This letter is from Lower East side eighth grader Amalia H. She tells Gov. Cuomo how East River Park is her refuge and gives a cogent argument for a change in plans to demolish the park. The Honorable Andrew M. Cuomo Governor of New York StateNYS State Capitol Building Albany, NY 12224 RE: East River…
Tag: east river park
Value Engineering, Redacted
Wait, wait, there is a Value Engineering Study. That’s the report the de Blasio administration cited in 2018 when they announced a change in the flood control plan for East River Park that would double the cost and bury the entire park in eight feet of fill. Yet when we submitted a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL)…
Catastrophe Cookbook
Recipes to mince and chop East River Park to cook up a very big expensive artificial environment. How can we make change happen?Please donate to our legal fund We can push for transparent external review and the flood control we need; not the city’s destructive, massive, expensive, and inadequate plan.
Resolved: No Value No Plan
The Grand Street Democrats passed a resolution Jan. 27 decrying the destruction of East River Park despite the recently discovered lack of a Value Engineering report or study. Such a document is needed for large complicated projects such as the East Side Coastal Resiliency flood control plan. The Grand Street Dems are building a new…
No Value
City Admits THERE IS NO VALUE ENGINEERING STUDY—Mayor Bill de Blasio cited this study in 2018 as the reason to demolish East River Park New York, January 9, 2021— In a reply Friday to a Freedom of Information Law (FOIL) request, NYC’s Department of Design and Construction (DDC) stated that the City’s Value Engineering Report on the East…
Soil Test
Yes, there is lead in East River Park These samples, collected by Wendy Brawer, were close to the surface. Last year, in 2019, AKRF, which “provides environmental, planning, and engineering consulting services,” had big machines drilling holes all over East River Park. They said they were doing soil tests. What was the composition of that…
Unanswered
I asked questions in July. It’s September. We need action. “If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair.” –Shirley Chisholm City Council Member Carlina Rivera and I (along with Rivera’s staffer Ivy Rosado) Zoomed on July 21. We went over many vital questions about the East Side Coastal Resiliency…
Goodbye Promenade
Hello Ruthless Closing Plan for East River Park The city promised it would leave 40 percent of the park open throughout construction. Here is their draft map for the 60 percent they will fence off in November. The rust-colored sections on the map will be closed and under construction for two years minimum. The recently…
Beyond Dystopic
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…
Opaque
City officials and Community Board 3 claim they are working with the community on the $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR). In fact, they are engaging in a ‘conspiracy of silence’ about the massive park-topped flood wall has becomes less transparent to community partners all the time: • no town hall by electeds in…