City To Begin East River Esplanade Repairs Friday

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — The city will kick off a $15 million project to repair crumbling sections of seawall on the East River Esplanade, starting with a stretch on the Upper East Side, on Thursday, according to a Parks Department announcement.

Several government officials and Upper East Side community members will be on hand at 10:30 a.m. Friday morning to break ground on the reconstruction project, according to the city. The ceremony will take place on the Johny Finley Riverwalk at East 88th Street.

The group attending the ground breaking ceremony include NYC Parks Manhattan Borough Commissioner William Castro, Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito, City Councilman Ben Kallos, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney and Community Board 8 Chair Jim Clynes.

The $15 million reconstruction project will target three sites along the East River Esplanade seawall — East 88th to 90th streets, East 114th to 117th streets and East 124th to 125th streets — according to the city. In May, a portion of the seawall at East 88th Street collapsed, sending concrete blocks into the river.

It is believed to the collapse occurred due to flash flooding pounding the city for hours the weekend before. No injuries were reported in connection with the collapse.

Photo by Charles Smith via Flickr/Creative Commons