If you’ve been down to East River Park in the past several days you may have noticed that the final stretch of the promenade has finally opened. A chain link fence is still blocking the path on the north side, over by the Fire Boat House, and there’s a similar fence partially blocking the path on the south side, near Montgomery Street. But it’s possible to access the newly refurbished promenade from behind the amphitheater.
The $80 million project has encountered countless delays during the past decade since the city was forced to close the waterfront for structural repairs. The focus is now shifting to Pier 42 (just south of the promenade), which is destined to become a recreational space. Sometime in the next few months, the Parks Department and Community Board 3 will begin discussing plans to dismantle an old shed on the pier.
Recently the New York Junior League helped refurbish sections of the promenade, painting play equipment and planting flowers.Click through to see more photos.
The hiccups on this project have been unbelievable. Along the portion that’s been open for more than a year, there are two short bridges across decorative cut-outs of the promenade: one of those bridges has never been open; the other just recently has been fenced off again; both have trash and construction debris littering the rocks below. And there’s still the staging area just south of the bandshell, which is likely to remain an open scar for years as the focus shifts to other parts of the waterfront.
I am grateful for what’s been completed — I am on the promenade almost every day, and it’s beautiful. But there’s no sense to why it’s still unfinished.
I once saw the contractor driving to work in the morning in an actual Bentley, like Richie Rich, perhaps the answer to the delays and hiccups lies somewhere there…?
The handrails on the previously finished sections are already rusting out..
More work for the contractors. Exposed metal by the sea was always a great plan.