The Esplanade
Photo Credit: Zac Howard 

East River Esplanade Coalition

Date 03/10/2021

The Coalition for the East Harlem Waterfront, a coalition of 25 civic organizations recently initiated and led by CIVITAS and Esplanade Friends, is sending a letter to Mayor de Blasio today thanking him for his commitment to invest $284 million, in addition to $75 million already committed, in rebuilding and improving the East River Esplanade from 94th to 125th Streets. A set of photographs accompanying the letter displays graphically the decrepit condition of this section of the Esplanade with sinkholes, a condemned pier at 107th Street and hard barriers blocking access to three blocks from 114-117th Streets that puts a lie to the vision of a continuous functioning Manhattan Waterfront Greenway. The message of the letter is that, given these circumstances, the Mayor and City Council should include these funds in the forthcoming capital budget and pursue ways to fast track the repair and rebuilding of this segment, including the collapsing pier at 107th Street. The neglect of this section that could otherwise provide much-needed recreational access for the East Harlem community is a profound social injustice. 

 

Copies of both the Mayoral Letter and the Joint Press Release from CIVITAS and Esplanade Friends have been made available.


The East River Ecological Edge

The East and Harlem River Esplanade Waterfront Park is an under-appreciated asset for passive and active recreation. While CIVITAS is pursuing work to improve the Esplanade both south of Gracie Mansion and north of 125th Street, its focus has been on a stretch of the Esplanade from 90th to 125th Streets that has been severely under maintained. At the same time, with the completion of the first phase of the Second Avenue subway and the prospect for the second phase extending to 125th Street, the growing population east of Lexington Avenue could benefit from an improved waterfront.
Over six years ago, CIVITAS began a process on devising a bold vision for this stretch of the Esplanade waterfront by commissioning an international design competition. The top designs were exhibited at the Museum of the City of New York. A number of those designs included the creation of a complex ecological edge with restored wetlands that would provide environmental and storm resiliency protection. CIVITAS then retained Matthews Nielsen Landscape Architects to prepare an Esplanade Master Plan for this stretch that was released in 2014.

After obtaining guidelines from the Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC), CIVITAS entered a partnership with the New York Harbor School to monitor habitat quality and test different kinds of edge materials between 100th and 116th Streets. The focus area became the pier at 107th Street, deemed unsafe following years of disrepair. A three-year study with Harbor School students supervised by faculty biologist Mauricio Gonzalez concluded that traditional sea walls produce very low habitat quality. These structures also do not adapt to sealevel rise, or provide coastal resiliency in storm surges, predicable events 
While the Harbor School project was progressing, we met with the city’s Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) to discuss their possible support for a living shoreline (marsh restoration) pilot project, in conjunction with a $20 million pier replacement. CIVITAS also met with McLaren Engineering, a highly respected marine engineering firm that does work for the DPR, to ask them to undertake an engineering design study for a living shoreline project as part of a newly rebuilt pier at 107th Street.

If CIVITAS is to proceed with the McLaren design study, it is essential that DEC sees a living shoreline pilot project in a section of the Esplanade as a viable project for permitting. In addition, CIVITAS is hopeful that the DPR will incorporate the pilot project into their pier replacement, and will join in advocacy for its capital funding.

CIVITAS, with the DPR, met with the DEC’s Regional Commissioner who is receptive to this project. We had conversations with the local State Assembly representative who has access to State funding, and could contribute to the 107th Street pier replacement project. We have inquired about increasing that level of support and including the living shorelines pilot as part of that project. These meetings will continue.

While the DPR has a cost estimate for pier replacement, neither the DPR or CIVITAS has a cost estimate for the living shorelines pilot. That is the purpose of the first phase of the McLaren engineering design work. If the DPR is supportive, we would undertake the first phase of the McLaren Engineering work, for which we need to raise $47,000. We intend to discuss possible public-private partnerships with the DPR.

CIVITAS East River Esplanade Vision Plan

Click to review parts of CIVITAS Vision Plan for the East River Esplanade.

East River Esplanade Vision Plan

Existing Condition

Outreach Process

The Vision 

Other Initiatives

Share by: