Just breathe: A walking tour to see how the air quality varies around the neighborhood

Some community members recently installed real-time air-quality monitors in and around East River Park. (You can check them any time here.) 

Via the EVG inbox:

Funded by donations to LES Breathe, a committee of the nonprofit East River Park Action, these PurpleAir sensors provide a color-coded score from 1 (best) to 500, based on EPA standards and the current PM2.5 (a mix of chemical particles small enough to inhale). 

With all the concerns about air quality (including recent wildfire haze days when readings soared to 165), this data is reliable and will help local residents know when to protect themselves, close windows, turn on filters, and advocate for clearer air.

This link has a lot more details about this campaign... as the group continues to speak out against the city's current plan to demolish East River Park and cut down 1,000 trees to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

Tomorrow, members of LES Breathe are hosting a walking tour to see how the air quality varies around the neighborhood and East River Park using portable sensors. 

Details: Saturday, July 31 at Grace Space, 182 Avenue C at 11th Street. Gather at 10:30 a.m., parade at 11:30, a data performance by NY Alive at noon in Tompkins Square Park, and at 1 p.m., the 90-minute Walking on Air tour will leave from (and return to) Grace Space. 

RSVP here.

Advocates urging City Comptroller to withhold approval for East River Park reconstruction

Updated 7/29

As amNY first reported: "After several discussions with the DDC, the comptroller is requesting the agency tackle some unresolved issues, including information disclosure concerns." AND: "Though Stringer kicked the contract back to the DDC, it does not mean that he won’t sign it in the future — or that the project won’t move forward."

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The low bidder's contract for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Plan (ESCR) at East River Park is waiting for approval at Comptroller Scott Stringer's office. 

And opponents of the current plan, led by East River Park Action, are urging Stringer to withhold his approval of the bid by IPC Resiliency Partners. (Read more about the bidding drama here.)

Today at noon, group members will rally outside his office at 1 Centre St.  

Here's more via an email from East River Park Action:

Once approved and a Notice to Proceed is issued, IPC can begin prep work for the demolition of East River Park — including cutting down almost 1,000 mature trees — in order to build a giant levee over the 46-acre land. The Department of Design and Construction, which oversees the project, said at prior Community Board 3 meetings that surveyors are ready to enter the park to perform necessary tests. Other work will include fencing of the park and bringing in trailers for field offices, which can begin within two months of approval.

 

At a time when the city is in a fiscal crisis, we are urging Comptroller Stringer to withhold approval on the $1,272,221,100 construction contract with IPC for the ESCR project that has already gone over-budget, until an independent review is conducted on the prior plan that would've cost the City considerably less money and the park considerably less destruction.

Opponents of the city's current plan — where workers will raze the 57.5-acre plot of land, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill — say there are better ways 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.

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction, so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. 

According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be completed in 2025, a timetable opponents say will never be met.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• City tries again with the release of a Value Engineering Study for East River Park

• Report: Lowest bids for East River Park construction are $73 million over budget 

• Report: Now there's an East River Park construction lawsuit 

Details on the additional funding for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project

The city has announced new details about plans for East River Park after the years-long gutting commences later this year. 

According to an announcement by Mayor de Blasio and published reports, additional funding — totaling $145 million — will allow for a new amphitheater (with roof), more amenities at Murphy Brothers Playground and a flyover bridge for the narrow bikeway at 14th Street.

In addition, Deputy Mayor Vicki Been confirmed in a letter that the Lower East Side Ecology Center's compost yard would be able to return to its longtime home upon completion of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project.

NY1 had more details on the amphitheater: 

The reconstruction project ... was set to demolish the current amphitheater and replace it with a smaller stage, albeit one without a roof... 

Now, an infusion of $4.83 million that was announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio will allow the city to create a roof structure for the amphitheater, said Ian Michaels, the executive director of public information for the city’s Department of Design and Construction, which is overseeing much of the park's overhaul. 

City Hall did not respond to a question about where the funding is coming from.

Michael Marino, the founder of Friends of Corlears Hook Park, which is across the FDR from the amphitheater, told this to NY1: "I don't think it should have taken this long for this to happen. I feel like every once in a while, after years of the community complaining about something, we get a little crumb, and that's supposed to appease us."

Marino said he is pleased that the amphitheater will have a cover of some kind, but is still concerned that the current plan does not include bathrooms or sufficient seating for performances. 

 A covered amphitheater would offer "that grandiose vision" for people entering the park, he said. 

Renderings of the new amphitheater show that it is considerably smaller than the current version, which can seat an estimated 2,500. Instead, the new space looks to hold 400.

Here is the list of other "improvements" that the city announced back on Thursday:

• $5.8 million to build a comfort station at Murphy Brothers Playground, a 1.27-acre park at Avenue C and East 17th Street. The playground was already scheduled to receive updated recreation facilities and flood protection. Other improvements to the playground will include a new basketball court, new synthetic turf ballfields, a new dog run, a new power source for the existing Little League scoreboard, and enhanced landscaping.

• $129 million, in a separate capital project, to the Department of Transportation to fully fund a future flyover bridge that will improve bike and pedestrian access through this critical part of the Greenway. The bridge will span the "pinch point" area of the Manhattan Greenway as it passes 14th Street along the East River, where the Greenway narrows to just a few feet wide to fit between the river, the FDR Drive and adjacent Con Edison facilities. The bridge construction will be coordinated with ESCR.

The announcements aren't likely to appease opponents of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, who have demanded a "real environmental review" of the $1.45 billion plan to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

Opponents of the city's current plan — where workers will raze the 57.5-acre plot of land, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill — say there are better ways 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.

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction, so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be completed in 2025, a timetable opponents say will never be met.

As previously reported, the lowest bids have come in, and they've already exceeded the budget by $73 million, which doesn't cover the entire project. To date, the city has yet to select a contractor, a process mired in a lawsuit at the moment.

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• City tries again with the release of a Value Engineering Study for East River Park

• Report: Lowest bids for East River Park construction are $73 million over budget 

• East River community group gets action on the release of (heavily redacted) Value Engineering Study

• Advocacy group: The city's Value Engineering Study for East River Park does not exist

Today's concert at the East River Park Amphitheater has been postponed

Today's wind and rain has forced the cancellation of the free concert this afternoon at the East River Park Amphitheater. Organizers will be announcing a rain date soon.

Can you Dig it? [Update: Postponed due to the rain]

Update 5/29: The organizers have postponed the show to a later date given today's wind and rain...

There's a free show tomorrow (Saturday!) afternoon at the East River Park Amphitheater to help raise awareness of the destruction to come to the Park later this year.

Dig Stop! will bring together more than a dozen local bands, DJs and speakers from 1 to 5 p.m.

You can also purchase Save East River Park T-shirts and totes ... and bid on a mystery bag raffle with items donated by Patagonia. Proceeds go to the East River Park Action legal fund.

East River Park Action has been asking for a "real environmental review" of the $1.45 billion plan to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

Opponents of the city's current plan — where workers will raze the 57.5-acre plot of land, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill — say there are better ways 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, part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, discussed over four years of local meetings.

Previously

Blackout along East River Park

In recent days, someone has blacked out all the Save East River Park flyers along the waterfront...

And apparently, this was more than a random act of spraypainting... EVG reader Robert Miner, who shared these photos, said every flyer from East River Park Action was like this from 18th Street down to the Williamsburg Bridge.

Opponents of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project have been asking for a "real environmental review" of the $1.45 billion plan to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

Opponents of the city's current plan — where workers will raze the 57.5-acre plot of land, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill — say there are better ways 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.

Previously

Report: Now there's an East River Park construction lawsuit

One of the two bidders for the reconstruction of East River Park has initiated a lawsuit against the Department of Design and Construction (DDC), DDC Commissioner Jamie Torres Springer, Comptroller Scott Stringer and IPC Resiliency Partners (IPC), according to the latest report from advocacy group East River Park Action. 

Tully Construction Co. Inc. filed the suit on April 26. (The lawsuit was amended last Monday.)

Per the group's email from yesterday:

Tully, the higher bidder, alleges the DDC did not follow its own protocols when they accepted the lower bid from IPC. The City has agreed to not award the contract until after the hearing date, which is currently May 27. The City also agreed not to register the contract for the ESCR until 30 days after the hearing date. 

The lawsuit claims that IPC, a newly formed joint venture, did not meet the Special Experience Requirements listed in the Project's Bid Booklet. Tully is seeking a judgment that the project should be awarded to them.  

As East River Park Action previously noted, the bids from both Tully and IPC exceeded the city's estimate.

And...

If Tully wins the judgment and DDC awards the Project to Tully at the higher bid of $1,335,473,290, then the costs of the ESCR project will exceed the City Engineer’s estimates by $136,907,910. 

$1.45 billion is allocated for this project. There is currently no additional funding from the city, state or federal government to complete the project. 

Meanwhile, the construction start date, once set to begin in the spring of 2020, is looking like the fall now. The continued delays are casting more doubts on the project's viability, per East River Park Action.

Find more background on the project here.

Previously on EV Grieve:

Report: Lowest bids for East River Park construction are $73 million over budget 

At the March to Save East River Park

An estimated 500 people turned out yesterday for the March to Save East River Park. 

Participants, carrying noise-makers and homemade signs, gathered in Tompkins Square Park and made their way over to East River Park along Avenue B, with a stop outside the Fourth Street office of local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera, who has voiced support for the city's plan to cover the park with eight feet of fill for flood control and cut down 1,000 trees. 

The march, organized by East River Park Action, ended at the amphitheater, where there were an array of speakers, including neighborhood activists, several candidates for City Council and Manhattan Borough President and the poet Eileen Myles, who served as emcee. (Recaps at Gothamist and NY1.)

EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared these photos from along the march and in East River Park...

Opponents of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project demand a "real environmental review" of the $1.45 billion plan to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

Opponents of the city's current plan — where workers will raze the 57.5-acre plot of land, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill — say there are better ways 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.

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction, so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be completed in 2025, a timetable opponents say will never be met.

Meanwhile, the city officially kicked off the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project this past Thursday via an announcement by Mayor de Blasio.

As previously reported, the lowest bids have come in, and they've already exceeded the budget by $73 million, which doesn't cover the entire project. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• City tries again with the release of a Value Engineering Study for East River Park

• Report: Lowest bids for East River Park construction are $73 million over budget 

• East River community group gets action on the release of (heavily redacted) Value Engineering Study

• Advocacy group: The city's Value Engineering Study for East River Park does not exist

Reminders: March to save East River Park on Sunday

There's a "Save East River Park March" on Sunday... those who wish to join in with organizers East River Park Action can meet at noon in Tompkins Square Park. (Per the invite, at the "semicircle with the big elm tree near the southeast entrance.")

From Tompkins, the group will march to the East River Park Amphitheater for a rally at 1:30. (Details here.)

The march takes place as the city officially kicked off the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project yesterday via an announcement by Mayor de Blasio.

We don’t need to imagine what climate change will do to our city. We saw it first hand during Superstorm Sandy — and our coastal communities paid the price.

The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project is how we fight back for our city and our planet. pic.twitter.com/dK7NSxGLsM

— Mayor Bill de Blasio (@NYCMayor) April 15, 2021

"Building a recovery for all of us means fighting climate change and investing in resilient communities,” he said in a press release. "This project will keep generations of New Yorkers safe from extreme weather, coastal storm, and rising sea levels — all while preserving and improving some of our city’s most iconic open spaces."

Work started in Stuyvesant Cove back in December on what is being called Project Area 2.

As for East River Park, in the city's current plan, which has been met with outrage by community members, workers will raze the 57.5-acre plot of land. bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill meant to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be completed in 2025. 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

• City tries again with release of a Value Engineering Study for East River Park

• Report: Lowest bids for East River Park construction are $73 million over budget 

• East River community group gets action on release of (heavily redacted) Value Engineering Study

• Advocacy group: The city's Value Engineering Study for East River Park does not exist

City tries again with release of a Value Engineering Study for East River Park

Five days after East River Park Action (ERPA) filed a lawsuit against Mayor de Blasio and the Office of Management and Budget for the entire Value Engineering Study without redactions ... the city released a (mostly) unredacted version yesterday.

You can find a copy of the 300-plus-page report here. We haven't had a chance to comb through it just yet to learn what it was the city didn't want people to see. Concerned residents are curious why the city denied the existence of the report before releasing a mostly redacted version. We'll see how they did on the third try. (Blacked-out sections now are said to be for security purposes.)

Some background. About the lawsuit (BoweryBoogie was first to report on it):

A lawsuit filed April 2 asks for full disclosure of the much-discussed but largely unseen Value Engineering Study. Joining the lawsuit brought by East River Park Action attorney Jack Lester are Manhattan Borough President candidate Lindsey Boylan; and City Council candidates Christopher Marte, Erin Hussein, and Allie Ryan. The political club Grand Street Democrats also joined along with community activists. 

They seek transparency, accountability and a re-examination of the massive flood control project to find alternatives that will preserve parkland. 

On Monday, Justin Brannan, the chair of the City Council Committee on Resiliency and Waterfronts, also called for the release of the report without redactions. On Tuesday, local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera tweeted that the report was being released "thanks to advocacy from my office & the Community Advisory Group."

City Hall will be releasing more materials from its ESCR value engineering review today thanks to advocacy from my office & the Community Advisory Group.

We'll review these materials carefully and support the CAG in efforts they make around this needed resiliency project. pic.twitter.com/BkyEqbjmGQ

— Carlina Rivera 利華娜 (@CarlinaRivera) April 6, 2021

As previously reported, ERPA's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request and an appeal finally unearthed the three-year-old Value Engineering Study. (This after the city denied there was such a report.) 

However, following the appeal, a heavily redacted version of the study — the oft-cited factor behind the city's change of plans in September 2018 to bury/elevate East River Park by eight feet — was released in February.

On March 2, the group's attorney, Jack Lester, appealed to the Department of Design and Construction, the Office of Management and Budget and NYC Parks to see the entire study, not the mostly blacked-out version.

The city's current plan, which has been met with outrage by community members, will raze the 57.5-acre East River Park, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill meant to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. Work is expected to begin later in the spring, though the first round of estimates doesn't look promising. 

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be completed in 2025. 

Meanwhile, on April 18, ERPA is hosting a march that starts in Tompkins Square Park at noon...

 

Previously on EV Grieve: 

•  Report: Lowest bids for East River Park construction are $73 million over budget 

• East River community group gets action on release of (heavily redacted) Value Engineering Study

• Advocacy group: The city's Value Engineering Study for East River Park does not exist

Report: Lowest bids for East River Park construction are $73 million over budget

The lowest construction bids for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) will cost $73 million more than the $1.45 billion budget — and they’ve barely started, according to the latest mailing from advocacy group East River Park Action. 

The group breaks down the bids, which they say doesn't include the new "parallel conveyance" for the enhanced sewer system, or other major components of the plan: 

• Project Area 1 (PA1). It includes East River Park, below 14th Street. This is the section that the city intends to raze and then bury under eight feet of fill. There were only two construction bids for this massive, presumably lucrative, job. Both bids exceeded the city’s estimate. The contract has not yet been awarded, but the low bid, from IPC Resiliency Partners, is $1.272 billion. 

• Project Area 2 (PA2), the waterfront area from 14th Street to 25th Street. The low bid for this section was over $163 million, and the contract was awarded to Perfetto Contracting Company. Work is already underway. Asser Levy Park is being torn up and trees have been removed. The Northern section of the greenway has been closed, leaving cyclists and runners without a safe alternative. 

The bids for PA1 and PA2 total $1,435,287,143. In addition, the city has already spent more than $90 million in "planning." That comes to $1,525,287,143, which is $73 million over budget and doesn't include key components. 

As East River Park Action points out, the ESCR plan was scheduled to start in the spring of 2020. The bid deadlines for PA1 were extended six times. Questions remain: Why? What are the problems? Where will the city find these additional funds, and how will the growing price tag affect NYC’s other coastal neighborhoods?

Per the group: "The wildly unrealistic budget is just one of the reasons we argue that the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan is not workable in its present form."

As previously reported, the group's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request and an appeal finally unearthed the three-year-old value engineering study. However, the study — the oft-cited factor behind the city's change of plans in September 2018 to bury/elevate East River Park by eight feet — is heavily redacted. 

On March 2, the group's attorney, Jack L. Lester, appealed to the Department of Design and Construction, the Office of Management and Budget and NYC Parks to see the entire value engineering study, not the mostly blacked-out version.

The city's current plan, which has been met with outrage by community members, will raze the 57.5-acre East River Park, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill meant to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be complete in 2025. 

The start of the long-delayed construction is slated to commence this spring, according to a recent presentation the city made.

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You can donate to the East River Park Action legal fund here.

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For further reading: East Village-based musician Matt Sweeney wrote an essay on Medium. "I wrote this in the hopes that NYC journalists will investigate the proposed plan to destroy NYC’s best park." You can read the piece at this link. 

East River community group gets action on release of (heavily redacted) value engineering study

Turns out there is a value engineering study after all. 

In January (first reported here), following a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request by advocacy group East River Park Action, NYC's Department of Design and Construction (DDC) stated that the city's value engineering report could not be sent because: "DDC's search of agency records revealed no responsive documents for [the FOIL] request."

The value engineering study is the oft-cited factor behind the city's change of plans in September 2018 to bury/elevate East River Park by eight feet as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project.

According to an email from East River Park Action on Sunday, the group appealed their original FOIL request, and on Feb. 11, the DDC released the three-year-old report. 

However, per East River Action: "the report is heavily redacted. Here's a good page. Note that the disadvantages outweigh the advantages..."

Back to the East River Park Action email:

We need to see an un-redacted report. We also strongly support the NYC Group of the Sierra Club, which "calls upon the City Council's Committees on Environmental Protection and the Council's Parks and Recreation Committee to hold a joint oversight hearing on the East River Coastal Resiliency Project or ESCR" to get to the bottom of the “secrecy, inadequacy, and sequence of events and information releases [that] have left many perplexed and disturbed.”

The 347-page Value Engineering Study for the Office of Management and Budget is available here. The 31-page Report of Findings is available here.

The city's current plan, which has been met with outrage by community members, will raze the 57.5-acre East River Park, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill meant to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea-level rise. 

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be complete in 2025. 

The start of construction, which had been slated to commence this past fall, was delayed until this spring, according to a recent presentation the city made.

But after seeing the redacted report, East River Park has many outstanding questions for the city to answer.

Our many ACTIONeers have pored over the plans and have found fatal flaws that will damage our neighborhood's well being for years to come. We must have transparency, accountability, and community involvement in a revised plan.

Advocacy group: The city's value engineering study for East River Park does not exist

A value engineering study, an oft-cited factor behind the city's change of plans in September 2018 to bury/elevate East River Park by eight feet as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, does not exist, according to advocacy group East River Park Action.

On Friday, in a reply to the group's Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, NYC's Department of Design and Construction (DDC) stated that the city's value engineering report could not be sent because:

"DDC's search of agency records revealed no responsive documents for [the FOIL] request."

In response, East River Park Action issued the following statement:

This means that the present massive $1.45 billion plan lacks the basic justification for the change that doubled the cost and destruction.

According to a “Fact Sheet” from de Blasio’s office on Sept. 28, 2018, "The adoption of the new design follows a value engineering study performed earlier this year and a review of the project by a panel of experts with experience from around the nation."

In addition, the independent analyst from the Dutch firm, Deltares, who Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and City Councilmember Carlina Rivera hired, also reportedly requested this value engineering report: 

"The 'value engineering report' leads to the conclusion that Alternative 4 can be completed faster and with a greater degree of certainty," he wrote. However, he never saw the document. "This value engineering report is not publicly available," he noted.

This nonexistent value engineering study and invisible review by a panel of experts paved the way for the new plan and scrapped a less destructive plan that had been developed over years of community and city joint planning.

The city's current plan, which has been met with outrage by community members, will raze the 57.5-acre East River Park, bulldozing 1,000 mature trees and rebuilding the park atop eight feet of landfill meant to protect the Lower East Side and surrounding neighborhoods from a 100-year-flood event and sea level rise. 

In October 2019, the city announced that they would phase in the construction so only portions of the park are closed to the public at any given time. According to various reports, the city has committed to leaving a minimum of 42 percent of East River Park open to the public. It is projected to be complete in 2025. 

The start of construction, which had been slated to commence this past fall, was delayed until this spring, according to a recent presentation the city made.

However, given the revelation about the value engineering study, "we demand the city stop the ESCR plan so it can be further reviewed," Fannie Ip of East River Park Action said in a statement. "This is not the 'Greener, More Equitable' NYC, which the de Blasio administration has repeatedly promised."

You can read East River Park's full statement and ongoing concerns at this link.

Bike lane detour confusion as construction starts along the East River Greenway

On Monday, the city will begin flood-wall construction at the Solar One facility in Stuyvesant Cove as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project.

This is considered Project Area 2, which encompasses work between 15th Street and 25th Street including Asser Levy Playground, Stuyvesant Cove Park, Murphy Brothers Playground as well as local streets around the Con Edison facility. 

Given the work start, the bike lane along this stretch of the East River Greenway — between 20th and 23rd — will close. Despite promises of a two-week notice ahead of any closure, there's no word of a detour route for cyclists, according to residents and community groups.

In addition, there's some confusion about these mystery signs that have appeared in and around different streets with bike lanes ... and the partially covered signs we spotted earlier on 10th Street at Avenue A have disappeared ... while other ones have arrived, such as on First Avenue by Fourth Street (h/t Choresh Wald) ...

... and Second Avenue at 10th Street...

The hotly contested flood-protection plan that will bury/elevate East River Park by eight feet as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project is expected to start in the spring. (This is Project Area 1 between Montgomery Street and 15th Street.)

That work is expected to bring a permanent protected bike lane to East Houston and Avenue C. 

On Nov. 24, Community Board 3 endorsed the plan — specifically a 20-block protected bike lane along Avenue C and a protected bike lane on Houston Street from Second Avenue to the East River Greenway.

Here's a look at the current Avenue  C bike lane configuration at East Houston...

Per Transportation Alternatives: "These bike lanes are essential for New Yorkers getting around the Lower East Side, and these projects are especially critical in light of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project that begins in the spring and will shut down the East River Park for at least five years."

East River Park updates: Construction pushed to 2021; protected bike lanes proposed for Avenue C and East Houston

 Here are the latest updates about the $1.45 billion storm protection project for East River Park:

  - The start of construction, which had been slated to commence this fall, will be delayed until the spring of 2021, according to a presentation the city made at a CB3 committee meeting last month. For further reading: BoweryBoogie and Bedford & Bowery.

- The DOT will propose permanent protected bike lanes on Avenue C and East Houston Street to offset the closure of the East River Park greenway once construction starts. 

    As Streetsblog first reported: "The lanes will run on Houston from Second Avenue to the waterfront and on Avenue C from Houston north to 20th Street, enabling cyclists traveling from below Houston on the existing bike lanes on Pike and Allen streets to connect with the bike network further north." 

    CB3's Transportation, Public Safety, & Environment Committee will hear the proposal on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. The Zoom info is here. 

- The full CB3 last week voted to preserve the East River Park's Art Deco Track House and Tennis Center Comfort Station.

  Via the EVG inbox:

Endorsing a proposal put forth by the Lower East Side Preservation Initiative, CB3 voted to recommend that the buildings, adorned with unique maritime terra cotta decorations, be raised to the Park's new grade level and renovated rather than demolished, thereby protecting them from future rising tides.

The CB3 resolution calls for amending the plans of the City's controversial East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. Those plans call for the demolition of the two structures and their replacement with standardized modern structures of the kind planned for parks all over New York City.

Now the city just needs to buy into the plan.

Meanwhile, tomorrow afternoon at 4, you may may watch the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project Community Advisory Group's next public meeting about the project. Submit questions or comments in advance. Watch on the Pratt Center for Community Development’s Facebook page. 

The hotly contested flood-protection plan will bury/elevate East River Park by eight feet as part of the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. 

You can read more about various community efforts at the East River Park ACTION website. You can find the city's East Side Coastal Resiliency Project website here.