UES Esplanade Ramp Reopens Monday After Years Of Closures

UPPER EAST SIDE, NY — After years of construction and detours due to dilapidated infrastructure and sinkholes, the 71st Street pedestrian ramp to the East River Esplanade will finally reopen on Monday, restoring a key access point to the Upper East Side's waterfront.

The major reopening is part of a plan to rehabilitate an eight-block section of the East River Esplanade between East 70th Street and East 78th Street.

This project, organized by the nearby Hospital for Special Surgery as part of its hospital renovations, will continue to open in phases through October.

"We are opening the ramp and the Esplanade from 70th to 71st street on Monday, June 15," Jack Wong, a project manager for HSS's Esplanade renovations, said at a Thursday meeting with Upper East Side's Community Board 8. "We anticipate opening 71st Street north to 72nd Street fairly soon, approximately mid to end of July."

Once structural seawall repairs and sinkhole remediations are made and safety barriers are installed, the Esplanade between East 72nd Street and East 78th Street can be painted, paved, landscaped, and reopened, Wong said.

As part of this work, the pedestrian ramp at East 78th Street will be closed to the public in July, Wong said. The entire path within that corridor is expected to be fully reopened by the end of October, Wong said.

"We don't anticipate any work trailing beyond Halloween in October," Wong said.

Renovations to the rest of the Esplanade, which is riddled with sinkholes and dilapidated infrastructure, are still underway.

The remaining renovations to the waterfront walkway are divvied up between the Parks Department and the New York City Economic Development Corporation.

For questions, email Miranda.Levingston@Patch.com.