Elected Officials, Civic Groups Launch Campaign for Riverfront Park

Council Member Garodnick, along with a coalition of elected officials and civic groups, kicked off a campaign for a much-needed waterfront park on the East Side.

"We are starved for parkland," said Council Member Garodnick. "But we have a vision for a four-acre, waterfront park that would be an enormous amenity for the City of New York — and this is the time to take a serious look at how to make that vision a reality."

Council Member Garodnick added that the East River Realty Company's development proposal for the former Con Edison Waterside properties, along with State plans to rebuild the FDR Drive in this area, present an opportunity to "bring the different government agencies together to plan for a park where we elevate people over cars, and open up the waterfront to all residents."

The plan for the park was created through a charrette in June of 2007. It featured six leading landscape architects and ultimately focused on three main elements, including a dramatic curvilinear deck over the FDR Drive (where today there is a raised, highway overpass) that would draw pedestrians to the water.