East River Park Project Reflects Challenges of Flood Protection Efforts
East River Park, located between 12th Street and Montgomery Street on the eastern edge of Lower Manhattan, is scheduled for destruction, or what some might call an upgrade. This renovation, which will cost at least 1.45 billion dollars, will theoretically protect the surrounding communities from flooding. Many proposals were considered, but to understand why the current plan was chosen, it is important to take into account a number of factors, including hurricanes, city funding, and the neighborhoods bordering East River Park.
East River Park is sandwiched between the FDR Drive and the East River, and is only accessible by walking from either the north or south ends of the park, or by using pedestrian bridges over the FDR. Though these bridges connect the park to the rest of Manhattan, they are most easily accessible by walking through public housing developments. Because the park borders a lower income area, it has been neglected and underfunded for quite some time. At first glance, an upgrade might seem ideal, though upon further examination, the situation is more complex than it appears.
In October of 2012, Hurricane Sandy struck New York City and flooded the Lower East Side of Manhattan, along with many other parts of the city. The public housing developments bordering East River Park were badly flooded by Sandy’s storm surge, which caused power and heating issues for years and took a huge toll on the people who lived there. In addition, the repairs cost the city of New York hundreds of millions of dollars. The threat of flooding presents a massive potential problem for the future, so it became necessary to take action. A coalition of local residents who both wanted to save the park and protect the area from flooding developed a proposal that included a sea wall around parts of Lower Manhattan, as well as other barriers to protect against future flooding.
This original plan was projected to cost $760 million and was developed with input from the local community to protect both the park and its surrounding community. Unfortunately, the plan was scrapped before it could be implemented due to a new city government team that decided the plan wasn’t going to work and that something more protective was necessary if they were going to spend a large amount of money on the project. The new plan had a larger budget, but was created without community input. The idea was to shorten the time frame of the project and create a more effective sea wall to keep the surrounding communities safe.
The new plan no longer includes these countermeasures, but instead proposes the demolition of the entire existing park, raising the ground up eight feet, and then rebuilding the park right on top.
However, this new plan has caused backlash in the surrounding communities due to the fact that it will completely destroy the beloved East River Park, including an estimated 1,000 fully grown trees. In addition, the plan will take nearly four years to complete, causing many parts of the park to be unusable for this time.
While this plan was ultimately chosen over a multitude of others that were proposed, it was not accepted without a fight. A diverse group of advocacy organizations and individuals filed a lawsuit against the city claiming that the city should have been required to get its plan approved by the local Community Board because of the park's use as both a sea wall and a public space. However, the lawsuit was recently dismissed, and the demolition and reconstruction of East River Park, which had previously been halted, resumed in December 2021.
The conflict over East River Park is an example of how protecting neighborhoods might seem straightforward but is often quite complicated. The destruction of the park has begun, and the area currently looks like a wasteland. For the next four to six years, much of the park will be unusable and the surrounding community will not have vital recreational space. The new design will be charming, but at the cost of the original park. The upside is that this community will finally be protected from the unpredictable dangers of floods and hurricanes. After all, it has been just over nine years since Hurricane Sandy, and New Yorkers never know when the next huge hurricane will strike.
