NYC May Be Stopping Flooding, But They Are Disrupting Our Lives

Alexa David Lang, ‘22

April 2019

The East River Park, a place to run around and play, walk around, go fishing, and much more, could possibly be shut down for the next few years. New York City has recently announced a new plan for the park to minimize the effects of flooding on the park and the areas near it. The city plans to bury the entire park in eight to ten feet of landfill, and then build a new park on top of that. This new plan completely disregards the locals’ original plan which was to create an eight-foot raised bank of land to protect from flooding. In addition to that, this new plan has come completely out of nowhere, disregarding everything that people had been working towards with the old plan. 

Officials say that this new plan favors traffic, however, it is clearly grasping at straws here. Going through with the old plan would involve closing one lane of F.D.R. Drive every night for five years. Skeptics of the new plan also don’t believe that the city will be able to entirely rebuild the park in three years as it states. The Lower East Side Ecology Center had moved into the boathouse a little while ago, and shortly after, the boiler stopped working. Residents have trouble believing that the city will be able to complete such a large project in a shorter amount of time than it took them to get a new appliance. 

Covering the East River Park in landfill limits so much of New York City’s daily life. This park is not solely for enjoyment, people fish in the river, men shave in the fountains. City officials are not aware of how much this will disrupt others’ lives. In addition to that, the Lower East Side Ecology center has also been helping the Parks Department in planting thousands of flowers and trees that would be destroyed should this plan go through. And not only that, but this landfill will also cover up the new running track that had been recently renovated for almost $3 million. It also may possibly cover up the amphitheater, currently housing Summer Stage salsa concerts. 

You may be thinking, why does this concern me? I don’t live in that neighborhood. Well, this new plan will mean horrible things for any sort of outdoor activities near or relating to Bard. Sports teams will have a harder time finding places to practice, particularly the track and field, cross country and tennis teams who will have to make do without nearby tracks and tennis courts. Going outside for gym will be more difficult because as areas of the park are shut down, more people will go to the turf right next to the school, leaving less space for us.

So what can you do about it? Well, it is always very helpful to write or communicate with your city officials. Send them letters, contact them through their social media, come to city events relating to this. But most importantly, spread the word. The more people who know about this and do something about it, the more people will stand up and take action and the more city officials will take note of this. Take action and help keep the East River Park in the condition that New York City needs it to be in.