Community Suing the City After ESCRP Update

Alexa David-Lang, ‘22

February 2020

Plans for the destruction of the East River Park are being forced to slow down after a collection of groups decided to sue the city. This is in response to the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCRP) that recently passed the city’s vote. The plan is to cover the entire park with 8 to10 feet of landfill and build a new park on top to protect the city from possible flooding of the East River. This has been a serious concern for awhile and the root of it is climate change which is only becoming a more prevalent and hazardous problem.

Originally, local groups made up of members of the Lower East Side community had come up with a plan to build a wall along the edge of the park to keep waters out. However, last summer city officials took over with this new plan despite  the large number of protests that have occurred since. The destruction and reconstruction of the park is estimated to take around 3 years.

Then just a few days ago, the city announced an update to the plan. They plan to do a phased construction, leaving sections of the park open during construction. Critics point out that this will make the already extremely expensive plan even more pricey, which will accrue to around $1.45 billion dollars. This change will result in the park not being completely finished until 2025.

This adjustment came about after opposers to the plan argued that the city would need approval from state legislation in order to temporarily make East River Park a construction zone. They state that the city needs “parkland alienation” in order to move forward. 

This left many members of the community feeling even more violated than they had experienced in the past. This plan has been going back and forth between members of the community and the city for about six months.  Eventually, East River Park Action went to the Manhattan Supreme Court and sued. The lawsuit makes a note of all of the various flora and fauna that would be uprooted if this plan were to be enacted.

On the opposing side, City Councilmembers Carlina Rivera, Keith Powers, and Margaret Chin believe that they are doing everything that they can. They explain that they have already negotiated with many members of the community and changed the plan accordingly. Drawing this plan out even more would be pointless and even dangerous as climate change threats grow every day. 

Both sides are still undergoing this struggle, and no one really knows what is going to happen. They are being forced to consider budget, community, possible floods, flora and fauna, and more. But one priority that they can both agree on is safety. The only difference is how they’re carrying it out. City officials think that the reconstruction of the park is the best way to keep New Yorkers safe. Meanwhile, local community members believe that displacing this park that is very special to New Yorkers will hardly do the job. How these two view the city and its people will ultimately decide what will stay and what will go in order to keep our best interests at heart.