at least another year. There appears to be a small closure at the north end above 10th Street sometime before next summer. (The city has said that they will maintain public access to a minimum of 42 percent of the park throughout construction.)
There aren't any other specific dates at this time attached to gutting the 57.5-acre East River Park — burying the existing park under fill and elevating it by 8-to-10 feet above sea level. You can find the updated 22-page presentation from last week at this link.
Opponents of this version of the reconstruction project continue to speak out, stressing there's a better path forward to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise — one that doesn't cause 1,000 mature trees to be chopped down.
As Archpaper noted in an article on the project this past summer:
Though the city has committed to planting approximately 2,000 new trees, consisting of 50 different tree species that will be more resilient to salt spray and extreme weather, it will take decades for the new saplings on the reconstructed park to achieve a full canopy.
East River Park Action and other advocates say there are alternatives to preserve the park and provide flood protection, such as the one mapped out in the years after Sandy. In late 2018, the city surprised community stakeholders by announcing a complete overhaul of a plan discussed over four years of local meetings.
Efforts to spur Council Speaker Corey Johnson to hold an oversight hearing on this phase of the East Side Coastal Resiliency project have yet to materialize. However, he's aware of what's happening here now.
Meanwhile, work continues in Project Area 2 between East 15 Street and 25th Street, including Asser Levy Playground, Stuyvesant Cove Park and Murphy Brothers Playground.
BULLSHIT!!! who has lobbied FOR this? WHO?
ReplyDeleteAnon 6:39AM: Well, in fact, a lot of people want a robust coastal resiliency plan. The opposition to this specific plan isn't as close to unanimous as some people might think.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot of community concern that bickering about the end result is going to stop the project altogether. Which would be really really bad. I don't see the opponents acknowledging that risk very much.
The concerns about construction overruns are valid. Go talk to Eric Adams about that, he's got the power to speed up this project now that de Blasio is out on December 31
March for the Park
ReplyDeleteSunday Oct. 31
Meet at noon at Tompkins Square Park
We'll march to Amphitheater in East River Park
https://m.facebook.com/erpaction?_rdr
Unbelievable, this must be stopped
ReplyDeleteFlooding needs to be addressed but this is another deBlasio project rammed down our throats. It will not be finished by 2006.
ReplyDeleteAbsurd !
ReplyDeleteI hope they hold off from bulldozing the trees until after the cold months, to give the animals that live there a chance to move to other areas. Probably not a plan for that.
ReplyDeleteNobody is disputing the need for a robust coastal resiliency plan. Beyond tired of hearing this line. The issue is with this plan specifically and how much destruction and upheaval it will cause. There are ways to do coastal resiliency without burying and closing a park for 5 years.
ReplyDeleteMeanwhile, I am really looking forward to hearing about all the new parks that will be opening on the west side of Manhattan or in the other boroughs. We are the only ones having our park taken away from us, despite the fact that it is a costly and unnecessary boondoggle that will no doubt line the pockets of developers and our dear departing minor Mayor.
ReplyDeleteThis is a terrible, unforgivable thing for our leaders to do to our city, a disaster in urban life and planning and policy and will go down in history as such.
ReplyDeleteThis is the worst - who ever came up with this idea and sold it in to the city should be run out of town. Once they start, this horrible project will take over ten plus years to complete.
ReplyDeleteWhat a loss as this is a great place to run without having to worry about being hit by bikes.
ReplyDeleteWhy is the only Manhattan coast line be demolished to "save" it. The Hudson River side of lower Manhattan was flooded so was south of Wall St, zero flood prevention is planned for that area. De Blasio and most certainly the Adam administration are stooges for developers and they will hand over public land whenever they can. Look at the nobody asked for "Hudson Yards" the planned Hudson Yards makeover around Madison Sq garden, the demolition of landmark worth hotels, the destruction of apartment building which actually provide affordable housing.
ReplyDeleteI can assure you, once the "world class park" as De Blasio let sip out of his dumb face once... is complete the public housing along the park will be condemned and sold off to developers who will put tower after tower of glass and steel. Look what has happened on the Brooklyn side of this river.
Your last my paragraph: Bingo! That’s what it’s all about!
DeleteAll of the alternatives in the Environmental Impact Statement-- including a simple flood wall next the the FDR-- offer exactly the same flood protection to the community. Why did the city fixate on the most expensive, and most destructive, option (with no input from environmental scientists or public health experts)???
ReplyDeleteDisgusting. This needs to be stopped. Plastic fucking yuppie mcpark on the way in what, ten years?
ReplyDeleteNo one is opposed to a robust coastal resiliency plan, that’s exactly for what we’re asking to have. Instead the city served up a highly redacted and non robust plan in order to bulldoze a park. This plan from the city does not address the other parts of Manhattan at risk for flooding so how can it be resilient. Again and again the question has gone unanswered how does only protecting a small part of the Manhattan coast protect all of Manhattan, especially lower? Nope instead people are out advocating for this stupid plan to happen just because there’s enough political push from a bunch of half-qualified top brass.
ReplyDeleteOnce it’s answered how this plan is effective for coastal resiliency, then you can use that defense. Stop this “too bad it’s happening” when it’s not a solution to the issue.
I lobbied and pleaded for this not to happen. I attended marches and district meetings. I vented on this delightful blog about it since the news pertaining to the park's destruction was announced. It all fell on death ears. Nothing we can do or say as residents matters no more clearly, even though we pay taxes, vote and obey the law. We mean nothing compared to Corey, Carolina and DeDorkio whom yield power, influence, and sizable salaries, who were behind this 100%. They got what they wanted and we have to accept it. They are accessible during election season, yet inaccessible during other times. Interesting! I will never vote or campaign for those cowards again. It is an injustice and an act of cruelty against wildlife and our fellow neighbors who adore this stretch of land. There could have been greener, less expensive alternatives to prevent flooding which would not dismantle downtown Manhattan. 2026 my ass. More like 2032 or 2035 given how the city moves at such a glacial pace. Can you imagine then how many billions will be allocated to this disaster of a project or how awful this will look like?
ReplyDeleteThis may be de Blasio's worst & most lasting "legacy" affecting this area.
ReplyDeleteWe will be living for decades with the effects of his stupidity on this. He doesn't give a shit that he's fucking over this community, b/c he doesn't care about us. He cares very much though, IMO, about the $$$$$$$ that must have flowed into his pockets (and will continue to flow into his pockets) from this horrendous decision.
And once the trees are cut, there's nothing Adams or any other incoming mayor can *or will* do to help us.
I hate being in a neighborhood that's considered ripe for the plucking, and agree that whenever this park is "finished" (count on massive time & cost overruns), then the next step is to get rid of low-income and affordable housing, and replace it with glass towers with expensive East River views, probably starting at $2 million for a studio.
This entire thing, IMO, is a complete hand-over of public land and a much-needed, much-used public park to private money-grubbing interests. This is meant to be an easy end-run around every law & concern that's legitimate to this community & its needs & concerns.
There are plans for the Hudson River side. They involve flood walls and flood gates, not placing fill. I have seen them in their conceptual forms as an engineer. I do not know what stage they are at vis a vis the design or bidding process.
ReplyDeleteI, too, am opposed to this new plan. The community and the city agreed on a plan. It wasn't perfect, but, it was constructable and wouldn't have changed everything so drastically. There were issues with relocation of some conEdison items, but, again, nothing that couldn't be overcome.
The ask is reasonable and small.
ReplyDeleteThe original plan which had community support was discarded in favor of this current plan without proper review.
The report on the new plan was heavily redacted
Show us the un-redacted report and agree to a proper review
https://eastriverparkaction.org/2019/10/01/stop-the-death-sentence-for-east-river-park-11-reasons-why/
THE BIG HALLOWEEN MARCH FOR THE PARK
ReplyDeleteSunday, October 31, 2021, Noon
Meeting at Tompkins Square Park
Marching to East River Amphitheater
Bring your music, poems, song, dance, and speak out for the rest of the day at East River Park Amphitheater.
A few weeks ago I took a walk along the Hudson River Park which goes from Battery Park up to Chambers Street and then up to 59th Street along the Hudson River. I was amazed by the difference between that park and the East River Park. The Hudson River Park was immaculate, I did not see any garbage on the ground anywhere or anyone smoking cigarettes', cigars, marijuana or drinking alcohol in the park or speeding on the pedestrian walkway in a motorized scooter or bicycle while dangerously dodging around pedestrians and joggers. The trees in that park, the grass and shrubs were all well maintained with no sign of overgrown weeds anywhere unlike the East River Park that seems overrun with them. It is no wonder that it is so easy to destroy the East River Park which is in such terrible condition while that would never happen to the well maintained Hudson River Park.
ReplyDeleteHudson River park is a state park. The city isnt involved in the maintenance.
DeleteLook at the bigger picture. As some here have mentioned, NYCHA is ripe for picking. The city is allowing housing to fall into disrepair and is floating plans to build luxury high-rises on NYCHA property to fund the maintenance. Yeah, right. Look at the luxury tower that just went up north of the Manhattan Bridge. More are planned for the Seaport and north along the East River. This park project just sets the stage for what is to come which is more luxury development and gentrification. DeB and his cronies are counting on you to forget the details a decade from now when maybe the park will reopen.
ReplyDeleteAlso remember there is an open capital project plan happening for Tompkins Square Park. It was supposed to start in 2019, but was delayed by the pandemic. Remember all the construction for over a year when the playgrounds along Avenue B were revamped? Now there are plans to demolish the field house in the middle of the park which will disrupt the entire area around it. And this will be happening while ERP is dug up. Where are residents supposed to go?
Ecocide Carlina owns this.
ReplyDeleteI hope the career of every politician who let this happen ends now. They are completely negligent in their duties and responsibilities to represent their communities and protect them from the harm this is going to cause.
ReplyDeleteIt's election time, and I hope EVERYONE remembers who to NOT vote for when they go to cast their ballot.
ReplyDeleteThese people who are supposed to represent us have shown their colors abundantly; there is no reason to vote them in again.
CRIMINALS!!!
ReplyDeleteOur Councilperson, Carlina Rivera, was the deciding vote/person for this plan (the City Council almost always defers to the local Councilperson in neighborhood matters). She had the opportunity to stop this, but didn't. You have a chance to vote her out in the election that is going on right now through 11/4. Allie Ryan, who is also running, is against this awful plan.
ReplyDelete@3 59. Hudson River park is a state park, not a city park. It's under completely different management and funded totally separate
ReplyDeleteI’m looking forward to a much better park and my neighborhood being safe from flood waters. The idea that NYC would keep an extremely complicated series of movable barriers in perfect working order in perpetuity is ridiculous.
ReplyDeleteJohnson has not heard of any of this up until this video was shot???!!! What exactly is he being paid to do?!
ReplyDeleteThis is so heartbreaking. The East River park is a gem, with something for everyone. It’s a great place to walk along the river, to run, to bike, to play sports, to barbecue, or just to sit and enjoy the changing seasons in the gardens.. Besides the destruction of the trees and disruption of the neighborhood during the construction for years on end, the end result will be a disaster.who would want to walk or do much there anymore with the once lovely view of the River replaced by a concrete wall, with thin saplings instead of mature trees to protect you from the sun on a hot summer day? Meanwhile, on the other side, there will no doubt be even more pollution and traffic on the FDR Dr if the congestion pricing goes through. There was another plan, which was even mentioned at the Museum of the City og NY at a video exhibit coastal flooding. Where will people go to escape the heat and the sun? This travesty and the deplorable conditions at Riker’s Island will forever be despicable DeBasio’s legacy.
ReplyDelete
ReplyDeleteCarlina Rivera you are a disgrace for being part of the closing of our lower east side park you are so heartless you and blasio, and chin all you both think about are neighborhoods for the rich we need our lower east side park what are our children suppose to do, senior citizens, people that suffer from depression, i am one of them who suffers from ptsd the park helped me alot why do the beautiful trees need to be cut down and all the dogs who love running in the park, family reunions, birthday parties, barbecues, rivera, blasio, chin i hope you can sleep at night look what you have done to us, you want to build buildings thats what the 3 of you want. i hope i see the 3 of you one day to tell you how i really feel my name is linda ruggiero
One of the few thing I actually enjoyed in NYC
ReplyDeleteMarch for the Park
ReplyDeleteSunday Oct. 31
Meet at noon at Tompkins Square Park
We'll march to Amphitheater in East River Park
East River Park Action
A number of us have asked that the work on ESCR be paused—even writing to governor Kathy Hochul—until an environmental review can be done.
ReplyDeleteThis is crucial because we recognize ESCR as a land grab which may result in either the construction of either super-luxury towers or jails.
Ultimately, the city has ended up lying to us over and over again; why should we even believe anything they tell us now?
By the time the city offered up its report we had requested, it was so heavily redacted as to make it unreadable.
What is the city hiding? We maintain that ESCR isn't a flood plan but a land grab.
The NYT has a front-page article today proclaiming NYC to be the "the greenest big city on earth" and goes on about all our great parks and wildlife. There us ZERO mention of the imminent destruction of ERP.
ReplyDeleteAre we invisible? Do we exist?!?!
East River Park vs. City of NY
ReplyDeleteOct 27, 2021 Appellate Division, First Department Live Stream
Starts at 54 minutes into video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=--uesq8xtGI
Can't ANYONE get this delayed by just 6 weeks - that's all that's left in de Blasio's term. Then he'll be GONE and maybe the next mayor will save the park from destruction.
ReplyDelete