On Saturday, a crowd — estimated between 300 and 500 community members — gathered in Tompkins Square Park for a march and rally to protest the city's plan to bury East River Park with eight feet of landfill starting this March as part of protecting the east side against future storms and rising seas.
East River Park Action organized the rally.
"We support a plan that will provide much-needed flood protection," Howard Brandstein, director of the Sixth Street Community Center and a rally organizer, said in statement beforehand. "At the same time it should expand the park and reduce greenhouse emissions in response to the climate crisis."
EVG contributor Stacie Joy shared photos from the event starting in Tompkins Square Park...
Reverend Billy was on hand to lead the parade...
The group moved on toward East River Park...
... crossing over the FDR at Sixth Street...
Speakers on Saturday included Adam Zhou (pictured below), the East Village resident who successfully challenged the city's plan to put down a synthetic turf on the ball fields in Tompkins Square Park...
In keeping with the cries of "Bury the plan, not the park," the rally concluded with a burial of the city's current stormproofing plan... EVG reader Brucie took these two photos...
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The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) is a coastal protection initiative jointly funded by the city and the federal government aimed at reducing flood risk due to coastal storms and sea-level rise. ESCR is the first element of the city’s "Big U" plan to protect Lower Manhattan from surges like those seen during Superstorm Sandy.
As part of the project, city officials, starting next spring, plan to close East River Park for three-plus years, elevating it with 8- to 10-feet of soil and chopping down trees, etc., from Montgomery Street to East 13th Street.
City officials have said that this is a better course of action compared to the previous plan that was in the works with community input before Mayor de Blasio's team changed course last fall. Among other things, city officials claim that the new plan will shave nearly six months off of the projected timeline and will be less disruptive for residents living in the area.
The project is now undergoing a third-party review by a Dutch consultant hired by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and local City Councilmember Carlina Rivera. (The review is expected to be delivered soon.)
The City Planning Commission will vote on the plan today (Sept. 23) in the next step of the public review process before it heads to City Council later this fall. (The meeting is at 1 p.m. in the Lower Concourse, 120 Broadway. Find the meeting agenda at this link.)
Updated 6 p.m.
As expected, the Planning Commission approved the plan. Find a recap at Patch.
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On the way to East River Park, the group stopped by Rivera's office on Fourth Street...
[Photo by Dave on 7th]
There, the group sang a modified version of Simon & Garfunkel's "Cecilia" — "Carlina, you’re breaking our hearts, don’t bury the park [baby]."
According to Patch, Rivera has advocated "for staged construction to avoid a full park closure but has not outright opposed the plan." She holds a key vote when the plan comes before City Council this fall.
Flyers posted around the neighborhood have called out Rivera ... and urged residents to contact her office about the plan...
