Partial Reopening of East River Esplanade Welcome News to Runners and Bikers
It is not ideal, of course, but the fences have finally come down on at least a portion of the East River Esplanade that will eventually connect uptown and downtown on the East Side. The newly opened portion is in the downtown part below 23rd St. stretching to just short of the Williamsburg Bridge.
| 15 Jan 2024 | 04:53
For nearly three years, the East River Esplanade from the East 30s to the Williamsburg Bridge has been a patchwork of boarded up pathways and chopped down oak and cherry trees. But City planners say this is what the entire East River Greenway will look like when it is finally completed and runners and bikers can navigate from uptown to downtown on most of the East Side. Photo: NYC Parks Dept.
This portion of the East River Esplanade is named for legendary firefighter Captain Patrick Brown, a longtime Stuyvesant Town resident who served in Rescue 1 in midtown Manhattan when his unit made a rare rope roof rescue of two people from a mid-town Manhattan apartment building that is still taught to probie firefighters at the Randall’s Island Fire Academy. He perished in the North Tower of the WTC on 9/11. Photo: Brain Berger
Runners and bikers now have a path from about 34th St. to the Williamsburg Bridge, a distance of about two miles in an area that has largely been blocked off for the past two years. Photo: Brian Berger
The loneliness of the long distance runner may be less lonely now that East River Esplenade has finally re-opened a two mile stretch between E. 34th St. and the Williamsburg Bridge. Photo: Brian Berger
The end of the line on the East River Esplenade is just short of the Williamsburg Bridge. Photo: Brian Berger
Runners and bikers on the East River Esplenade pass by the Con Ed power plant. Photo: Brian Berger
Runners and bikers rejoice!
This was the feeling many felt when the news came that the East River Greenway had reopened a one mile stretch between 20th Street and the Williamsburg Bridge. With this reopening it is again now possible to run, walk or bicycle unimpeded from 34th Street to the Bridge, a distance of around two miles.
If this isn’t ideal, it is demonstrable progress in the massive, ongoing East Side Coastal Resiliency Project (ESCR). East River Park between Montgomery Street and the Williamsburg Bridge remains closed, however and access to the southern end of the park begins at Houston Street. While not especially pleasant, there is ample signage directing people into and out of the park area proper.
This reporter visited the reopened park areas on a frigid, overcast morning of January 15, Martin Luther King. The first thing one notices as they approach Houston Street from south is the truly massive amount of work going on, even on a holiday. Whatever controversies there have been over the Resiliency project, it’s encouraging to see that how frenetic the work area is—a sharp contrast to many other city construction projects where work can languish for weeks, months, even years with little apparent progress or public updates.
At the track on E. 6th St., a group of young women were taking advantage of the cold to get in a crowd-free high intensity intervals workout, while a variety of walkers and joggers kept their own more modest paces. In the infield, a man was doing an intense jump rope workout. Inspired, this reporter took off his knapsack and made a flying leap into the well-groomed long jump pit, soaring a distance well into the single digits.
Back on the pedestrian path and esplanade, it can be difficult to ascertain exactly why it was ever closed, since most of it looks as it did before its closure. According to the city’s website about the project (www.nyc.gov/site/escr/project-updates/project-updates.page), this was to be expected.
Consistent with its goal of keeping at least 42% of the East River Park open during reconstruction the project is divided into various phases. The work done during this particular phase involved the sea wall and floodgates meant to mitigate the effects of storms and rising sea levels. Rebuilding of the baseball field, the beloved track, playgrounds, the famed amphitheater and other amenities will comprise major components of the project’s second phase.
While the loss—even if temporary—of these recreation areas will, like the project’s highly controversial removal of hundreds of trees (all of which survived Hurricane Sandy), will feel devastating to park users, there is hope that the new ERP will deliver on most, if not all, of its promises.
Continuing north, a Chinese fisherman seated on an overturned bucket placidly endured the cold, watching his two poles any signs of action. A short distance away, oblivious to the Lycra, hat and gloves clad runners bounding by, a pile of discarded blankets and plastic tarpaulin revealed itself to be the shelter of a homeless person whom all passersby left undisturbed.
Soon one sees the signs for the 20th Street exit of the FDR and after that, a giant white and blue banner hanging from the adjacent housing complex, “Stuy Town.” Who’s “Stuy” many a new New Yorker and tourist has wondered? If you see a friendly group of guys walking some morning, ask them! “Some old peg leg,” will come the knowing reply. “I think he was Dutch.”
While it was too cold this morning to get any runners to stop and talk about the East River Park’s reopening, recent chatter on the popular Reddit form, /RunNYC was unequivocal. “Today is the greatest day ever” said one poster. Echoed another, “This made my week.”