Now's your chance to hear more from various city agencies and officials about the plans to stormproof the East Side of Manhattan (aka the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project).
Here's
a list of upcoming meetings...
Community Open Houses
• Wednesday, June 5, 4-8 p.m.
and
• Thursday, June 6, 2-8 p.m.
Peter Cooper Village, 360 First Ave., lower level (entrance on the east side at 21st Street).
ULURP Public Hearing – Parks, Recreation, Waterfront & Resiliency Committee
Tuesday, June 11, 6:30 p.m.
PS/MS 188 – The Island School, 442 E. Houston St. (entrance at Houston/Baruch Drive)
CB6 Full Board Meeting
Wednesday, June 12, 7 p.m., 433 First Ave. between 25th Street and 26th Street (NYU School of Dentistry), Room 210
As previously reported, to stormproof the East Side and protect residents from storms the magnitude of Sandy, the city plans to "lift" East River Park by up to 10 feet when work starts in March 2020.
Creating the intricate flood protection system would see the city close East River Park for up to three and a half years, shutting down the current amenities, cutting down many of the trees and rebuilding
the newly renovated running track, among other things.
The draft environmental impact statement — 900-plus pages — for the East Side Coastal Resiliency project is currently available for review and comment. My previous post
here has more details on the review process and links to relevant materials.
Last fall, the city unveiled an updated
plan, which took residents, community leaders and local-elected officials by surprise after years of outreach and groundwork. The revamped plan — released without any community input — is radically different than what had been discussed, and its expected cost will increase from $760 million to $1.45 billion. City officials have said in various presentations that this approach will provide a reduced construction time, resulting in an operable flood protection system for the 2023 hurricane season.
Meanwhile, community coalition group
East River Alliance has
a petition in circulation calling for a change to the plans.