Three and a half years after the city demolished all of East River Park below Houston, a good-sized section reopened on Memorial Day.
People streamed over the Delancey Street footbridge to play basketball and tennis in the new courts. By lunchtime, picnickers grilled corn and sausages on the stationary barbecues. More people lounged on the lawns.
Fellow park advocate Wendy Brawer and I biked over on the beautiful 69° holiday morning. (The footbridge is on the south side of Delancey under the Williamsburg Bridge.) The first person we ran into was another East River Park activist, Tonto Cabrera. He called out, “Where’s the shade? Where’s the shade?” It’ll be a many years before the newly planted saplings will cool the park. Wendy checked with her temperature gun. The sunny mulch under the trees was 109° F. In the mulch shaded by the trees, it was 66°. The lawn was 57°.
Still, like others playing and lounging in the park, we were happy to be there. We needed our park. Now we have some of it. There are the little trees. There are the lawns. There are picnic tables with metal umbrellas. There are the currents and eddies of our East River under the Williamsburg Bridge, our old haven, now restored to us along the new, higher elevation esplanade.
And the bad news
Tomorrow, north of Houston, the park will be closed off, except for the track at Sixth Street. The rest of our park will be demolished, and for years to come, it will be a dusty construction zone. Until Labor Day, this new section around Delancey and the track will be the only open parts of East River Park. At that time, the connection with the Corlears Hook footbridge and the southern area of the park are scheduled to open.
Change via us
Did we make a difference with our advocacy for a more truly resilient flood control plan for East River Park? I’ve been told that it was because of the thousands we organized to protest and agitate that construction is being phased and some parts of the park remain open to the public throughout construction. There is some oversight by Community Board 3 and the Community Advisory Group. Wendy has been a steadfast and patient representative for East River Park Action to the CAG.
She and the CAG pressed for shade, and there is some. Clustered under the bridge there are the metal umbrellas (98° on the sunny part of a picnic table and 61° in the shade on a 71 ° day). There’s a test swath of camouflage netting by the 115° turf ballfield that cut the temperature to 65°. More shade will keep more areas of the park more accessible in hot weather. Tonto advocated for the barbecue grills and a place to dispose of the ashes. There they are.
We continue to press for healthy environment for our park and beyond. Let’s stop putting artificial turf in New York City parks. See why–and what to do about it–on our Actions Now! page.
– Pat Arnow
Photos by Pat Arnow, except lower right photo of bike path under the bridge by Wendy Brawer.
Update: May 27, 2025. The Northern end of East River Park is now closed. Soon all the trees and greenery will be gone.
Photo by Harriet Hirshorn.
Artificial turf and saplings are a pitiful replacement for the mature trees and lovely park we lost. I will NEVER FORGIVE that opportunist Carlina Rivera for voting for this travesty.
Now that we see what they intend to replace our living thriving park with we should write to the parties concerned and tell them we want them to keep the trees and just build a wall and moving gates as they have done above 14th Street.
No need to destroy what is left of the park for flood protection. Unless this construction is really about… something else…
It’s a shame that the trees from the Northern end cannot be transplanted to your little oasis.
Well, the whole thing is a shame but your perseverance paid off and you got a lot more back than you would have with a blind-eye to it.
I love that Wendy has a temperature gun!
How far south can you go after going over the new Delancey Street bridge?
Sorry we didn’t answer earlier–all volunteer organization. Unfortunately, you can only go a short ways along the river after you cross the Delancey Bridge. The route south to the Corlears Hook Bridge is slated to be opened by Labor Day. North of the Williamsburg Bridge, it will be a long time.
When East River Park Action was active a few years ago conspiracy theories abounded. The city was going to give the land to developers! And now it’s reopening as… a more flood-resistant park with modernized facilities but shrubbier trees. So much energy wasted protesting an effort to prevent our neighbors on Avenue D from having their buildings flooded and being deprived of heat and electricity for months after the next big storm. So much animus directed against one of the best councilmembers we have. It’s really a goddamn shame. We should really try not being as bugshit as the MAGA assholes.
East River Park Action as an organization never said that the land would be privately developed. Many in the neighborhood did have that theory. Our position as an organization was that we could have a less environmentally destructive flood control plan. The same protection could be achieved while preserving a good amount of the trees and natural areas that help cleanse and cool the air and help our mental and physical health. We advocated and still do for the most naturally resilient, green park that will help mitigate the effects of climate change in our neighborhood, the city and the earth. Please understand the organization’s advocacy. Thank you.