How to Make a terrible situation far worse
by Harriet Hirshorn, Lower East Side
I’ve been thinking about the terrible timing of shutting down 60 percent of East River Park in September when schools will be open for in room classes only 1-3 times a week.
I’m reading articles in the New York Times about educators and others wracking their brains to come up with appropriate outdoor spaces for kids to engage in educational activities. In our neighborhood, the most appropriate outdoor space is supposed to close in order to tear down a park.
This feels beyond dystopic to me. I’m just wondering if there is anyone we can appeal to who can at least delay this. The timing just has never seemed worse. There is no acknowledgement that we are in the middle of a global health crisis.
It really seems like the time to demand interim flood protection and put this disastrous East Side Coastal Resiliency plan off for another year.
The park is absolutely teeming. I was there for a long time Tuesday night and here’s a picture of the track and the promenade near it. Look at all those people!
English
this is indeed insane — to spend all that money destroying what could be saved, while cutting things that matter, it’s crazy.
Agreed!! I’ve been worrying about this almost daily since March.