Major NYC East Side River Park Flood Protection Project Kicks Off

NEW YORK CITY — A long-awaited and controversial project that will reshape East River Park to protect locals from the against the effects of climate change kicks off this week.

The East Side Coastal Resiliency Project is underway, Mayor Bill de Blasio said Thursday.

The $1.45 billion project will add major flood protection measures to East River Park between Montgomery Street and East 22nd Street to combat an anticipated rise in water levels from climate change.

"It's one of the biggest in the nation, it will protect so many people in one of the most densely populated areas of the nation," de Blasio said. "And we have learned through experience that we have to get ahead of this challenge and invest now."

The "experience" de Blasio spoke of was the devastating effects of Superstorm Sandy, when flood waters swamped the city.

The East Side is vulnerable to further potential flooding and officials have pursued the coastal project to protect against major events through 2100.

But some locals have been unhappy the project will reshape and shut off access to parts of East River Park.

As de Blasio announced the start of construction, organizers sent out word that a protest would take place Saturday at 12 p.m. and march from Tompkins Square Park to East River Park Amphitheater.

"We demand a stop to the East Side Coastal Resiliency plan now," the organizers said in a statement. "We demand a real environmental review. We demand interim flood protection. We demand a better plan that does not now in a pandemic still-or ever- take away the only green space in a low-income neighborhood to replace it with a project twice as expensive that smells only of development."

City Council members Carlina Rivera and Keith Powers appeared with de Blasio and sought to assauge some doubts.

Rivera said the project is necessary to ensure another Sandy never brings eight feet of water into East Side homes and businesses. She said the project will bring an essentially brand-new park, with more amenities, to locals.

"I can't wait to see families out there at the new East River Park," she said. "And in the meantime the East Siders can use half the park throughout construction, or any of the numerous improved and expanded parks, the new bike lanes, repaired NYCHA facilities built in our communities alongside this project."