East River Park Plan

The City Has a “New Plan”

After Superstorm Sandy,  many hours were spent and many public meetings were held to discuss the East Coast Resiliency Project . The project is funded by HUD to protect our community from future weather events caused by climate change. The community was invited to participate in the process.

For three years, from 2013 to 2016, people gathered to develop a plan to rebuild the waterfront. HUD allocated $335 million and City committed an additional $425 million to address storm surge along the East River from Montgomery Street to E.25th St. A total of $760 million.

Plans called for berms and barriers to be built in East River Park along the park next to the FDR Drive. While no one was completely satisfied with the plan it was accepted as a work in progress. At least the people who used the park had a chance to voice their concerns.

Then on September 28, 2018 the City suddenly announced a new plan for the park. The new plan was being “fast tracked”, and now budgeted at $1.4 Billion.

There was been absolutely no community input to the new plan. It was announced via press release FIND HERE. The plan calls for entire East River Park to be raised up 8 feet above it’s present level.

Instead of using the park as a sponge to absorb future flooding the park supposedly will be high and dry, above it all.

The new plan calls for the park will be closed for at least 3 1/2 years and all the trees in the park to be destroyed. Reasons given were that the traffic on the FDR would have been disrupted by the old plan and the park would have been damaged by storm events. And now we are being told most of the trees would have been cut down and the park would have been closed anyway under the old plan.

The new plans calls for the destruction of all the buildings in the park including the amphitheater. It spares the Firehouse that houses the Lower East Side Ecology Center by leaving it below grade and sloping the new park level down to the Firehouse. This puts the future of the Ecology Center is in jeopardy. Read the LES Ecology Center statement HERE.

The City is supplying the additional $700 million for this new plan to pay for this new plan. We don’t know how and why this new plan was suddenly developed. There has been no transparency and the community has been excluded from the process. East River Park is huge neighborhood asset that is used by so many people, schools, sports leagues, churches, and community groups.

It’s ironic to defend something built by Robert Moses. The 57-acre East River Park opened on July 27, 1939 and was conceived by Moses. It is now an integral to the life of our neighborhood. Moses was infamous for ramming through public projects without civic consideration and engagement. Now the City has adopted Moses’ tactics. The City claims it must destroy the park to save it. The citizens are again left to fight the City Goliath.  It’s all very biblical.

On December 6, ten New York elected officials sent the City a letter voicing their concerns about the project. The Letter is HERE.

On MONDAY, December 10,  and TUESDAY, December 11, the new plan was introduced at public meetings. The very complicated plans were presented for 45 minutes via slideshow. The public was asked to respond for 30 minutes and then to fill out stick ’ems to be placed on printed drafts and proposed construction diagrams.  That was the extent of the public involvement.

The City’s schedule is to finalize the plan by March, get it through an environmental review process, through ULURP and finally approved by the Corps of Engineers. Construction and destruction to begin Spring 2020.

On December 15, concerned citizens gathered at the Loisaida Center to discuss the new plan and it’s implementation. The group came up with a numbers of questions they would like answered. HERE are the questions.

The next East Side Coastal Recovery community stakeholder meeting on Wednesday, January 9th at 6:30 PM at the Boys and Girls Republic (888 E 6th Street, between Ave D and the FDR). 

At the meeting, we will discuss the subgroups we organized and efforts being done to answer questions and find expertise around these issues:
– Environmental concerns
– Construction mitigation and nearby public space improvements
– Stewardship and future park facilities (new construction, renovations and preservation of facilities)
– Outreach

We will also discuss the upcoming CB3 Parks Committee meeting on Thursday, January 10th where DDC will be presenting more information about ESCR. 

Focus Groups are being organized : To tackle the various issues surrounding the ESCR project, 
 – Environmental Concerns: Ensuring resiliency, drainage, air quality, tree preservation, biodiversity, etc…
 – Construction Mitigation: Ensuring the city provides facilities for the community during construction and pushing for phasing to keep portions open during construction
 – Future Park Plans and Stewardship: Ensuring the existing infrastructure is replaced and new park assets are built with community input
 – Outreach: Ensuring all community members are aware of ESCR and have a voice We also need input on the mission and vision of the group to bring to our next meeting. 
Contact HERE if you are interested in being part of a focus group. 

The next ESCR community meeting is on Wednesday 1/9 at 6:30PM (not 1/5 as previously stated). Location TBD – Stay tuned

Saturday, January 5th 2PM. Location to be announced. Focus Groups are being organized : To tackle the various issues surrounding the ESCR project, 
 – Environmental Concerns: Ensuring resiliency, drainage, air quality, tree preservation, biodiversity, etc…
 – Construction Mitigation: Ensuring the city provides facilities for the community during construction and pushing for phasing to keep portions open during construction
 – Future Park Plans and Stewardship: Ensuring the existing infrastructure is replaced and new park assets are built with community input
 – Outreach: Ensuring all community members are aware of ESCR and have a voice We also need input on the mission and vision of the group to bring to our next meeting. 
Contact HERE if you are interested in being part of a focus group. 

Rebuild by Design has formed a “study group” to work with the Trust for Public Land and James Lima Planning + Development to identify an equitable stewardship model to support the long-term maintenance of East River Park. Study Found HERE.

Some people think the ship has already sailed. What do you think? If you are interested in helping to protect East River Park, email us at: eastriverpark@lungsnyc.org

The NYC  East Side Coastal Resiliency Project Website is HERE

You can Submit your comments on the NYC East Side Coastal Resiliency Project HERE

Go HERE for News reports on the East River Park Plan