Photos by Stacie Joy
This past weekend provided one last opportunity to cross the Sixth Street pedestrian bridge into East River Park. As of yesterday, the overpass — the final East Village access point — has been closed off.
The closure cuts off the running track, the outdoor gym, and the stretch of esplanade that many neighbors relied on for daily routines. The trees shading the Sixth Street entrance will soon come down as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project.
When the work is finished — expected by the end of 2026 — this part of the park will reopen in a new form. Until then, the bridge remains closed, the gates are locked, and another section of the old park has disappeared.
Here's one last look...
If only we were more organized and dedicated to protecting those remaining trees from being cut down as we should wrap ourselves with chains around the base of those trees to keep them from being cut down while protesting this attack on nature.
ReplyDeleteWell, no point in that, since they will die soon anyway. They're just above the water line in an area that floods a lot with salt water. None of the vegetation in that part of the park would last another decade.
ReplyDeleteThe city told people this, and of course more than half the trees that were there are gone already for the same reason. In fact it's dangerous to be in a park with trees that are dying and dropping limbs more often.
The only counterargument is that nature is lying and floods are all fake and this is so they can build condos.