Make it Better
July 26 was our first general meeting of East River Park Action in almost two years. The last time was in October 2021 at the still-existing amphitheater. The unrevised East Side Coastal Resiliency project is now under construction.
Do not despair! There is much we can do to improve our health and environment. We met to figure out how. We can make a difference. Here are the notes from the meeting with suggestions on steps we can each take. Please add your notes and ideas to ourpark@eastriverparkaction.org.
East River Park Action meeting June 26, 2023
Agenda and Minutes
compiled by Billy Talen and Pat Arnow
Land Acknowledgment: Harriet Hirshorn
Our Health (cough cough): Wendy Brawer and Mary Jo Burke
What can we do on a policy level?
The Community Advisory Group (CAG) for the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project talks about monitoring. Wendy is East River Park Action’s representative. Other community groups are involved, but getting effective action on ESCR (covering the mountains of fill, wetting it and the roadway) is not often happening. Riis Housing’s faces extra air and soil contamination including arsenic from construction there that is digging up old gas plant soil.
(For real-time air quality readings in our neighborhood, see https://eastriverparkaction.org/sensors/)
This can be an important part of our ongoing work that should not be controversial. As one participant said, “Air Quality unites us as a community.”
Suggestions:
* Call 311 when you see excessive dust from construction. The city tracks these reports and numerous complaints can be used to argue for better oversight.
* Report via the ESCR Community Liaison https://pima.ddccr.com/public/comment/project-comment-dynamic?project_id=14047
* Use box fan with a furnace filter taped over it and close all other windows. Take off shoes inside. Cooking with gas, nail polish and hairspray add indoor pollutants.
Environment of the Future: Tommy Loeb and Howard Brandstein
The FDR and our E. Village district will be even MORE toxic with congestion pricing coming up, which will give cars a no-toll ride on the FDR, and will mean more traffic.
Tommy says, “we have no seat at the table” to press effectively for changes. That is why we are looking at how to get change via the state constitutional amendment that guarantees a right to clear air and water and a healthful environment.
Some participants worried that Tommy was advocating putting a stop to Congestion Pricing. Wendy and others favor Congestion Pricing. Later, Tommy clarified:
“We are looking for fair mitigation, not to stop congestion pricing.”
One solution is to deck over the FDR to reduce emissions and noise and to add park space on top of covering over the highway.
Another is to turn one lane in each direction into a transit corridor for electric express buses.
Suggestion:
* We can have an impact because “Waterfront Access Study” is now being conducted that will consider such measures as covering the FDR. There is a survey you can fill out to make your voice heard. https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/6RHWN8Q
There will be further workshops. If you fill out the survey, you can add your email address and get a notice of the next events. Here is the link for the overview and https://nycdotprojects.info/EV-LES-waterfront-access-study.
Here is Howard Brandstein’s feedback on the East Village/Lower East Side Waterfront Access Study workshop. There will be two more workshops where we can press for such good solutions as Howard suggests in the link–we’ll let you know when.
https://eastriverparkaction.org/2023/06/07/coverfdr/
And here are more reasons for decking along with pictures of how it would look: https://eastriverparkaction.org/2021/11/11/cover-the-fdr/
Modification of ESCR, Possibilities for change in the design
Artificial Turf: Pat Arnow
This plastic grass is planned for several fields in the new East River Park. It is also ubiquitous in temporary alternate park spaces, especially Pier 42. Artificial turf is detrimental. It’s 20-40 degrees hotter than natural grass. On Pier 42, the infill is coated with Triclosan, a much-banned anti-bacterial substance that falls into the East River when it rains. There are many health risks. New York State legislators have introduced a bill to put a moratorium on new artificial grass until it is studied. (They banned it in Boston! We can too.)
Suggestion:
*Write to your state representatives to support the moratorium. If it is ultimately banned, we can get natural turf fields for the new East River Park–and for playgrounds and fields in the neighborhood. See https://eastriverparkaction.org/2023/02/11/artificial-turf-real-damage/
Other possible changes to current ESCR plan: Harriet Hirshorn
The design has already been revised over and over by the Department of Design and Construction, which is overseeing the ESCR. It can be revised further with our ideas—finding ways to preserve the northern end of the park with more than 500 trees that hasn’t yet been razed.
We discussed the mess of construction, next steps to effect change and ways to keep our public officials accountable. Never stop.
Here’s a study we did not get around to discussing, but we should keep up with to make sure we get adequate protection in the future: The East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project will someday protect us from storm surges and sea level rise (at least for a few years). The levee will not solve the problem of flooding from heavy rainfall as we saw in Hurricane Ida in 2021. The decking over the FDR can be looked into as part of Rainproof NYC. https://rebuildbydesign.org/rainproof-nyc/
Add your questions. Together, we can create effective pressure to improve our health and the livability of our neighborhood.