By Greta Garschagen
New York City was damaged by Hurricane Sandy, which hit the city on October 29th, 2012. The subway system was completely flooded, the storm surge reached 13 feet, waves in New York Harbor were 32 feet high, and 43 New Yorkers died. The strength of Sandy was unbelievable, the National Geographic described the hurricane as a “raging freak of nature.” In result of the storm surge, water from the ocean rushed into a power station on the lower East side, causing a blackout for everyone below 34th street. Seawater from the storm surge submerged the East River Park, causing trees to be ripped out, and the park destroyed. Hurricane Sandy was eye-opening for many people, and for the City of New York who saw weakness in their city’s construction.
One of the solutions is the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project, a $1.45 billion plan that would build 2.4 miles of flood protection systems. The systems would include floodwalls, floodgates, and other innovations that would prevent similar destruction that Hurricane Sandy caused. NYC.gov’s website for “The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project,” explains that because of climate change and rising sea levels, the resiliency project “will address these threats by reducing flood risk to property, landscapes, businesses, and critical infrastructure while also improving waterfront open spaces and access.” The project proposal was first launched in 2015, but because of many reviews, environmental impact statements, and community pushback, the construction just began in Fall 2021. The City of New York believes that this project will be beneficial to the longevity of the East Side, protecting it from the rising sea wall.
While the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project’s purpose is to protect the Lower East Side, East Village, Peter Cooper Village, and Stuyvesant Town residents, many members of the community are outraged. One of the reasons for anger is because the city’s earlier resiliency plan, which was more supported by community members, was abandoned without much explanation. Community members have expressed their anger with the City of New York’s lack of transparency and consideration. The new plan will demolish park amenities, bulldoze almost 1,000 trees, and bury the existing park and coastline. Many residents of the area are heartbroken and confused that their waterfront would be buried, and the place would change entirely.
A lot of community members also have expressed that it seems the city is targeting this area because some areas are lower-income. An article that was written in 2019, quotes Datz-Romero, a resident of the Lower East Side for forty years, “I sometimes think that in any other neighborhood, they wouldn’t have dared to suggest getting rid of nearly 1,000 trees…I don’t know whether they would have gone for an approach like that on the Upper West Side” (Kensinger). Furthermore, the subtitle of this article is “Other people can go to the Hamptons; we go to the East River Park,” further expressing feelings of inequitable treatment. Many community members of the Lower East Side feel as though the the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project will hurt people more then benefit them. It seems to be the destruction and change of the place that seems to irritate community members the most. Furthermore, the construction would displace people and groups that use the park daily, and the community groups who have worked hard to improve the parks along the East Side coastline (Kensinger). Community members are not happy to see their beloved park be destroyed, even if it is for the purpose of protection from rising sea levels.
When the pandemic hit in 2020, the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project was postponed, and community members began to realize how crucial outdoor spaces are because of COVID. The construction that was planned would prohibit access to the East River Park, which was unacceptable to many community members. As pictured above, activists for the East River Park staged a week-long protest, and pressed City Council to hold an emergency hearing, in hopes to stall the project. On November 1st, 2021, the Department of Design and Construction began construction in one section of the park. The DCC even promised residents that at least half of their park would remain open and accessible during construction of other parts of the parks. Yet, no matter the accommodation that the DCC made, people held a sit-in on November 1st in order to protest the construction. Activists blocked the entrance for workers, held their signs up high, and sang protest songs. The protest led to arrests after two people refused to move out of the way.
It does not seem that the City of New York anticipated New Yorkers to react in the way they did to the East Side Coastal Resiliency Project. The project was a post-Sandy plan that many people believed would be the first step in many projects that would build up protection around New York City, starting with Manhattan first. Maybe it is because the project took six years to begin, and community members do not fully remember the chaos and devastation that Sandy caused. Or, residents near the East River Park are unable to agree to changing the park into a landscape they do not recognize. It definitely seems that community members of the East Side feel an attachment to the East River Park. Even with the threat of the rising seawall, residents of the East Side do not want to see their park buried.
Works Cited
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/hurricane-sandy
Kensinger, Nathan. October 17, 2019. https://ny.curbed.com/2019/10/17/20918494/nyc-climate-change-east-side-coastal-resiliency-photos
Robert D. Bullard, “Environmental Justice in the Twenty-first Century,” In The Quest for Environmental Justice, (San Francisco: Sierra Club Books, 2005),
https://www1.nyc.gov/site/escr/about/resiliency-and-flood-protection.page
https://ny.curbed.com/2019/10/17/20918494/nyc-climate-change-east-side-coastal-resiliency-photos
