East Side Coastal Resiliency Project

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10 years after Superstorm Sandy: rebuilding, redesigning and rethinking New York City

Photo credit: Chris Ford via Flickr

October 27, 2022

10 years after Superstorm Sandy: rebuilding, redesigning and rethinking New York City

By Michelle Cohen

A decade ago, an Atlantic hurricane-turned-superstorm named Sandy caught ready-for-anything New York City completely off guard as it raged up the East Coast from the Caribbean to Canada. On October 29, 2012, the city was blindsided by an unanticipated storm surge that flooded streets and subway tunnels and cut power. It took some areas weeks to get the lights back on and, in the best of cases, open for business, and years to rebuild (an effort which is still ongoing). It goes without saying that the city would like this disaster to be the first and last of its kind, but predictions of future environmental impacts are front-page news daily. To that end, experts and innovators in architecture and engineering, government organizations, regulators, and planners have dedicated their efforts–and billions of dollars–to protect the city in a post-Sandy world. But what has really been accomplished–and is the city safer?
Storm clouds, silver linings, but few solutions

East River flood protection plan gets the green light from NYC Council

Rendering courtesy of the Department of Design and Construction

November 15, 2019

East River flood protection plan gets the green light from NYC Council

By Michelle Cohen

The $1.45 billion East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), designed to protect a section of Manhattan's east side from flooding, was approved on Thursday in a full City Council vote. The vote is the final City Council approval of the project, which passed the city's land use committee earlier this week and is the culmination of a long and at-times controversial process. As 6sqft previously reported, the project was born in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, and was designed to flood-proof over two miles of Manhattan’s east side between East 25th Street and Montgomery Street and improve waterfront access to waterfront space. According to the city, the ESCR project would protect over 110,000 New Yorkers.
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Policy

Completed report announced following East Side Coastal Resiliency Project consultant review

Preliminary design of Corlears shared use path; via DDC.

October 11, 2019

Completed report announced following East Side Coastal Resiliency Project consultant review

By Michelle Cohen

Borough President Gale A. Brewer and Council Member Carlina Rivera announced Thursday the completed report by independent consulting firm Deltares on the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR). As 6sqft previously reported, the project was first developed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and is intended to protect 2.2 miles of Manhattan’s East Side, between East 25th Street and Montgomery Street, from flooding and improve access to waterfront space. According to the city, the ESCR project would protect over 110,000 New Yorkers in the area.
Find out more and read the report

City presents new design for its East Side Coastal Resiliency Project following community feedback

Preliminary design for Corlears Hook Bridge Landing

July 15, 2019

City presents new design for its East Side Coastal Resiliency Project following community feedback

By Devin Gannon

The city unveiled last week an updated design for its plan to protect an area stretching from the Lower East Side to East 25th Street from flooding. The Department of Design and Construction (DDC) presented on Thursday its preliminary design for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR) to Community Board 3, as Curbed NY reported. In response to concerns from residents about the closure of East River Park during the construction period, the city's updated design incorporates community suggestions, including a new amphitheater and an outdoor fitness area.
See the plan

City’s new $1.45B East River Park flood protection plan leaves community groups high and dry

Image courtesy of David Shankbone via Flickr

January 22, 2019

City’s new $1.45B East River Park flood protection plan leaves community groups high and dry

By Michelle Cohen

Last July, Rebuild by Design, a collaborative organization formed to address the affects of climate change, released an RFP for a stewardship partner for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), a reconstruction of the 64-acre, 1.5-mile East River Park. The project, a flood protection system conceived in the wake of Hurricane Sandy and budgeted at $760 million, was the first of three phases in a series of self-sufficient flood zones stretching from West 57th to East 42nd Streets. In October, the Mayor's Office announced an updated $1.45 billion design that would begin in spring of 2020. 70 percent of the original design was updated, ostensibly to allow flood protection to be in place a year earlier, by summer 2023. But, as the New York Times reports, the new plan, which basically calls for burying the park beneath 8-10 feet of landfill and starting over–has left community groups who participated in the original plan feeling like they've been hung out to dry.
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Lower East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will get fast-tracked with an updated design

A previous rendering by Bjarke Ingels Group of ESCR, courtesy of the Mayor’s Office of Recovery & Resiliency

October 1, 2018

Lower East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will get fast-tracked with an updated design

By Dana Schulz

In July, Rebuild by Design released an RFP for a stewardship partner for the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), a reconstruction of the 64-acre, 1.5-mile East River Park, a flood protection system conceived in the wake of Hurricane Sandy. ESCR is the first of three phases in Bjarke Ingels' Big U, a series of self-sufficient flood zones stretching from West 57th to East 42nd Streets. Under the city's new mandate, construction on ESCR, which spans the loop from Montgomery Street on the Lower East Side to East 25th Street, will begin in spring 2020. Roughly 70 percent of the design will be updated, allowing flood protection to be in place one year earlier, by summer 2023, with the entire project wrapping up six months sooner. According to a press release from the Mayor's Office, the updated $1.45 billion design will also "raise the entire East River Park, with the flood wall at the water’s edge integrated with the bulkhead and esplanade that does not obstruct views to the water."
More details on the updated plan

July 18, 2018

First phase of Bjarke Ingels’ BIG U storm protection system begins planning process

By Dana Schulz

In the wake of Hurricane Sandy in 2013, the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Rebuild By Design contest sought proposals for flood protection systems. Among the seven finalists was Bjarke Ingels' and One Architecture & Urbanism's BIG U, a flooding solution for Manhattan that doubles as a social environment. Now after five years, the first phase of the 10-mile barrier system is getting underway. Rebuild By Design and Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES) have released an RFP for a stewardship partner for the BIG U's East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR), a $335 million reconstruction of the 64-acre, 1.5-mile East River Park. With construction expected to kick off in spring 2019, the partner will "explore stewardship models with funding mechanisms that could enhance the long-term operating budget while addressing issues of equity."
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