East River Esplanade projects to receive $75M in mayoral funding
Image: Wikimedia commons.
NYC Parks has announced that Mayor Bill de Blasio has allocated $75 million in additional funding for ongoing East River Esplanade reconstruction projects underway from East Midtown through East Harlem. The new funding has been allocated to three distinct esplanade projects: East Harlem from 114th to East 117th Streets, the Upper East Side from East 90th to East 94th Streets and Midtown East from East 62nd to East 63rd Streets.
A $25 million project in East Harlem from 114th to East 117th Streets will receive $15 million from the new $75 million mayoral funding, $4 million from previously allocated Mayoral funding and $6 million from former City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito and Council Member Diana Ayala.
A $35.5 million project on the Upper East Side from East 90th to East 94th Streets will receive $16 million from the new $75 million mayoral funding and $18 million from previously allocated mayoral funding.
A $22.3 million project in Midtown East from East 62nd to East 63rd Streets will receive $23.3 million from the new $75 million mayoral funding.
The allocation of the $21 million balance will be determined once ongoing esplanade site inspections have been completed. The three East River Esplanade projects are in the design phase; work will include repair and rehabilitation of existing components and full reconstruction of structures.
NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver said, “Thanks to Mayor de Blasio’s continued commitment to addressing waterfront needs, we are able to continue the extensive work of bringing our beloved East River Esplanade into a state of good repair. New York City is hundreds of years old and much of the work we are doing here fixes vital infrastructure so that for decades to come we can enjoy our esplanade, greenway, and public piers.”
In 2018, a two-block section of the East River Esplanade between East 70th and 72nd Streets underwent a $1.8 million renovation in a joint effort by the The Hospital for Special Surgery and the city. The newly-renovated section features new railings, benches, planters and a water station where runners and bikers can refill their water bottles as well as sound-resistant walls to reduce noise from the FDR Drive and the installation of an irrigation system to water plants that line the path.
As 6sqft previously reported, in 2017 Mayor Bill de Blasio announced that the city would spend $100 million on closing the gap that stretches from 53rd to 61st Street along the East River Greenway in Manhattan, connecting all 32-miles of the greenway’s coastline with waterfront amenities for the public. An interdisciplinary design practice, wHY, submitted a request for proposal to the New York City Development Corporation for the greenway’s 1.1 mile-long, undeveloped gap. The firm’s $70 million proposal called for two lanes: a slow one for plants and pedestrians and a fast-lane for bikers and runners.
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