Dave on 7th shared this photo from yesterday from along the East River Park promenade. Someone placed memorial ribbons commemorating the life of East River Park: "We will miss your breeze, your trees, your plants and flowers and your birds and bees."
This is all in reaction to the details that emerged last fall (city press release
here) about the updated construction phase to protect the East Side against catastrophic flooding along the East River.
As previously
reported, 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 and chopping down many of the trees.
The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project is currently (and quietly) undergoing environmental review. This
link goes to the notice of the public review and request for comments.
Per the notice:
"All interested persons, groups, and agencies are invited to submit written comments regarding the proposed use of federal funds to support the construction of the proposed project in a floodplain and / or wetland. The City is interested in alternatives and public perceptions of possible adverse impacts that could result from the project as well as potential mitigation measures."
Write to Calvin Johnson
Assistant Director CDBG-DR New York City Office of Management and Budget
255 Greenwich Street, 8th Floor
New York, New York 10007
Here's the
email address.
Meanwhile, a community group called
the East River Alliance formed at the end of 2018 to help organize various East River Park stakeholders and to ensure that the design and reconstruction "reflects our community’s needs and values."
You can read more about the Alliance in this article at
Patch.