NYC completed a major part of a storm protection project on Manhattan’s Lower East Side this week, at a time when natural disasters are top of mind after hurricanes devastated parts of the American South this month.
Mayor Eric Adams on Thursday said the city completed the first half of the ongoing East Side Coastal Resiliency (ESCR) project two months ahead of schedule and $10 million under budget. The completed part of the project provides protection for more than 110,000 area residents against strong storms and rising sea levels.
“As one of the world’s great coastal cities, we know that stronger storms and rising seas are a threat, because no one knows when the next Superstorm Sandy will arrive at our doorstep, but New York City plans to be ready,” Adams said.
The immediate aftermath of Hurricane Sandy in 2012 damaged or destroyed 650,000 homes, claimed more than 150 lives and did nearly $82 billion in damage, according to the NYU School of Global Public Health.
The ESCR is a $1.45 billion project with a 2.4-mile-long flood barrier on the Lower East Side from Montgomery Street up to Asser Levy Playground between East 23rd Street and East 25th Street. The first section, between East 15th Street and Asser Levy Playground, was completed two months ahead of schedule.
City officials said construction on the other section is underway and is expected to be complete by the end of 2026. They added that it will include a complete reconstruction of East River Park.
As part of the first-phase completion, which cost $163 million, the Murphy Brothers Playground on Avenue C reopened with flood protection, a new dog run and ballfields.
Officials said the protections include raised parkland, flood walls, berms, and 18 swinging or sliding flood gates to create continuous protection against sea level rise and the “growing threat of stronger, more severe” coastal storms worsened by climate change.
NYC Department of Design and Construction Commissioner Thomas Foley said the barrier improves the neighborhoods and does not just “wall” them in.
“We are pioneering shoreline protection and climate change management for major North American cities, and doing it in a way that enhances recreation and enhances neighborhoods instead of just walling them in,” he said.
City Council Member Keith Powers is excited about the reopened playground and underscored Adams’ sentiments about the project’s importance.
“I join my neighbors in Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village excited that we have reached a major milestone stage of the East Side Coastal Resiliency project,” Powers said. “I’m proud that this seawall will protect our neighborhood from the dangers of climate change and that we were able to build such great parks during the project as well. The new Murphy Brothers Playground will be enjoyed by everyone from little leaguers to dog owners.”
