Unhealthy and Unwise and HOT Stop installing artificial turf ball fields in New York. Here’s why: 1) Ouch Athletes suffer more foot and ankle injuries, and female athletes also experience more ACL tears on artificial turf fields. High temperatures on the fields can cause blisters, dehydration, cramps, heat exhaustion, and heat stroke. The young are…
Author: East River Park ACTION
Unnatural
According to New York City officials and some elected representatives, we need artificial turf fields more than we need to protect the climate of NYC and the earth. NO. We need more real grass playing fields and other open, natural spaces for the health and joy of more New Yorkers and for the future of…
Let It Rot
The Lower East Side Ecology Center’s compost program in East River Park was the first of its kind in the city. We’re helping this important climate-centric community group to continue. By Wendy Brawer Every bit of food scrap that goes into the drop-off bins provided by the Lower East Side Ecology Center (LESEC) at the Tompkins…
We Need Real Grass
Even the National Football League wants to get rid of synthetic turf. Natural grass sports fields would improve our environment and health as the new East River Park rises. Instead the city is installing unhealthful and climate damaging artificial turf. It is also being installed in other fields and playgrounds in our neighborhood and throughout the city and the…
City of Dense
Amazing fact. The population density of our Lower East Side and East Village is 95,965 per square mile. That far exceeds anywhere else in the city, and get this–it far exceeds Kolkata, India, with 77,952 people per square mile. This is one reason we need greening—more trees and other plantings and real grass turf fields*–to…
East River Park Action at the Storefront for Art and Architecture
We’ve been invited to do a program by the Storefront gallery at 97 Kenmare St. Tuesday, April 30, 6:30 to 8:00. (just E. of Mulberry). The Storefront for Art and Architecture displays multimedia work and arranges discussions about new ways to think about architecture, art and design. It will feature a special showing of Harriet Hirshorn’s…
HELP! Preserve the north end of East River Park AND gain oversight on construction
Sign the Petition! Four years ago, our Lower East Side/East Village community petitioned the City Council to reconsider the East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) plan that would demolish its beloved mile-long East River Park and build a massive levee. Less destructive alternatives were possible. Our voices went unheard. Today, we face the consequences as the…
Public Art, or More Construction?
New sculpture adds more dystopia to East River Park An art installation, “Joined an Avalanche, Never to be Alone Again,” opened October 4 at the foot of the temporary Corlears Hook Park bridge. The piece features gravel, corrugated steel, core samples, repurposed fencing from the FDR–and asphalt. At a recent walk-through, the DDC Public Artist in Residence Carlos Irijalba…
Make Parkland and Public Transit
Not More Emissions from the FDR In 2019, when the City Council approved the East Side Coastal Resiliency project that would create a levee alongside the East River, the city promised to study the viability of covering the six-lane FDR Drive. It would add parkland and additional flood control and also stem emissions and noise…
Artificial turf, real damage
Pier 42 provides much needed recreational space during ESCR construction. But its artificial turf is shedding into the East River. by Marcella Durand For a too-brief moment, New York City discouraged the use of artificial turf near waterways. Its “Guidelines for NYC Parks” once included the following advice: “New synthetic turf or track surfacing is generally not recommended…