Strength Cabinet
Construction after construction after construction’ There have been other visions proposed for the park throughout the past decade. Members of East River Park Action say they had hoped that the plan might incorporate wetlands along Manhattan’s coast that could stop encroaching flood waters, or that the city would pursue a multi-billion-dollar decking-over of the FDR Drive, dramatically expanding open space on the waterfront. The new height of the park, at eight feet, may also only hold for a period of a few decades. Recent scientific studies suggest that global sea levels are rising more quickly than predicted by the international climate change reports on which the city relied to determine that eight feet would be a sufficient height to prevent storm surges. aspecuk Johannes Gehreis, an engineer with Deltares, the Dutch research institute that studies coastal areas and waterways, concluded in an independent report that the city should increase the fill height to ten feet. Rivera and Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer commissioned Gehreis’ report, which was released in 2019. Yet Trever Holland, who chairs Community Board 3’s Parks Committee, said that he believes this plan, while not being ideal, is the best plan for the moment, though he also faults the city for the transparency issues around the redacted report. “The community board felt that this was the best decision based on the information we have right now,” he said. Holland noted that the Board voted down the city’s initial plan, since it would leave the park flooded during severe storms and was developed without community input, and that the community plans to hold the city to account for their promises around the timeline and accessibility of the park throughout construction. The new plan secured the full size soccer field, as well as improvements to other neighborhood parks and more extensive handicap accessibility. “It may not be a better plan, but it seems on paper that it is,” he said. “Traditionally we do not see large infrastructure projects that are designed to protect neighborhoods like ours.” For some residents, they are not sad to say farewell to the current park, which has spent much of its life with one part or another closed for renovation or construction. “It used to be a banana peel, then it was a parking lot, then it was a dirt fill,” said Nanzy Ortiz, the former president of the Vladeck Houses, a nearby NYCHA development. “That park has gone through construction after construction after construction, so I don't understand what the big deal is.” Ortiz said she is in particular looking forward to handicap accessibility at Delancey Street, where the current bridge’s grade effectively precludes wheelchair-bound people, or those who use walkers, from getting across the highway into the park.