East River Park

The park was demolished and rebuilt eight feet higher. This remains the most argued-about thing on this waterfront.

East River Park runs along the shoreline from roughly Montgomery Street north to 12th Street — a long, narrow strip of parkland between the FDR Drive and the water, and for decades the principal open space for the Lower East Side and the East Village.

It had ballfields, tennis courts, a running track, an amphitheatre and a great many mature trees.

Why it was rebuilt

Hurricane Sandy in 2012 flooded this shoreline severely, inundating the neighbourhoods behind it, knocking out power, and demonstrating that a low-lying park is not a flood defence.

The response was the East Side Coastal Resiliency project (ESCR) — a flood-protection scheme covering roughly two and a half miles of shoreline.

What was actually done

The chosen design buried the park under fill and rebuilt it about eight feet higher, turning the park itself into the flood barrier rather than building a wall between the park and the neighbourhood.

That required demolishing the existing park and removing close to a thousand mature trees.

The argument

The plan was fought hard and at length. Opponents argued that an alternative design protecting the shoreline without destroying the park had been abandoned late in the process without adequate consultation, that the loss of mature trees was irreversible within any useful timeframe, and that a neighbourhood already short of open space would lose its main park for years.

Supporters argued the flood risk was real and rising, that the buried-park design gave stronger protection, and that delay carried its own danger.

The project proceeded. Litigation delayed but did not stop it.

What is there now

The park is being returned in phases rather than all at once, with sections reopening as work completes. New planting, rebuilt sports facilities, a reconstructed amphitheatre and a raised esplanade with a considerably better view than the old one, since it now sits above the highway rather than beside it.

The trees are small. They will take decades.

Before you go

Check NYC Parks for current closures. Phasing means a given entrance, path or facility may not be open, and the greenway is periodically diverted around active work.