Last week, I followed Mayor Mike on Twitter, when he spent the day posting his own tweets. Yeah, it was a gimmick, but it got me, and am I glad it did. Today, this tweet caught my eye: “A Waterfront Project as Cool as the HighLine”: Announced plan to refurbish 2 piers & build esplanade along East River http://bit.ly/11EZIR
As a resident of Stuyvesant Town, and a frequent runner down East River Park, and the entire esplanade down to the SI Ferry terminal, I’m always interested in hearing about improvements that will be made. Of course, I’m hugely skeptical as well, as I know that most of the East River Park Esplanade has been closed since July 2001, and is only now, 8+ years later, starting to near completion. I most recently commented on it here. I also remember about 4 years ago, passing a Fox 5 reporter on my morning run taping a segment in East River Park talking about all the amazing improvements that would be made to the park and the entire stretch of the East River below the park. Years later, and still nothing.
Until now?
About 2.5 months ago, on a run, I noticed a new area of construction near South Street Seaport, and wondered what it was. Well, according to New York City Economic Development Corp (from here), it is the first step in rebuilding the entire esplanade, and the official groundbreaking was today:
“For reasons of design, schedule, and cost, and as a result of the large project size, the ERW project will be constructed in stages. Construction of the esplanade from Wall Street to Maiden Lane is the first construction package, which began in Spring 2009. This portion of the project will showcase the Esplanade design including the seating, planting, paving, railing, and lighting that are proposed for the entire Esplanade. In these two blocks, there will also be unique amenities including steps that lead to the water’s edge at Wall Street. Future construction stages will begin throughout the rest of 2009 and into 2010, including Pier 15 and Pier 35.”
The overall plan sounds, and looks, very exciting – a 2 level pier, rebuilt piers 15 and 35, Class 1 bikeway, urban beach (phase 2), etc. While it looks overly ambitious, I will try to be optimistic here and think that they could get this done, and in our lifetime! Of course, by the time it is all done, I’ll probably be moved out of Stuyvesant Town and won’t be around to enjoy it.
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It sure does sound exciting. I am thinking I will be an 80 year old runner by the time it gets all done! :O) Notice I said runner! Yep, I can wait!!