Tag Archives: parks

News

Altman: FDR pedestrian bridge is a matter of life and death!

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Altman memo 9-3-2015 (1)

East River board president Gary Altman thinks a redesigned pedestrian bridge across the FDR Drive would imperil the lives of cooperators, and he wants you to know that he’s burning through his City Hall rolodex to kill the bridge before it kills you.

In a 1000-word essay to cooperators distributed yesterday, Altman says the concepts presented by the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project this summer — including improved access to East River Park from Grand Street — would bring high-speed bicyclists directly into the path of unsuspecting cooperators and block first responders from reaching building 4 in an emergency.

His fears are unwarranted. The proposed approach to Grand Street included stairs to make sure bicyclists use a safer route. And the idea that every inch of the FDR service road is needed for an ambulance to reach building 4 is just silly.

More to the point, the designs presented in July were concepts intended to evoke constructive reactions and criticism from residents. The conversation about the Delancey crossing included ample suggestions about safety, which project planners were eager to hear and incorporate into future plans.

The designers working on protecting our homes from another storm surge are intent on enhancing our relationship to the waterfront at the same time. They are searching deeply for creative solutions to that challenge, and we should be open to finding one with them.

Altman did not attend the ESCRP presentation in July when the concept designs for four FDR Drive pedestrian crossings were shared with interested LES residents, so his mistaken impression of these design options is excusable — but his overreaction to them is not. Why stoke fear among East River’s elderly cooperators? Why issue a Just-Say-No edict to his friends in city government while a productive design process is underway?

The concepts presented this summer were well-intentioned, thought-provoking, and imperfect. Project planners deserve to know the full range of opinion from cooperators — not just Altman’s. Come to next Thursday’s workshop to see the designs for yourself and help shape this important neighborhood project:

Thursday, September 10, 2015
Henry Street Settlement
301 Henry Street
Doors open at 6:30
Presentation begins at 7:00

News

Another chance to help shape the new East River Park on September 10

ESCRP9-10Thanks to East River director Lee Berman, who worked with NYCHA and the Mayor’s office to set up another community workshop to discuss the East River waterfront redesign, cooperators have another chance to meet with project designers and help shape the new East River Park.

Last month, design concepts were presented for the pedestrian bridges that cross the FDR Drive, including the one at Delancey Street right behind building 4. Some of the concepts presented included a second ramp or staircase directed toward Grand Street for easier access to the Grand Street bus stops, and an elaborate, wide plaza over the FDR. Other concepts were much more modest, essentially keeping the current bridge as is.

The high-impact concept of a new Delancey Street crossing.
The high-impact concept of a new Delancey Street crossing.

The plans generated a lot of interest here at East River coop — understandably, since this bridge could redefine how we access the waterfront. For those of you interested in giving feedback to project planners, and seeing their designs with your own eyes, here’s your chance:

Thursday, September 10, 2015
Henry Street Settlement
301 Henry Street
Doors open at 6:30
Presentation begins at 7:00

News

CityArts at Corlears Hook Thursday 1pm

cityarts corlearsJoin CITYArts, Friends of Corlears Hook Park, and professional artist Davi Leventhal for restoration and wall-painting at Corlears Hook Park on Thursday, August 27, 1:00 pm – 4:00 pm.

The project will help add some community color to the park, with paintings that celebrate nature and raise awareness of climate change.

Kids are welcome! … and will receive a special back-to-school gift for participating.

Meet at 1:00 pm at the comfort station in Corlears Hook. Don’t forget to wear some old clothes that you don’t mind getting splattered.

News

CityArts workshop Aug. 18 and painting party Aug. 27 to help clean up Corlears Hook Park

In just over a year, Friends of Corlears Hook Park, led by cooperator Michael Marino, has helped to turn around this often-overlooked part of our neighborhood. New plantings, fixed benches and lighting, improved dog runs — next up: art!

This coming Tuesday, Aug. 18 will be a workshop sponsored by CityArts, an organization that brings together professional artists and community groups to create public art. This is the beginning of a process to transform part the concrete walls around the playground at Corlears Hook into a vibrant urban mural. Children are especially encouraged to attend and participate in the whole project.

Tuesday, August 18
3:00 pm – 5:00 pm
Vladeck Houses Resident Association
(Entrance at Gouverneur & Monroe St)

Corlears wall

Next up will be a day to prepare the bare concrete for a mural: a painting party! Community members will join corporate volunteers from BlackRock to repair and paint the retaining wall and benches.

Tuesday, August 27
1:00 – 4:00 pm
Meet at the field house in Corlears Hook Park

For the painting party, don’t forget to wear some old clothes you don’t mind getting splattered.

News

Design concepts for East River berms and bridges are eye-opening

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The high-impact concept of a new Delancey Street crossing.
The high-impact concept of a new Delancey Street crossing.

Imagine a sloping landscape that blocks traffic noise from East River Park and keeps floods from washing away our cars. Imagine an entrance to the waterfront that starts right at the foot of Grand Street. Imagine walking on a bridge over the highway and already being in the park.

Now imagine five years of construction, and a long concrete ramp permanently installed right outside your front door.

All this and more is what community members were asked to imagine last night as the design team behind the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (the Big U, the Dryline) presented concept designs for each of four FDR Drive crossings.

After Sandy, federal recovery money was allocated to storm surge protection along the East River from 23rd Street down to Montgomery. This area represents low-lying neighborhoods vulnerable to flood, and, crucially, is home to the Con Ed plant that powers almost all of lower Manhattan.

Workshop leaders discussed four current bridges that take pedestrians into East River Park — at 10th Street, 6th Street, Houston, and Delancey — and presented three design options for each one that ranged from low-impact (and lower cost) to expansive (and expensive) redesign.

They explained that the money to erect flood walls, berms (wide, gradual slopes), and deployable storm surge barriers was also an opportunity to increase access to East River Park and improve our neighborhood’s connection to the waterfront. As such, the pedestrian crossings are being looked at closely to determine how to make them more accessible (not as steep, better positioned), and more integrated into the park.

For each bridge, the low-impact version involved keeping the existing span but repositioning the ramps on either side so that they have more gradual slopes. The high-impact version involved rebuilding the bridge so that it is wider, with ramps that are landscaped into the park and reach deeper into the neighborhood. (In the middle was a Goldilocks option somewhere between the two extremes.)

For Delancey Street, the possibilities were eye-opening. From previous workshops, planners had been told that the bridge was too noisy (so close to the Williamsburgh Bridge traffic) and not accessible enough to Grand Street. So the high-impact concept they presented pulls the bridge away from Delancey and places one ramp along the FDR access road, right in front of building 4, letting out on the corner of Grand.

The design was curved and beautiful, and, as all architectural models look, it felt utopian and aspirational. Of course, for those people who live in building 4, on the lower floors perhaps, the prospect of a pedestrian bridge out your window might seem like the end of the world.

The Goldilocks version for Delancey, narrower but still reaching toward Grand Street.
The Goldilocks version for Delancey, narrower but still reaching toward Grand Street.

There were lots of caveats: these are concepts only, and the designers seem eager to get feedback and see the challenge from all angles.

Board member Lee Berman was at the workshop, along with House Committee members Jeff Super and Ellen Renstrom, and other East River cooperators. Lee spoke with project planners after the presentation and initiated the arrangement of a stakeholders meeting right here at East River, as the redesign of the Delancey Street crossing, one way or another, will obviously have a big impact on our coop.

One last note: The Corlears Hook bridge was left out of the workshop for a simple reason — it already embodies many of the concepts the designers are trying to incorporate elsewhere. The bridge is wide, it is already part of the park, and the amphitheatre is already built up like a berm to cut off flood waters. Aside from better lighting and other cosmetics, designers are not likely to spent too much of their money making alterations there.

News

East Side Coastal Resiliency community meeting July 30th

bridging-berm-r-800x0Following up on community meetings in March, the City is hosting a series of community design workshops to discuss the upcoming redesign of the East River waterfront.

The meeting to discuss our part of the project, from Houston to Montgomery, will be held on July 30 at 7:00 pm at Manny Cantor Center, 197 East Broadway.

A new study written by NASA’s former lead climate scientist claims that polar ice melting is speeding up faster than previously thought, and that NYC and other coastal cities are facing a 10-foot rise in sea level in the next 50 years. Sandy was a wake-up call, and the waterfront redesign is meant to protect homes and infrastructure (like Con Ed) from another storm surge, or even a permanent rise.

If you’re interested in the future of this neighborhood, come by Manny Cantor next Thursday to see what the resiliency project is all about.

News

Friends of Corlears Hook Park planning meeting — July 22 at 6:30

Corlears Hook Park logoFriends of Corlears Hook Park will be holding an open group meeting on July 22 from 6:30-7:30pm. Plans for a fall planting event, updates on the dog run and comfort station, and the possibility of partnering with City Arts to bring a mural into the park will all be discussed.

If you have any park issues you would like to address, you may do so at this meeting.

Meeting details:
July 22 from 6:30-7:30pm
Vladeck Houses Tenants Association
328 Madison Street (down the ramp)
Entrance at Gouverneur and Monroe Streets will lead you directly there.

News

Family fun and park cleanup at Corlears Hook Park — Sunday, 10 to 1

Corlears IMPD May 2015 flyer (1)

This Sunday at Corlears Hook Park, bring the whole family for It’s My Park Day.

There will be games, face-painting, and learning activities for the kids, along with weeding, pruning, and painting for all ages from 10:00 am to 1:00 pm.

The park has been adopted by the new group Friends of Corlears Hook Park, led by cooperators at East River. They have worked with the parks department to fix broken benches and lights, re-mulched the popular dog run, and lobbied our local community board to add traffic safety measures to Cherry Street for pedestrian protection.

Come out to support your neighbors, clean up the park, and just have fun.

News

East River Park shoreline clean-up — May 9

sweep-flyer-2015If you enjoy the promenade along East River Park, you’ve undoubtedly seen the garbage that gets caught up in the small coves created along the path. It’s an eyesore — and unavoidable. But you can help clean up the park’s shoreline before summer gets rolling.

On Saturday, May 9, volunteers from NYC to Troy will be working to clean up New York’s riverfronts for the fourth annual Riverkeeper Sweep. To join the nearby effort, meet outside the East River Park Track at East 6th Street at 1:00 pm on 5/9. Cleanup will stretch up to 12th Street and down to Montgomery.

Sweep volunteers should wear sturdy shoes or boots, clothing that they can get dirty, and should bring a hat, sunscreen, a reusable water bottle, and snacks. Please bring work gloves if you have them. Volunteer activities are suitable for elementary-aged children with proper adult supervision.

Questions? Contact Riverkeeper at sweep@riverkeeper.org or site leader John Koblinsky at koblinsky@gmail.com.

News

Corlears Hook ’It’s My Park!‘ Day — Sunday, May 3

corlears signFriends of Corlears Hook Park is a neighborhood group picking up steam over the past year. With spring finally arriving (?!), volunteers will help clean and beautify the park.

Teams will be dispatched throughout the park on various projects that may include:

  • Cleaning and spreading new wood chips in the dog runs
  • Weeding, raking, and bagging leaves throughout the park
  • Bagging trash throughout the park
  • Painting the security barriers at the park entrance
  • Pruning and trimming existing plantings

All are welcome to come help for as much or as little time as they have available.

This is a family-friendly event and the following fun programming will be on site for all to enjoy:

  • Representatives from CityScience will be on hand for kinetic learning activities, building of a human suspension bridge, and short histories of East River bridges.
  • Girl Scout Senior Troop 3015 and Cadette Troop 3016 will be doing “Bubble Science” activities, providing a telescope to look across the river, have a “game station” and a “song spot” for the younger kids.
  • NYC Parks Play Mobile will be on site providing face painting, balloon art, and various games and activities.

If you are interested in helping to organize, please email FriendsofCorlears@gmail.com. Otherwise, please come out to help on May 3rd.