September 25, 2021 - At the East River Park, there’s still time to reverse the course

Like many, I am saddened by the plans that the city has backed for rebuilding The East River Park. This past Spring, I played the park’s tennis courts for the first time, twice. After both matches, it was comforting and calming to wander around the park; to sit amongst the trees and contemplate my existence, and to sit and stand by the East River –– enjoying the present, and thinking about the future.

These were small quiet moments that I had to myself, and although there were plenty of people who would run, walk, rollerblade, or cycle by ––– I felt a tranquility exist and grow within me ––– the sort that I have never felt while away from water and trees. I understand that New York City is a city of progress. I grasp that moving forward and preparing for superstorms, which seem inevitable, is important, but I also know that the act of destroying and then rebuilding, in hopes to “get it right this time,” is a dead-end proposition.

I have read and I have heard that the levy that's planned as part of the city’s East Side Coastal Resiliency (“ESCR”) project will stand somewhere between eight and ten feet above ground level. Ten feet is the same height as a basketball hoop. Nature has already demonstrated that from one superstorm, it can create seas of flooding on the island of Manhattan ––– hence, lifting up the East River Park by the height of a basketball hoop won’t make a real difference. The storms will only come in higher and heavier, and what’s more, there will only be less grass to soak in and absorb the water’s nutrients. And then from there, will the city’s solution be to raise the park another ten feet higher? And then another twenty feet? And then another forty feet? I’m exaggerating, but only slightly.

It is tragic that the voices of people who care about the city, who care about the East River Park, and who care about preparing the city for future superstorms by proposing plans that integrate flood-prevention with the beauty that the current version of the park already offers –– are being ignored. And although all indications, at present, are that the ESCR plans will move forward; as of this writing, no significant changes have been made to the park. This can only mean one thing: there’s still time to reverse the course.